Hampering Around

We have recently been approached by two different types of retail businesses with a view to them selling our gifts.   The first one is in the newsagency industry where we can see good potential based on seasons of the year, the second is a large retailer who again would focus on specific seasons.   We are enthusiastically progressing both and see enormous opportunity for us in the retail channel.  Whilst a lot of our business is done on-line, with some retail, the opportunity to work with retailers in the area of gift hampers for birthdays, Valentines Day, Mothers Day, Father Day  and other gift types is a natural extension of our business.

We have also just released a survey to all of our clients asking for feedback on a number of things.  We use this information about their  purchasing plans for Christmas, the service levels they receive from Hampering Around and area’s of interest for new gifts to drive our product development and on-going client services.  If anyone reading this has a view on new product types or areas we would welcome the feedback.

Every year we use the time leading up to the end of June to review our gift/stock situation and look at the coming year.  It is an important time of year for our planning and signals that it’s almost time to start working on Christmas.   We are about to start going through the gift items we have left and put them on our website for sale and market them to our client database.  Often as a gift company we order large quantities of stock and may end up holding 1,2,10 of something that doesn’t sell at the time of purchase.   Product development in our business is a critical part of ensuring gifts are regularly refreshed and we are always presenting new options.

In the coming financial year our focus will be on new categories such as organic and fair trade gifts, Australian themed gifts along with a greater focus on our Mother and Baby range.  Whilst companies in our industry have faced their challenges due to the economy, gift giving is always a priority for the right season, occasion or sentiment people want to convey.  Now more than ever a quality gift can really make a difference to someone.

As we get closer to Mothers Day it’s time for us to start thinking about our next season or occasion.  As so much of our business is driven by seasons and occasions we are continually striving to provide quality gifts that convey a clients sentiment to receiver of the gift. Whether the gift is to be sent locally, nationally or internationally we want the gift to be well received.

Mother and Baby gifts have been popular in recent times, in particular first time mums.  We are finding that our Mother and Baby range is generating more interest than ever before and that we have had to increase our range and source additional suppliers.  We are also focussing on increasing our organic products range as new parents become more conscious and aware of the products they use on their children.

We are already finding a lot of interest in Mothers Day.  Given the special nature of the season it is always top of mind for most people and strongly supported and celebarated.  Some of the gifts we do for Mothers Day include, prizes for competitions, corporate promotions relating to Mothers Day and then there is the person who wishes to purchase a gift for their own Mother.  The female focussed gifts in our range are always being developed. Whether the gift relates to a season or an occasion (such as a birthday) a very good number of our clients are female and almost as many gift recipients are females. This year we have sourced a number of suppliers to build on our existing range and when we start work on our new range, including Christmas, in May, you will see these suppliers new products featured.