You might be thinking how this tiny thing can help me with boosting my e-commerce sales and profit, right?
Gift wrapping is a simple add-on service which might seem insignificant, but it can have a considerable impact on the level of service you provide to your customers and resulting increase in the e-commerce sales and average order value.
Let’s take an example; you want to send a Christmas gift to your friend. Are you going to send the gift without wrapping? Alternatively, you going to order the package at your doorstep and then take the pain to buy the wrapping material and do it by yourself? No right? This sounds time-consuming.
Don’t you think your customer might find it frustrating to wrap the gift on their own!
Some people think that gift wrapping is a part of the fun but not all. A large group of people find it time-consuming and difficult to do.
Gift wrapping is an essential yet overlooked area in e-commerce servicing.
This article is written to highlight the importance of the gift wrapping services to you and also your customers, and how your E-commerce sales can be boosted with this simple yet effective service.
You are telling your customers that they are important to you.
These small things matter a lot.
Let me tell you, offering gift wrapping is not new for both offline and online business. These services are as old as people have started buying gifts.
All major online players are offering gift wrapping services to their customers.
They are large retailers with a vast customer base, excellent infrastructure and a strong manpower base.
In this article, I am going to give you a closer look at offering gift wrapping services for your e-commerce store. I have tried to include almost every aspect of it including the cost & manpower involved, what you need to do to make it right, and things you need to keep in mind while launching gift wrapping services to your online store.
Importance of gift wrapping services for e-commerce stores:
Gift wrapping is an excellent way to save your customers’ time.
Your customers need not worry to buy wrapping material and pack the present themselves.
They can send the gift right to the recipient.
Significant for customer-driven business.
Provide your customers with an emotionally engaging experience.
Not to forget,
This also attracts last-minute shoppers.
Those who are interested in shipping gifts right to receivers. By giving a choice to have an item gift wrapped and sent directly to the recipient, you’re more likely to entice those last minute shoppers.
Think of all possible gift-giving occasions.
Of course, who would not want to receive a gift wrapped in a glossy paper with a beautiful ribbon on the top?
The e-commerce stores experience a high demand for festive and holiday seasons.
Diwali
Eid
New Year’s Day
Valentine’s Day
Easter
Christmas
Mothers’ Day
Fathers’ Day
So the list goes on…
There are some other gift-giving opportunities besides festivals and holidays:
Birthdays
Anniversaries
Retirement
Thank You or apologies
Housewarming or moving
Baby or bridal showers
Weddings or engagements
Personal achievements
Get well soon gifts
And so on.
There may be occasions or festival I didn’t consider in this list.
Now imagine, you being only online seller offering a gift wrapping services on that specific festival!
You have an excellent opportunity to earn a strong customer base on that alone.
These are the best occasions for you to adopt some new idea that will not only increase the average order value but also to your customer a delightful experience at your store.
Time to consider the cost involved in gift wrapping.
First and foremost, it is essential to calculate the overall cost of offering gift wrapping services. There are a few factors which you must consider before jumping into this.
Let’s discuss all of them one by one in detail.
Do you have a warehouse? If no, who is taking care of your shipping and handling?
A third party logistics.
When you are using third-party logistics services for warehousing and shipping, it is undeniable that they are only taking care of the packaging part.
Here, you need to ask the service provider whether they are offering or can offer gift wrapping for your orders.
The best possible way is to negotiate for such service and calculate the extra time and cost involved in this.
No matter if you are making high margins or moderate, you still need to calculate and plan everything carefully if you are solely responsible for the packing and packaging.
Here you have a kind of freedom to decide how to do this.
let’s consider the cost of gift wrapping material.
First of all, what material you need to wrap?
A gift box
Printed gift paper
Bow
Ribbons
Tissue papers to fill up the empty space in the box.
India mart is a good option to buy gift wrapping material at a wholesale rate.
Approximately an average gift paper can cost up to rupees 3 to pack one box of dimension 12.5×17 inches.
A box can cost up to rupees 12 if purchased in quantity.
A decent Bow and colorful ribbons can cost up to rupees 5 for the bulk purchase.
So here we arrive at the total cost of material at rupees 20.
The material and cost of the material vary for different size and shape of gifts.
Apart from the material cost, you also need to consider the manpower or say extra labor required for the actual wrapping of the gifts.
Can you accommodate the wrapping task with the current strength? Alternatively, do you need to hire the extra manpower?
The salary/wages (in case you are hiring on per hour basis) is again an important factor consider while calculating the overall cost of gift wrapping.
How efficiently can the gift be wrapped to save time?
How much time does it going to take, is there any efficient way to cut down the average time per packing?
It may take a few practice rounds to pick it up, but it’s totally worth it when you think about all the possible ways you can save some time. These techniques are fruitful when you are wrapping gifts in bulk.
Tip: Use double-sided tape. It looks polished and saves your time magically.
Is it possible to skip the extra workforce and also save some time?
Yes, Definitely. There are some alternate options available in the market practiced by the top online sellers.
Try printed gift boxes.
Similar to a box with ribbon is a printed gift box, with one outstanding difference: it doesn’t need to be shipped inside an extra box.
This affordable alternative simplifies the packing method because all you have to do is replace the original box with the newly painted box.
A gift box design should be neutral to accommodate a wide variety of festivals and occasions.
Offering a “gift kit.”
Apart from actually wrapping the gift, some e-commerce players chose the smart option of providing a “gift kit” option to the customers.
This gift kit includes the material to wrap the gift.
For this kind of services, they only charge for the packing material and not the cost of packing.
What you need to do is simply attach a kit to the package to save time and extra workforce and cost.
Charge only for the material. Save yourself from the complex calculations of the cost of human resources and precious time. Simply brilliant!
A “gift kit” can also generate a source of revenue for your online store if used wisely.
Offering a free gift wrap???
Take care of your average cost of gift wrapping considering the various types of material required and the size of boxes.
Free isn’t the only option you have though.
Then what is it?
Encourage your customers to buy more by offering free gifts over a purchase of a certain amount.
There are certain things because of which your customers may avoid using gift wrapping services.
Customers are afraid that their order will come with a broken or defective product.
They might get a wrong product.
Your customers can’t figure out how the present will look like.
Is the gift wrapping look decent enough as shown in the picture?
There is a lack of gift options.
They consider gift wrapping too expensive.
Give your customers confidence about your service and its quality.
Here is the list of things you should consider while implementing the gift wrapping service on your e-commerce website.
1. Include Pictures
Let your customers see how the present will look like. Include good pictures of the gift options.
2.Reviews
It’s a great idea to have reviews for your gift wrapping option similarly you have for your products. It works the same for both. It gives your customer a positive aspect of going for the gift wrapping option on your online store.
3. Detailed description and explanation
Give your customer a clear explanation about how this gift wrapping works and give them a detailed description about what includes in each option (in case you are going to have multiple options like gift wrapping and gift kit).
Also, inform them which products can’t be wrapped. This gives your customer answers for basic questions and support to their queries.
4.Give your customers a choice
Make sure you keep at least two to three options for various gift wrapping for men, women, and kids separately. Under that, it is your choice to have options like simple wrapping, expensive or luxury wrapping or seasonal wrapping options. It is entirely as per your wish and convenience.
5. Upgrade with time
Give your customers a fresh design and packaging options from time to time.
6. Include a gift message option, for free
Let your customers send their greetings in their own words with the gifts. Include a free message option with required to and from fields, so that the recipient knows who have sent them a gift.
7. “No price tag” option
If your customers don’t want to show the price to the recipient, give them the option to hide it.
8. Provide quality service
So this is obvious to provide the exact wrapping which your customer has selected. Make sure it is, and you don’t make a mess with a gift message.
Avoid making mistakes here as this might create frustration for your customers which will be harmful to your business.
Organize your gift wrapping in such a way as if it is for your dearest one.
9. Duration to offer gift wrapping
When should you provide a gift wrapping service? Throughout the year or only during the festive season?
10.Offering gift wrapping on specific items or for everything you sell?
It is advisable to decide wisely on which items you are offering gift wrapping services. Different products ask for different time to wrap. A small gift shaped square or rectangular may take lesser time than wrapping a teddy bear.
11. Charges for gift wrapping services.
Are you going to keep a standard gift wrap pricing for each product? Offering free gift wrapping above specific amount? Making it free for regular or returning customers?
In the end, the purpose is to
- Create an overall customer experience.
- Helps to convert more sales.
- Proving such services helps to gain repeat customers.
- Apart from the products you are selling, there are also other ways to wow your customers.
As you know running your e-commerce business is a constant challenge. You need to keep up with the market trends and what services your customers are expecting.
You need to focus continuously on marketing your products and keeping your customers happy with top-notch services.
Take the next few days to build your gift wrapping strategy. Consider how much you are currently spending, your average order size and value, your profit margins, and most importantly what you can do to deliver a great shopping experience to your customers that drive them back to your store and also share their experience through positive reviews.
Apart from this, there can be specific questions that may arise in your mind about offering gift wrapping services.
- Is it feasible to adjust gift wrap cost for big items or to average it out?
- Does gift wrapping slow down your productivity?
- Approximately what percentage of customers actually purchase gift wrapping services?
Write to us at sales@ithinklogistics.com to get your queries solved by experts.