If you are dealing with giftware, you always need to select new products. These products come and go, and also you need to offer your customers new products all the time. Computers can help with the products with a sales history but are of little help here.
So what happened was I was talking to one of our clients about this. He has a gift shop, so we put together a checklist of ideas for selecting gift products.
Here is what we came up with, and I hope it helps.
1) Good margins, a giftware shop, cannot survive on low margins.
2) The product has to stand out from the other items on the shelves. It needs to have something deserving of your customers' attention.
3) How hard is it to handle? For example, anything fragile is a problem, e.g., glass as many insurance policies will not cover it in the shop.
4) What is the delivery? Last quarter's delivery was a real mess. People had no stock, and customers and the stock was in transit.
5) How easy is it to get more stock?
6) Does it fit into your shop now? Is it the type of product that your customers will buy from you?
7) Does it live in your price points?
8) Are there any minimum orders required?
9) Growth, can the product lead to something. A small mobile camera cases buy led one of my clients to introduce a whole new department in his shop.
10) Does it need specialist knowledge? If so, do you have that knowledge? If so, it is a big plus. If not, then will you get that knowledge soon?
11) How many people nearby handle it? This is one advantage of dealing with a supplier far away, as you may have a unique product.
12) Variations can be a problem. A product with five options, four colours blue, green, white, and red, and comes in three designs would be 60 different products.
13) Start small and grow.
14) Above all, remember it is said, "to sell giftware, one needs a soul." Ask yourself, do you have that soul? If you think YES, then test yourself first on a few small oders.
Giftware is one product where *David can take on Goliath*.
