Ten ways to increase store visibility, internally and externally

How important is store visibility? After all, gift shops have the luxury of a captured audience just by virtue of their location, right. Not entirely. Once a visitor steps into the hospital, what actually drives them into your shop? Are they spending hours in a waiting room when they could be shopping? Are you creating awareness outside the hospital? Visibility and awareness are essential components to any successful retail operation. Here are a few strategies to increase it:

1. Ask payroll to insert an ad or reminder about the shop in their pay notices. Include a link highlighting “Payroll Deduction” and a link to your online store. 
2. Partner with the cafeteria on promos to increase shop traffic. “BOGO Bagels! Buy a bagel and get 15% off one greeting card at the Gift Shop!”
3. Ask parking valets to include a small shop coupon with their tickets or receipts.
4. The gift shop should have a dedicated webpage on the hospital website where you can list hours, directions, contact information, etc, and also showcase products, sales, and events.  
5. Make sure the hospital website’s top-level navigation menu contains a link “Gift Shop”. Also include a link in the navigation footer on the homepage, as well as any other locations. 

“When I’m trying to write about hospital gift shops it’s really hard to find them sometimes.”

– Editor in Chief, Lenise Willis, Gifts & Decorative Accessories

6. Don’t let hospital employees forget about the gift shop. Place regular inserts, notices, ads, discounts, etc. in hospital admin communications.
7. Contact individual departments to advertise the shop in their department communications.
8. Get your shop on social media. Two essential platforms for retail are Facebook and Instagram.
9. Place (professional) signage around the hospital for the gift shop. As many as your hospital will allow. Especially areas with long waits like the ER, surgery, inpatient floors, plus restrooms, cafeteria, vending machines and elevators. Signage helps remind visitors about your shop. Shopping is a terrific way to pass time.
10. What is the primary source for your customer base: hospital website, signage, email, staff referrals, friend or family, social media, etc? How can you know what’s working if you don’t know how they found you. Run an informal survey for 2-3 days. Ask customers how they found your shop. Staff can jot down answers on a sheet at the register. Collect 30-40 answers to get a good representation. 

Creating awareness for you shop is imperative, especially with today’s shift to online consumerism. 

Product Pick: Luckables

Whatever the reason, any hospital visit warrants a little bit of good luck. Different from generic plush, Luckables give the gift of luck and encouragement when it’s needed most. Each Luckable represents an iconic lucky symbol, or animal, from around the world. Not to mention, they’re irresistibly soft! 

According to the Chinese zodiac, it’s the Year of the Tiger! Tai the Tiger is a unique and meaningful new baby gift, honoring their year of birth. Tai is only available through the end of 2022. Please contact Heather at Heather@Luckables.com to place your order. 

How to Conduct a Physical Inventory: A Step-by-Step Guide

It is crucial for hospital gift shops to take an annual physical inventory at the end of each fiscal year, preferably on the last day of the shop’s fiscal year. Taking inventory is one of the most important “accounting” activities a shop can perform.

How to Conduct a Physical Inventory is a 10-page step-by-step guide to conducting your shop’s annual physical inventory. It includes:

• Why a physical inventory is crucial
• How to prepare your shop for the inventory
• What to do on inventory day
• A Physical Inventory Worksheet template
• How to calculate Per Category and Total Shop Inventory
• How to convert figures from retail to cost
• Category Space Allocation based on Profit Margins
• Formula for calculating Cost of Goods Sold
• Why take inventory at retail prices

Also available: Guide to Calculating Shop Profitability, the Gift Shop Twelve-Month Action Plan, and How To Implement An Employee Payroll Deduction System.

JULY 2022 NEWSLETTER: ISSUE #632
Did you miss last month’s articles, surveys, and discussions?

DISCUSSION

TOP GIFT MARKET

Q. Hello! I’m a new shop manager. I’m trying to decide which gift shows I should attend or, are you mainly shopping online now? What markets does everyone attend? Should I go to a few small shows or one large show? What is your travel budget? I am in the midwest, but can go anywhere. Thanks! – Lindsey. 6/2/22

The January show in Atlanta is a must for me and I complete the majority of my Fall and Holiday buying at that show. I also attend 1-2 smaller regional shows at the Minneapolis Gift Mart. For apparel, I attend the Atlanta apparel market. – Sabra Shields, Sanford USD Medical Center, Sioux Falls, SD. 450 beds. 6/22/22

I go to the Atlanta Mart in January and buy all of my fall and Christmas for the year and some everyday as well. I get great display ideas and seeing the items in person vs. a catalog makes a big difference. I look for companies that offer less minimums on items as we are a smaller shop. I know that I can usually sell 6 or 8 pieces of one item but not 12. – Diane Honsberger, Director of Volunteers & Gift Shop, Mercy St. Anne Hospital, Toledo, OH. 150 beds. 6/21/22

We attend the Americas Mart Gift Show in Atlanta. – Laura Keipert, Supervisor, Retail Services, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, GA 6/20/22

We generally go to Las Vegas, for three days. Our budget for two people was around $800. Show specials more than made up for those costs. Haven’t had travel budget for two years though and hope to go next January. The summer gift show usually coincides with the ASD show, so it is a two-for-one trip. – Karla Glanzman, Gift Shop Manager at Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle, WA. 407 beds. 6/17/22 

We try to do one gift show a year. We have done Dallas, Atlanta and Vegas. Set-up at Vegas was amazing. LOVED IT! Atlanta was the best so far though. – Tricia Rochman, Carbondale Memorial Hospital, Carbondale, IL. 154 beds. 4/21/22

We send about three volunteers to Atlanta every January for about five days. This has made all the difference in our gift shop. They shop primarily for the holidays throughout the year but do order some everyday items as well. It really saves on meeting with the vendors on a regular basis. – Ramona Kennedy, Lifeline Program Manager & Auxiliary Liaison, Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center, Ogdensburg, NY. 115 beds. 6/16/22

Atlanta Gift Market. The main one to go to is January, but I’ve also gone to the last two in July. I usually stay 3-4 nights, but don’t have a monetary budget for the exact amount. – Roberta Gilbert, Gift Shop Coordinator, St.Claire Regional Medical Center. Morehead, KY. 159 beds. 6/16/22

We have attended the Las Vegas Gift Show and have found great success. Over several years, we have met up with great suppliers, reinforced current relationships and had a lot of fun. This show has a wide range of merchants and the options are fantastic for whatever you might be looking for. Personally I love seeing the FULL range of a product line. Go to shows, they make a world of difference in your buying habits. – Lorene Oates, Volunteer Coordinator, West Valley Medical Center, Caldwell, ID. 150 beds. 6/15/22

I have attended the Las Vegas World Market’s January show for about six years. I previously attended the Atlanta show. The airfare is better for me on the West Coast and the hotels are less expensive than even Seattle. My travel budget is $2,000 or less and I stay the full time. I can accomplish more in 5 days than I could in a month of seeing reps in the shop or ordering on line. Not to mention seeing product in person can completely change your perspective. It also gives you a chance to meet other gift shop buyers and learn from each other. I’ve made connections that are on going. – Molly Forni, Gift Shop Manager, St. John Providence Health System, Portland, OR. 266 beds. 6/15/22

Thanks to everyone who submitted a comment!
✈️

LIVE FLOWERS ALTERNATIVE

Q. What are some alternatives to live flowers? We are located in a small town with two flower shops and neither want to partner with us. We currently are offering gift baskets but we still have people that want flowers. Thank you in advance! – Lanie Ray, Fairfield Medical Center, Lancaster, OH. 222 beds. 3/28/22

We have fresh flowers available but also stock K&K Interior silks for critical care areas. I’ve been stopped many times by staff when delivering the K&K “Real Touch” silks to these units. Staff can’t believe they aren’t fresh flowers. The patient is happy they will last long enough to take them home and so is the purchaser. – Molly Forni, Providence St. Vincent Medical Center,  Portland, OR. 500 beds. 7/20/22

FreshCut Paper has been a phenomenal alternative for live plants/flowers – specifically for our patients in ICU and TLC. I find myself reordering twice a month. -Meggen Heuss, University of WI Hospital & Clinics, Madison WI. 650 beds. 4/25/22

We have a family member of a volunteer who makes “arrangements” using multi colored buttons, colored wire, and fabrics shaped like flowers and flower buds. They are very popular. – Peter Waugh, Memorial Hospital, North Conway, NH. 25 beds. 4/21/22

We do well with Sullivan Gift for artificial flowers and succulents. Great selection.  – Cherie Towers, Redlands Community Hospital, Redlands, CA. 229 beds. 4/21/22

K&K Interiors has amazing real-touch silk flowers. They are the best flowers we have seen on the silk side. Also, Evergreen has a single lilly in a mini vase that is amazing. Otherwise, the selection is small.  – Tricia Rochman, Carbondale Memorial Hospital, Carbondale, IL. 154 beds. 4/21/22

We use 1800 flowers. They come in a box already arranged. We open them up, clip the ends and put them in vases. We use cello wrap and bows to decorate. It works really well! – Amy, 4/21/22

Spotted at CGH Medical Center: Lego Flower Bouquets. Expensive, but very unique! – Nicole, Cindy Jones Associates. 4/19/22

FreshCut Paper flowers have done well for us. They are beautiful and last forever!  – Dawn Shumaker, Clinton Memorial Hospital, Wilmington, OH. 4/18/22

Live plants or felt flowers.  – Sarah McManus. 4/15/22

We sell FreshCut Paper flowers. They are easy to sell for phone orders when a room can’t have fresh flowers. and hospital staff buys them to mail as they come with an envelope also. Admin staff also buy them to have on their desks.  – Linda Armstrong, Gift Shop Supervisor, Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital, Tacoma, WA. 4/15/22

Nothing replaces real flowers but silk flowers are at least something to let the patient know you are thinking about them, this is what I tell our customers. We do well with Primitives by Kathy or the bendable flowers we buy at Kelli’s. – Sophia, Community Memorial Health System, Ventura, CA. 4/15/22

Our shop used to sell silk flowers. These were great especially for ICU patients that couldn’t have live flowers. The biggest expense is the flowers themselves, but if you can hit up sales from different craft shops, it’s a great value. Kerri Clark, Community Hospital, Munster, IN. 498 beds. 4/15/22

Natural Fragrance Roses – live fragrant flowers but hydrated to last 4 months. The “no hassle” flowers + fragrance. – Petrus Persoon, CEO, Natural Fragrance Rose. 4/15/21

We sell live flowers, but also sell FreshCut Paper flowers as a cheaper alternative. They can even be mailed for birthdays, anniversaries, etc. We just received our second order. – Craig McKneely, Scripps Health, San Diego, CA. 4/15/22

Ganz has acrylic Posey Pots! – Suzanne, Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital, Sayre, PA. 4/15/21

Do you know of a good alternatives to live flowers? You can still respond to the question here.

Connect. Share. Grow. ♡

PROMOTIONS