Selling Gifts & Flowers online using Rekisa
Just picture this: You get a gift with your name on it, plus a cute postcard with a beautifully designed flower bouquet, all wrapped in exquisitely designed textured paper? That would be the ideal gift, wouldn't it?
Crafting and selling distinctive gifts for important events is a form of art. If your dream is to establish an online shop focusing on such products, there are several specialized features that could aid you in setting up this venture. Are you curious to find out how you can implement such personalized features? Well Rekisa has the answer to that – you can certainly do so.
This guide will highlight how you can make use of your Rekisa store to sell gifts, flowers, or a combination of both through the following steps:
- Step 1 - Display yourself in a positive manner.
- Step 2 - Compile a catalog of your products.
- Step 3 - Showcase your merchandise.
- Step 4 - Customize your items to suit your customers.
- Step 5 - Include various payment methods.
- Step 6 - Arrange for delivery or pickup.
- Step 7 - Provide discounts if applicable.
- Step 8 - Manage your orders.
- Step 9 - Advertise your business effectively.
Note the following:
Assuming that you have already conducted research on your competitors and located suppliers for your products (if you sell gifts, it would be beneficial to explore what local artisans can provide), as well as deliberated on the store's concept and name, or maybe you have even established a physical store, you are now prepared to create an ecommerce platform for your business.
There is a valuable checklist of tasks that all new Rekisa store owners must complete, such as registering their store and activating payment options. However, if your business involves selling customized or handmade presents, flowers, souvenirs, or party decorations, there are additional details to consider.
Furthermore, you can sell not only tangible goods but also services or digital products. Personalized songs or online master classes are gaining popularity as gifts. If you're unsure how to include such services in your business model, seek suggestions from florists or craftsmen at your store who can provide classes or ideas. Additionally, gift cards are an excellent option for a foolproof present.
The initial step to begin selling on Rekisa is to create a Rekisa store if you don't have one yet. It is possible to incorporate your store into almost any website, but if you don't have a website, Rekisa account provides a complimentary Instant Site to establish a straightforward, integrated store.
Step 1 - Display yourself in a positive manner
The appearance of an online store is critical for any e-commerce business. To ensure a visually appealing storefront, one of the first steps is to establish the design of the website. This can be achieved by seeking assistance from professional designers or taking on the task yourself.
If you are utilizing a Rekisa Instant Site, customizing the design to fit your preferences is effortless.
In general, for shops that specialize in flowers, it is advisable to use pastel shades, preferably with a white background. The primary objective is to highlight the natural beauty and hues of the plants and attract attention to them.
With regards to gift stores, you have the freedom to choose any colors and patterns that align with your design concept. For instance, mosaic tiles would be suitable for a store that sells vintage kitchen items.
While site design is how you visually communicate your story, the About Us page provides a more conventional platform to tell your brand's story. You can share your business's origin story, display photos of your staff, and showcase videos of your workspace and design process. You can also explain why your business is significant to you and share your inspiration with customers. By doing so, customers can relay your brand's story when they share the gifts they purchase. With the Rekisa Instant Site, you can incorporate this information into the special About Us site block.
Additionally, consider creating a well-crafted logo as it can have a powerful impact and quickly convey your brand's essence to shoppers. If you are not skilled in illustrating, you can find a great logo maker app called Looka in our app store.
Another way to communicate more about your brand is by writing blog posts for your brand or social media profiles, and you can link your social media pages to the Contact Us block with the Rekisa Instant Site.
Further reading:
- Configuring general settings for your store
- A Comprehensive Guide to Customizing Your Rekisa Store Design
- The Importance of a Blog and How to Start One for Your Store
- How to add a mini-blog to your Rekisa store
After you're satisfied that the appearance of your website matches your preferred style and complements your merchandise, it's time to create your inventory of products.
Step 2 - Compile a catalog of your products
If you run a small shop that specializes in handmade gifts, it's important to have a well-organized product catalog that captures the attention of your customers and helps them easily locate the items they're looking for. To achieve this, you can consider creating categories for your products that are relevant and useful to your customers.
For instance, you can group your items according to occasions, such as:
- Birthdays
- Weddings
- New Year/Christmas
- Valentine's Day
- Mother's Day
Alternatively, if you have a wide variety of products, you can categorize them based on their physical type, such as figurines, notebooks, or postcards.
If your shop sells both gifts and flowers, you can create gift combinations that include both products, such as toys or candies paired with flowers, for instance. To implement these combinations, you can simply create a category called "Combinations" or "Sets" and add the relevant items together. Rekisa provides resources to help you learn how to sell product bundles.
Creating product categories (and subcategories) is easy with Rekisa's admin control panel. You can navigate to Catalog → Categories to create your categories and even add images and descriptions to make them more attractive to your customers. You can also add a product to several categories or subcategories if you wish.
Tip: Add in product filters that allow for an easier and convenient navigation for your customers through your product catalog.
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The front page of the store provides an excellent opportunity to showcase a variety of products from various categories together. This can include new items, products suitable for upcoming holidays, discounted products, or a product that is on special for that day. Although the section is usually titled "Featured Products," you have the option to change its name and arrange the products in any order you prefer.
To provide additional information about your product's materials, such as specifying "100% organic cotton," you can utilize subtitles for your products. By doing so, this information will be visible both on your product list and product details page.
If you have unique products or limited inventory, you can enable inventory tracking for your products or product variations. This feature will mark purchased items as "out of stock" or hide them from your storefront, preventing orders that cannot be fulfilled.
If you prefer to sell products in-person at your physical store rather than online, you can use your Rekisa store as a catalog to showcase your merchandise. This way, customers can browse and select products before calling to discuss details and arranging for in-person pickup and payment.
It may be helpful to divide lengthy product descriptions into collapsible blocks for easy navigation, allowing customers to quickly find the information they need.
One way to increase sales of your products is through upselling. This can be done by featuring related products together in a dedicated section on the product page and during the checkout process, especially if you have observed that customers tend to order them together.
Further reading:
- How to Make Your E-Commerce Product Catalog Searchable and Flexible
- Two Ways to Quickly Fill Your Rekisa Product Catalog
Step 3 - Showcase your merchandise
Before we delve into some less obvious functionalities that can be utilized for your product pages in Rekisa, let's focus on the visual aspect. In the world of business, product images hold great significance as people tend to make purchasing decisions based on what they see.
While images may not be as critical for businesses that sell car spare parts, they are a crucial factor for stores that deal in gifts or flowers as they contribute to the overall perception of your products. As customers cannot physically touch the items to assess their quality. Therefore, appealing photos play a vital role in luring them into buying your products.
In this particular market, images are not just about providing information but also about enticing your customers.
You have the option of utilizing photographs on both your product pages and in your store's design, which can greatly influence the overall atmosphere of your online store. To create visually appealing product photos, it's important to dedicate time to learning to take beautiful pictures or consider hiring a professional photographer.
In addition to static photos, you can enhance your product descriptions by including 360° views or embedded videos. You can also capture "live action shots" by placing a camera in your store, allowing customers to see products featured in your catalog on the shelves or watch as your craftsmen create new items in real time.
Further reading:
- How to Optimize Product Images: Step-By-Step Instructions and An Overview of Services
- How to Design Product Category Pictures That Your Customers Can’t Resist to Click
- Simple Product Photography Tips to Beautifully Showcase on Your Store
Rekisa apps:
- Imajize: 360º Product Views
- 3D Seasonal Effects
Step 4 - Customize your items to suit your customers
To ensure your customers are well-informed about their purchases of gifts or flowers, it's crucial that you provide them with all the essential details. Fortunately, with Rekisa, you have the flexibility to incorporate various types of information about your products beyond their names, descriptions, and images.
If you own a gift store or a flower shop, it's highly likely that you'll require the inclusion of product options and variations (which refer to every potential combination of options for a specific product).
Now, let's examine in greater detail the functionalities you can establish by utilizing product options in your Rekisa store.
- On your product page, you can mention the various colors and materials available and offer additional options such as gift wrapping or accessories. Even if your product has different shapes or forms, it can still be considered a single product. You can use dropdown lists, radio buttons, checkboxes, or size options to allow your customers to choose from these variations. If you want your customers to make a choice before adding the product to the cart, make sure to select the "Do not preselect default value" option.
Product options example from the HYPERLINK "https://www.buttonworks.com.au/shop.html" \t "_blank" Buttonworks Australia website
Make sure to include a price adjustment for each option value if your product's price varies according to factors such as size, color, material, or additional features like gift wrapping which incurs an extra cost of R20.
You have the option to offer gift wrapping for the entire purchase during checkout. To do this, simply make a personalized checkout field labeled "Gift wrapping" and include a set fee.
- If your business involves offering customizable products such as T-shirts or cups with personalized designs, you may require customers to upload files to complete their order. In order to enable this feature on your Rekisa store, you can include a file upload option on the product page. To do so, simply enter the relevant text in the option name field and select "Upload Files" from the input type drop-down menu. If you want to make file upload a mandatory requirement for customers, you can check the "Required option" box, ensuring that customers upload the file before adding the product to their cart.
- Customers who order flowers or gifts usually have a specific date in mind for delivery or pick-up. To make it easier for them, it's useful to offer a date picker option on the product page, where they can choose the desired delivery date. To add this option, simply enter a prompt like "When do you want your gift to be delivered?" in the option name field and select "Date Picker" from the input type drop-down. If it's essential for customers to choose a delivery date before adding the product to the cart, tick the "Required option" box.
To enable your customers to indicate both the date and time of delivery, you have two options. Firstly, you can incorporate a text field or drop-down menu on the product page. Alternatively, you can include a delivery time picker during checkout, allowing customers to choose a delivery time for the entire order. By implementing the latter option, you can also establish an order fulfillment time, which comprises the duration required to prepare an order for delivery along with the average delivery time. This will ensure that you do not receive more orders than you can fulfill.
- In a gift store or flower shop, customers may desire to personalize their purchase with diverse text fields. These can include the recipient's name, address, and phone number (while the buyer's information is typically provided during checkout), an engraving or embroidered message, a congratulatory or poetic inscription for a postcard, or a message for the florist outlining other preferences.
You can provide your customers with an opportunity to submit a range of information by incorporating text fields and text areas on the product page of your Rekisa store. Unlike text fields, text areas can accommodate multiple lines, which is ideal for longer pieces like poems. To enable this feature, simply input the appropriate text in the option name field and select Text Field or Text Area from the drop-down menu for input type. If you want customers to complete the text field/area before adding the product to the cart, check the "Required option" box.
One option is to include an additional text box during checkout, allowing customers to provide any final thoughts about their order or bring up anything that doesn't have a specific field allocated for it.
Further reading:
- Local Businesses, Step Up Your Game with Delivery Time Picker at Checkout
- How to use packaging as a marketing tool
Step 5 - Include various payment methods
Once you have finished creating your products, feel free to incorporate any necessary payment options. It's likely that you'll need to offer online credit card payments to allow customers to order gifts and flowers from afar. Depending on your location, you can choose from various online payment gateways.
Since you'll likely be delivering goods directly to the gift recipient, who isn't your actual customer, you should consider whether you need an offline credit card payment or cash on delivery option. However, this option could still be beneficial if some customers pick up their orders at a physical store.
To provide customers with as many choices as possible, set up multiple payment options and provide payment instructions where necessary.
Further reading:
Step 6 - Arrange for delivery or pickup
For businesses such as florists or gift shops, it is crucial to consistently deliver products on time, or as close to on time as possible. To achieve this, it may be necessary to provide various shipping, delivery, and pickup options in your Rekisa store depending on your product offerings.
If you are running a small flower shop, for example, you may only require local delivery and a pickup option for customers who prefer to collect their orders in person, particularly if you have a physical store. You may only need to hire one courier, so it is important to choose the right person who is punctual and fits the atmosphere of your store since they will represent your entire business.
Although it is unfortunate, flowers have a short lifespan and do not survive long journeys once they have been cut. However, if you operate a larger flower store, you may be able to deliver to nearby areas when fulfilling large orders. However, this is likely the furthest distance you can deliver to. To achieve this, it is necessary to locate a reliable and dependable local carrier, preferably one that specializes in shipping flowers. Delivering high-quality flowers that appear fresh will boost your reputation and bring happiness to your customers.
Discover the steps to obtain delivery instructions using the Rekisa mobile application for iOS or Android.
Gifts, unlike perishable items, have the ability to be transported over long distances. If you operate a gift shop, the method you use to ship your products will depend on your business. Your customer base may be primarily local, or you may offer distinctive items that are in demand from customers overseas, such as custom-made card decks. While traditional postal services are available, you can also use private carriers through the Rekisa platform.
To set up delivery options and rates, go to the Shipping & Pickup page in your Rekisa admin. The delivery price may vary based on distance, urgency, and the products sold. You may also offer free shipping by including these expenses in the product prices.
On paid plans, instead of setting up delivery prices, you can add a handling fee at checkout to cover delivery, wrapping, and service fees. Alternatively, a tipping option can be added for loyal customers to compensate for excellent service.
Further reading:
- ”Shipping and pickup” section in Rekisa Help Center
- How to Set Up Curbside Pickup and Local Delivery for Your Business
Rekisa apps:
- Arka: Packaging and Supplies
- Printful: Custom Printing & Warehousing
Step 7 - Provide discounts if applicable
Rekisa provides various discount options for you to provide your customers with, including bulk discounts, sale prices, discount coupons, special prices for specific groups, and "Buy One Get One Free" deals. Additionally, you can incorporate discount coupons into your automated marketing emails.
Utilize these options to establish a discount strategy that best fits your store's needs. Not only does this increase customer loyalty, but it also generates positive word-of-mouth advertising, where loyal customers promote your business to their family and friends thus encouraging brand awareness.
To inform customers about ongoing promotions and products with special prices, you can use different methods such as special notes in your store, product ribbons, newsletters, and even notices at checkout.
Relevant Rekisa apps:
Buy One Get One Free: Sales Promotions
- Signup Coupons: Send Coupons for Registration
Step 8 - Manage your orders
The process of handling orders may be the most exciting aspect of selling. When you receive your first order, what are the subsequent steps to ensure prompt delivery and payment?
With Rekisa, it is unlikely that you will miss a new order. You will be promptly notified by email and push notification if you use the Rekisa mobile app. Your customers will also be informed via an order confirmation email.
You can locate your past and current orders on the Orders page in your Rekisa admin. Take a look at this section immediately to see if you have made any sales. To obtain comprehensive information about an order, simply click on it in the order list. The shipping method selected by your customer, their payment status, comments, delivery date and time, and additional details can all be found on the resulting page. The order details also include product options e.g. silver gift wrapping, which will be indicated by a line that says Gift wrapping: Silver.
You may want to print the order details to double-check the information while building a customized product, such as a bouquet or gift. Simply click "Print" on the order list to obtain a copy.
One way to streamline the handling of orders is by incorporating administrative notes. These notes may include important information relayed by the customer during a phone call, which can then be shared with the florists or craftsmen responsible for fulfilling the order. Additionally, the admin notes section can be used to record feedback from customers once their order has been completed.
After you finish preparing your order by packing, packaging, and labeling, it's time to hand it over to a carrier or courier. Don't forget to change the fulfillment status of the order to "Shipped." This will trigger an email notification to be sent to your customers informing them that their order is on the way. To provide your customers with more information about the status of their orders, you can include tracking numbers or contact them directly via phone or email once the package has been delivered to the recipient, especially for local deliveries.
It's important to note that the "Delivered" status is only for internal use, and customers will not receive an automatic email notification once the order is marked as "Delivered." Therefore, if you only sell locally, it may be more appropriate to use the "Shipped" status instead and customize the email notification template to inform customers that their package has been delivered to the gift recipient's address.
Further reading links
- Adding and removing staff accounts
- Rekisa improvements for better order management
Rekisa apps:
- SMS order notifications: Twilio, Vonage, CM.com, And SMSC.RU
- Order desk: manage and process order
- Orderhive: multi-channel inventory and order management
Step 9 - Advertise your business effectively
After establishing your Rekisa store, it's crucial to inform your customers about it. If your business had a brick-and-mortar store earlier, you are in luck, as you may already have some devoted customers.
It's highly recommended to spread the word about your new online store on social media platforms. In case you don't have social media accounts, it's an excellent opportunity to create them now (focusing on one or two platforms if you're not adept in this field). Ensure that your store has links to your social media profiles that are readily noticeable.
Consider adding your product catalog to Facebook or utilizing shopping posts on Instagram, as Instagram can be a highly effective marketing channel for visually-oriented businesses like yours. This platform also provides an opportunity for you to address any customer inquiries, such as questions regarding pricing or gift recommendations for special occasions. In addition, don't overlook the potential of TikTok for running visually-driven advertisements.
It may be valuable to offer pre-sales customer support, particularly if your customers are not experts in your product area. This is especially true if you sell unique or niche items. By allowing customers to speak directly with your employees, you can provide them with the necessary guidance to make informed purchasing decisions. During busy holiday sales periods, ensure that you have adequate staffing to handle customer inquiries both online and over the phone.
Not only should you provide social media account links but also a reachable contact number through WhatsApp or any other commonly used messaging app in your location. In case you are utilizing Rekisa Instant Site, you have the option of including this information in the Contact Us section.
Social proof can hold significant value for small businesses. Would you trust a seller if there are no reviews or feedback available? To gather feedback, consider using feedback collecting emails and then showcasing this feedback on your Instant Site. Alternatively, you can use one of the apps available on Rekisa App Market to collect feedback automatically. These apps enable customers to rate your products and leave reviews, which will be displayed on your store website.
Being involved in the community and taking part in art shows and craft fairs is equally important. You can use the Rekisa mobile app or a POS system linked to your store to sell your goods at these events. Participating in such events can also help you attract new customers and build relationships with other sellers in your niche.
Lastly, advertising is an essential factor to keep in mind. For more information on advertising basics, you can refer to our beginner's guide to advertising.
Further reading links
- How to Sell on Instagram in 2020: Complete Guide for Beginners
- How Does Facebook Work for Small Businesses?
- Introduction to E-commerce Advertising
Rekisa apps:
- Chaty: chat button widget for WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger & more
- Trustami: One Seal for All Reviews
- HelpfulCrowd: Video Product Reviews and Q&A
Now it’s your turn!
You're ready to begin selling now. To prepare yourself, you may want to read up on making your initial sale. However, if you've followed the instructions in this guide, you'll probably make your first sale quickly.
If you run a small shop, dealing in gifts and flowers is a specialized field. But it gives you the opportunity to spread happiness to customers and to establish a store with your own unique products, values, and personality. We're sure you wouldn't want it any other way.
Guides in this section
- Selling music and merchandise online
- Selling clothes online: how to set up an apparel store
- Selling food online: how to start your business
- All things festive: selling gifts and flowers online
- How to sell art online
- Selling event tickets online with Rekisa
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