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Be the Store that Lifts the Spirit

Your Lift the Spirit Plan

Lifting spirits is needed now more than ever! DEMDACO wants to help you continue to be a destination for positivity. Support your employees: with kids learning from home, let your employees start work a little later. Another nice option would be to gift them little items here and there that would lift their spirits, such as a company mug, jacket or maybe a discount on your products. Protect your customers: let them know if they choose to shop in person suggested protocols will be in place, such as, temperature screenings and social distancing.

Community Service Days

Getting involved with your local community is a great way to give back. Find local community shelters and bring warm meals. Do research and find small non-profits that might need an extra hand doing simple things like repainting, moving inventory, etc. Plan these events ahead of time and schedule them in your teams’ calendars so everyone can look forward to it, participate together or bring supplies if needed.

Products to Lift the Spirit

Are you looking for a way to incorporate your Lift the Spirit plan into your company’s product offerings? We have a wide variety of artisan gifts that will help your customers give the gift of comfort, love and joy to many! Discover more here.

Budget for Charitable Donations Early

We all know 2020 was a tough year, and many of you are getting back on your feet, so charitable donations might take a bite out of your budget. No matter how you are able to donate, whether with time or money, be sure to evaluate your options and choose which one is right for your situation. Here are eight great ways to think about donating this year.

Staying Balanced

Anxiety and depression symptoms are reaching new heights due to the current pandemic. This is why we encourage you—and for you to encourage your employees—to get out of the house: go for a run, take a stroll, safely chat with neighbors, paint, bake, bike, read, start watching a new show—anything that will personally help you tune out worrisome thoughts.

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Prep for Success

Promote Your Business

Speaking of budgets, how will you organize your annual spend as related to purchasing and restocking your store? Here are some simple ways we recommend:

1. Set aside a budget for reorders—are there times of the year you know you’ll need to spend more to restock?
2. Organize your buy dollars to align with what sells at your store and for category spikes at certain times of the year i.e. baby and wedding products sell year round but might spike in the summer. Hold some spend for product trends or new products you would like to try.
3. Plan spending around when new products become available. With the freight and inbound delays, we’re asking for purchase orders for Holiday 2021 now! Prepare for Mother’s Day in January/February. Mother’s Day is the second biggest national holiday! And we'll have new product launching this summer!
4. Organize your budgets with a free small business budget template.
5. Not sure? Talk with your Territory Manager for guidance. They’re always there to help you!

Shop Where They’re At

Shopping online has become a necessity. The advantage you have is that the products are right there in person for shoppers to get familiar with because sometimes website descriptions and dimensions are simply not enough. That’s where Virtual Shopping come comes into play. Allowing them to shop with you via Zoom, or through social media (see how below) grants customers access to shopping like never before. This way the customer can easily relate to the products they’re purchasing. This can be a fun and easy way to make shopping feel ‘almost’ normal again! Setup your free Zoom account.

Curbside, Pickup or Drive-Up

Having a Curbside Pickup or Drive-Up option on your website is a great resource for shoppers. Buying online and picking up in store is slowly becoming a norm. In a study conducted by the National Retail Federation (NRF) it showcased that 58 percent of shoppers bought or reserved items online to pick up in store later. The main reasons for this, found in the same study, are as follows: 1) to avoid paying shipping, 2) social distancing and 3) self-quarantine restrictions.

Understand Your Competitive Advantage

Your business is not just about you; it’s about your competitors and customers as well. “Through an in-depth knowledge of your products and services, your customers’ needs and the strengths and weaknesses of your competition you can identify what sets you apart – this is your competitive advantage.” (Pathway Lending) For more insight on how to discover your competitive advantage, read the full digital article.

Create an eCommerce Website

This year, it continues to be critical for small businesses to have an online presence to reach their customers. Consider developing an easy-to-use website if you don’t already have one. Here are some reputable ecommerce website platforms that are cost-effective, easy to setup, and require minimal upkeep.

5 e-Commerce Trends to Leverage in 2021

Shopping as we know it has been changed forever. Here is a great resource on how to keep up with the ever-changing trends of the customer’s shopping experience.

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What’s Trending

• In 2021, color is projected to make a comeback! Your shoppers will seek to brighten their world in the coming year. They’ll want to surround themselves with items that lighten the mood.
• Visual patterns will be more casual with a hand-painted appeal.
• For the kitchen, we’ll be focusing on a natural aesthetic, such as warm woods.
• Comfort items such as mugs and blankets are expected to be big sellers, as well as products with supportive, encouraging or inspirational messaging- just like our bestselling Giving Collection™.
• For baby items, products taking inspiration from nature are going to be big, as well as space-themed items.
• The domestic cozy aesthetic is slouchy, relaxed and unfussy. Our Comfort Collection is a great example of this type of loungewear!

Overall, shoppers love to observe locality; they’ll look for eco-friendly products, homemade aesthetics, rustic, natural products inspired by nature and celebrate simplicity.

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Stay Social

Content Engagement

• People are watching online videos more than ever, and most smart phones provide all the tools you need to shoot, edit and post videos on social media. “How-to” content is extremely popular these days. Ex.) You can encourage shoppers to purchase multiple items by sharing a video tutorial on how to create a beautiful gift basket with products you offer.
• Use polls to get your followers engaged and excited about shopping with you – show off new products and ask which they like better. Or, do a series of polls asking what they’re shopping for right now.
• Go live with Facebook or Instagram livestreams: host a Q&A, show behind-the-scenes of your store, introduce team members and talk about your favorite new arrivals.
• Offer virtual 1:1 shopping experience with FaceTime or Facebook Messenger. Let people set up a time when you can walk them through the store and help them select the perfect gift from the comfort of their home.
• Ask your customers to tag you in their posts on social media. Word of mouth continues to be a great marketing tactic. Once someone finds the perfect gift, encourage them to share – their friends could become your future customers.
• Plan your posts ahead of time. Creating a calendar will not only help you stay on track, but it will also ensure you stay top of mind for your customers! Some apps, like Hootsuite, will even do the posting for you - or at the very least, send you a notification when it's time to post.

How to Offer Virtual Shopping Appointments

FaceTime:
If the customer has an Apple device, have them call you via FaceTime at their scheduled appointment time.

Facebook Messenger:

1. Open the Facebook Messenger app on your phone. Tap "Chats" on the bar at the bottom of your screen.
2. At the top of the Chats page, tap the circle that says, "Create Room."
3. The next page allows you to invite people to your room. Tap the pencil icon in the top left corner to edit the name of your room and/or schedule your video call for later. Click “Save” once you are done.
4. You can then copy the link at the top of the screen and send it to invitees via email, text, etc. Tap "Done" in the upper right corner once you've copied and sent the link.
5. Your invitees can then join the room by opening the link you sent to them.

Read more about Facebook Messenger rooms.

Remember to promote your virtual shopping appointments!

• Create a post sharing all of the details
• Talk about it during livestreams and encourage viewers to schedule an appointment
• Add it to your Instagram bio – “Call to schedule a virtual shopping appointment”
• Encourage more appointments by entering everyone who schedules one into a giveaway!

Our retail store lab has had a lot of success with virtual shopping! While not every guest buys (which is ok!), we’ve noticed that the guests who do buy during virtual shopping tend to spend more than those who are in-store shopping. This could be because we require a $60 minimum for free shipping, but more than anything, these customers are shopping with a purpose and the one-on-one interaction makes the experience even more special!