Last month, our blog shared some tips for a registry refresh as the change of season kicked in. Whether motivated by the sense of new beginnings that the arrival of Spring brings to mind or a desire for a Fall clean, we all have a tendency to refresh and reorganize. 

Here, we want to continue on that theme and offer more tips to prepare your registry service for some busy months ahead. We expect to see all sorts of gifting possibilities that can attract new registry use as well as encourage more use of existing registries.

• Wedding Registries: For those with product assortments perfect for these big milestone events, late spring and early summer (May/June) are still among the most popular event times. August isn’t far behind and of course, we’ll see a big spike in September and October. All of that sets up pre-wedding festivities along with final plans for the big day itself. 
• Your current registrants with upcoming events should be encouraged to review and refresh their gift lists to take advantage of new merchandise that may have recently arrived. You should also gently remind them to share their registries to ensure they get the gifts they want.
• There’s still time for customers to create a registry with you for those special items they want. Work quickly with them, sync up with any other existing list they may have and be sure they share the registry.

• Baby Registries: Similarly, the steady stream of babies arriving creates a constant state of new registry use as well. At this time of year, don’t overlook the opportunity to tap into Mother’s Day or Father’s Day as the perfect opportunity to focus on new parents (even expectant ones)—and all the better if your products are for parental use or enjoyment.
• Don’t forget the birthdays that take place in the coming weeks. Former baby registry users should be encouraged to mark a 1^st birthday or any other milestone with more gifting.

• Don’t Stop There: Gift list use is growing rapidly for other events that spike in the next few months. While these events typically generate fewer gift exchanges, they are more widespread and–this is really important–rarely compete with those major life stage celebrations. So, consider marketing around these other key events as well.
• Graduations: Off to university or the start of a career, there are millions of graduates proud to mark this event as they start a new life stage. Chances are they will transition to new living spaces and excitedly look for some new items to create their own space.
• Housewarmings and Vacation Home Use: Early summer starts the peak of new moves and sees as many as 20 million Americans resettling (some triggered by those aforementioned graduates). New spaces invariably call for fresh new décor or even personal items to mark the occasion.
• Retirements and Anniversaries: While these milestones are not quite as popular yet, keep them in mind. Gift suggestions will be appreciated.

In all of these instances, talk up your expertise as a gifting resource. Even if it doesn't trigger registry use right now, it can drive short-term purchasing and reinforce the benefits of registry use for a future event.

Back-end Tips to Maximize the Opportunities

The best way to take advantage of all these gifting activities is to ensure that your registry is in tip top shape. Last month we focused on tips to update your registry with a seasonal refresh and engage your customers. Here, we want to share a few tips that work behind the scenes and/or through us to get the backend of your registry running smoothly and as easy to manage as possible.

• Do a Quick Registry Service Audit: We encourage you to review all of the systems that are supporting, or interacting with, your gift registry as any recent changes you may have made could impact registry performance. It may be obvious when you are making changes to your product assortment, but even changes that seem unrelated to the registry may have an unexpected impact and affect the registry. So it’s a good idea to review everything and don’t hesitate to reach out if you want us to confirm that everything is still running smoothly. 
• Check your product feed: Ensure we are capturing all your latest assortments. This is especially important if you have had an inflow of new merchandise and/or made many pricing changes.
• Inform us of any planned changes to your website: Depending on what you are doing, seemingly unconnected actions could alter a customer registry experience. Working in partnership we can preempt any risk of a disruption to seamless customer service.
• Share changes in your store operations: For those of you with physical stores, we strongly encourage you to make them an integral part of your registry service. Let us know if you have a (new) store to add or make a store move. That way we can ensure that the latest store data is in our system and we properly connect customer activity (both registry creation and gift purchasing) to you.
• Confirm your registry reflects your commitment to all relevant celebratory occasions. Per last month’s blog, reach out if you want our help to update the event types you offer to registrants or need guidance on how to enhance the registry presentation on your site or in-store.

• Stay Current on Our Software Updates: In response to changes we see going on across the industry, we are constantly adjusting our software and adding new features. Be sure to revisit the monthly ‘What’s New’ emails we send that share recent software enhancements we make. These quick posts keep you apprised of any upgrades or new tools now available to you. While not every enhancement will apply to you, don’t miss a chance to learn what is going on.
• Changes happen for all sorts of reasons: For instance, we see growing concerns for customer data privacy and new changes ,may be coming from your website platform provider, and we are constantly working to keep your registry totally aligned and seamlessly working so be aware of it all.
• New enhancements can also address changing customer expectations: Ever mindful that today’s customer constantly raises the service bar, we also look for ways to provide you with more tools and features. 
• Never hesitate to reach out with new service ideas that can help you; we are happy to explore possibilities and add new ideas to our pipeline.

Revisit Customer-Facing Programs as Well

We also suggest that you take this opportunity to revisit some of the customer-facing programs that can work for you. Often discussed in other blogs and a subject raised whenever we meet with partners, we can’t resist another quick mention here.

• Revisit how you take advantage of the marketing assets you have in place.
• Registry page content in the ‘white space’ below the hero image is your opportunity to feature what makes you such a great registry resource. Information here can evolve over time, but always be sure to focus on the ‘giftability’ of your products and all the services, benefits, etc. you surround them with. Overlay any special registry user perks and you set up the potential for registry users to become a powerful marketing tool for you.(It’s especially timely to spotlight the support you can provide for all the spring and early summer gifting occasions.)
• Registry messaging across your existing marketing programs and consumer communications is integral to establishing your registry as a valued customer service. Whether it’s a quick one line mention or a dedicated story touting the benefits of using your registry, look for opportunities to weave registry reinforcement across wherever you can—in your emails, social posts, store signage and any other marketing platforms you regularly use.

• Use our marketing programs and tools: While the key to strong registry activity is to leverage your current marketing and business activities so customers who come to your site or visit your store know you have this gifting service, don’t forget that we can overlay some additional marketing support. As an added value to your software, our programs are designed to give your brand and products some extended market visibility through display on our website and social media. 
• On our site, we offer opportunities to present products on gift idea boards and include your brand among our store favorites. With both, we look to engage customers and drive them to your site to take actions that can lead to more registry activity and sales.
• Similarly, our social media platforms offer a chance to repost content you share throughout the year. We will also periodically create a post for you.

With all sorts of gifting going on in coming months, we just want to make sure that your registry will deliver the seamless experience your customers expect. Follow these tips and watch your flourish. And if you have any questions, we’re always available at marketingguru@myregistry.com.