With a hint of spring in the air and many pandemic restrictions easing, it’s no surprise that we’re all eager to spring ahead and restore more normalcy to our lives. And that normalcy shines a spotlight on gifting. 

You’ve heard me mention that we expect to see extraordinarily high levels of gift giving as celebrations of all types resume and bring more people together. That spells opportunity in the post-pandemic world.

Here we’d like to focus on some new attitudes that consumers have adopted, while noting that they nicely reinforce the benefits of using a wedding registry, baby registry, or other occasion gift list. Reflect these new mindsets in your registry marketing and you give customers more reasons to create a registry with your products for their upcoming celebrations.  

See for yourself how these reasons tie in nicely with gift registry. Regardless of your product assortment, you can craft a message that works. And we’re always here to be a resource and support you along the way.

Help Me Avoid Stress Whenever Possible

A registry by design is a stress buster. These past two years have heightened a desire in most of us to minimize, even avoid, stress whenever possible. Your gift registry delivers on this desire. Creating and sharing a gift list makes it easy for a registrant to let others know just what they want, and gift givers can then shop confidently and save time too. Give this idea top billing as you describe your registry’s benefits.

Now, focus on products and product features that relieve stress. It’s a good time to feature products—or their attributes—that make it easier to get organized, stay organized, even provide a calming mood. Sharing tips on how a product can help the registrant keep their life hassle-free is another big plus these days.

Whatever the nature of your core business and products, you can focus on stress relief. Here are a few thoughts to get your creative juices flowing:

• Everyone appreciates products that help them avoid clutter and mess.
• Similarly, products with timers and other automated features let customers plan ahead.
• Specifically for parents of new babies or young kids, recommend safety-oriented products (monitors, safety gates) or toys that keep the little ones happily and safely engaged.
• There’s even a chance to add smaller giftables like candles and room diffusers—perfect for housewarmings, birthdays, and shower gifts.
• Exercise and fitness products are also appealing.

Give Me Convenience and Service

A natural complement to stress avoidance is a desire for convenience. And nothing makes gifting more convenient than a registry. So while your registry is already a perfect solution, you can take it even further.

• Share tips and advice to guide list creation. Not only are suggestions of must-have items and useful quantities helpful, but “How to use” and “How to care for” tips also make it easier to focus on products that best fit the registrant’s needs. 
• The universal feature of your registry software offers customers even more convenience. You show you support the ability to easily combine their favorites from you with complementary gifts from others to create one shareable, shoppable list that’s easy for gift givers to use too.

Recognize that convenience takes many forms. A recent study by Kantar and Catalyst found that 66 percent of consumers choose where to shop based on convenience. Not just the convenience of physical stores, but the overall ease of shopping a website and receiving purchases. So aside from core registry features that keep gifting easy, this is your opportunity to remind registry users of the services you offer every day that enhance the ease of shopping with you. Services that save time and simplify shopping will be especially valued during busy gift planning time.

• If you have a store:
• Continue to remind customers of conveniences like curbside pickup, BOPUS (buy online, pick up in/at store), even free local delivery.
• Consider flexible store hours.
• Share personal consultation services as appropriate. Alternatively, if your store model relies on self-service, make sure checkout is reliably easy.        

• Online chats and content to advise registrants creating gift lists lets them make thoughtful choices in a more expedient way.
• Always make returns easy.
• Amenities like gift wrap and gift cards add a finishing touch and relieve gift givers of these extra steps.

Make It My Way

Personalization is valued. We see growing interest in asserting individuality, and it’s been reflected in a desire for personalized products. One immediately thinks of items that can be monogrammed, and such touches always enhance a gift.

Customers want what they want, so make it personal. While monogramming is great, there’s another way to think about this: helping a customer curate a list of products that express their unique sense of style or interests. A registry is the perfect way to share individual preferences or a mix-and-match approach—and ensure gift givers that they’re buying something truly valued. Regardless of your product offering, you can reinforce this.

Let Me Show Support for the World Around Us

Gifts that pay it forward are desirable. Consumers are more conscious than ever about how their lifestyle choices affect the world around them. This attitude is shaping decisions to avoid waste, be more environmentally aware, even choose homemade, artisan-made, or American-made products. Depending on your business, consider:

• Products that are sustainable, organic, or made from recycled materials make customers feel thoughtful about choices. However, the price-value proposition must still be competitive.
• Similarly, a product that’s more efficient (saving water or power, for example) is appreciated.
• Tied into more social consciousness, items that benefit underserved populations are appealing and can also align with that desire for more personalized style.

Alternatively, there’s interest in quality products that will endure and retain value. While not looking to necessarily create future antiques, customers are moving away from “fast fashion” or items that will pile up in landfills.

What We Like Most About All These Tips

They leverage what you’re already doing, so they won’t require significant new investment to show your registry is perfectly aligned with today’s consumer. 

• Focus on the ease and convenience of using a registry to select and share gifts.
• Tie in services that you always offer that make shopping both easy and safe.
• Encourage customers to create a gift list that uniquely reflects them and their desire to surround themselves with products and services that support their lifestyle.
• Spotlight products and features that are earth-friendly and/or support a worthy cause.

As you continue to develop your 2022 gift registry marketing plans, let us know if we can help. We can always be reached at marketingguru@myregistry.com.
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