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Marketers: Are You Making the Most of Your Gifting Potential?
New Unity Marketing study reveals that $1 out of eery $10 spent at a GAFO store is used to buy a gift --

Marketer Edible Arrangements uses consumer insights to grow their gifting business

Stevens, PA May 15, 2010 -- The need to buy a gift is an important reason why people go shopping. That makes the gifting consumer market an important part of the retail economy. An estimated $1 out of every $10 spent in a GAFO store is made to buy a gift, according to a new Unity Marketing study of the gifting market, The Gifting Report 2010: The Ultimate Guide to the Consumer Gift-Giving Market.

While most marketers pay careful attention to the gifting opportunities of the year's major holidays, many overlook those gift-giving occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, baby showers and friendship/just because gifts that occur randomly year-round. "Marketers miss the sales opportunities in gift occasions because they haven't done the research to uncover gifting's hidden potential," says Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing and lead researcher on the new gifting study.

To illustrate the missed opportunity presented in these random gifting occasions, Danziger says, "Some 44 percent of the average gift buyers budget is spent on these personal gifting occasions. Marketers that tap the potential in the gifting market can boost their share of gifters' revenues throughout the year, not just at holiday time. Smart marketers put their best gift-foot forward year round."

Danziger points to Pier 1 Imports as a marketer that is strategically taking advantage of their gifting opportunities by offering shoppers a carefully edited, but very attractive, selection of gift cards and wrapping accessories near the cash wrap desks. She also names Edible Arrangement as a marketer that has done its home work in the gifting market to grow their business.

Edible Arrangements uses consumer research to build their brand and boost their share of the gifting market

Danziger explains, "In a recent Ad Age article Edible Arrangement's VP Marketing, Stephen Thomas, explains how consumer research uncovered the gifting potential for their edible fresh fruit arrangements among men at Valentine's Day. Previously the company's marketing efforts were directed toward the core customer of women, 25-to-54 years. But the company's new Valentine's Day strategy using ESPN and other male-skewing media boosted their Valentine orders, 25 percent of which were attributed to the new men's strategy." A copy of the Ad Age profile is available through this link: http://bit.ly/bnqv0W

In the article Thomas also explains the company's on-going commitment to consumer research which includes focus groups among both customers and non-customers and an ongoing consumer tracking study that involves talking with 2,400 consumers each year.

Danziger explains, "Consumer research is a major investment for Edible Arrangements which pays back mightily in terms of new insights and new marketing initiatives. Many companies, however, can't afford to make the major investment in their own custom tracking study or haven't yet discovered how the right research can pay back in building their businesses. That is why Unity Marketing's syndicated study of the gifting market is a smart investment for marketers who don't want to miss any more opportunities to grow their business by ignoring the gifting market."

To put the investment in the new gifting study in perspective, Danziger says that the subscription price of the report is less than half of what a single focus group costs and it gives results of a survey with some 1,680 active gift buyers vs. a focus group which includes the opinions of only 10-12 people. Danziger concludes, "Marketing starts with understanding the customer and understanding the customer requires research."

To sample the power of the Gifting Report, here is a link to download the list of the top gift selections for 2009. http://bit.ly/9evQRu

Learn more about the new Gifting Report 2010:

What Gifts People Give
What Holidays and Occasions They Gift
Where They Shop for Gifts
How Much They Spend
Opportunities for Marketers to Target the Gifting Market

The gifting market -- defined as items or experiences purchased to give as a gift -- represents roughly $1 out of every $10 spent at the GAFO-type of store. Buying and shopping for gifts is a big business.

What's more, making a gift purchase is an important motivator for retail shopping throughout the year, but most especially in the Christmas holiday gift buying season which officially kicks off the Friday after Thanksgiving. Called 'Black Friday' this day is so named because it marks the period when retailers go from being in the red (i.e., posting a loss on the books) to being in the black (i.e., turning a profit).

Commenting on the importance of gift shopping to the U.S. economy, Lee Eisenberg in his book Shoptimism: Why the American Consumer Will Keep on Buying No Matter What writes: "The gifts we give, to others or to ourselves, add up to one enormous gift to the Sell Side. Each of us, on average, spends a couple of thousand dollars a year on gifts, roughly half of it during the 'Hard Eight,' that is, the eight-week holiday shopping season."

Consumer research that focuses on gifting (i.e. 'verb'), not the gift (i.e. 'noun')

Gift shopping is the ultimate in 'emotional consumerism,' since gift giving is all about emotionally connecting gift givers and gift recipients. Whenever consumer shopping behavior is driven by emotion, the overall goal of the shopping experience is for the customer to buy a thing in order to achieve a special feeling, enhance an experience or to deepen an emotional reaction. In other words, the gift itself (i.e. 'noun') is the means to an end, and that end is to strengthen the emotional connection between individuals. The challenge for gift retailers and gift marketers, then, is how to enhance the 'gifting' experience (i.e. 'verb'). As a result, gifting is the topic under investigation in this research study.

This report is a totally new look at the gift-giving practices and shopping behaviors of Americans

The current report is a totally new look at the gift-giving practices and shopping behaviors of Americans. Building upon previous research conducted on the gifting market, this study presents an expanded view of consumers' gift buying and giving behavior based upon a survey of 1,680 gift buyers. Intended for marketers and retailers that tap the gift market, this report presents:

Gifting behavior by holiday and occasion: Key characteristics of the gifting market, such as on what holidays and occasions consumers buy gifts, how many people they buy gifts for and their relationship with the gift recipient, such as spouse, child, close family member, etc. and how much they spend. This report also reveals what range of products people choose for gifts, what drives their selection of particular gifts and what drives their selection of stores to shop for gifts.

Demographics of the gifting market: How many households buy gifts, how much they spend by key demographics, and the key different demographic segments within the gifts market (e.g. HHI, age, size, composition, education, etc.)

Gifts market buying behavior: What are the primary characteristics of the consumers' buying behavior related to different gifts? What makes a good gift? What attributes and qualities make gifters want to buy? Where do they shop for these items; how do they decide to purchase one item over another? What is the role of brand in gifting buying behavior? What is the purchase incidence and spending on key categories of gifts?

Psychographic profile and segmentation of the gifting market: The psychographic profile of gift consumers reveals their different drives and motivations in purchasing gifts. What factors are more or less important in driving gift purchasing decisions? How can gifts marketers and retailers better understand the hearts and minds of their consumers and use that insight to capture a greater share of the consumers' gifting budget? In essence we reveal "why people buy gifts."

New data collected on gift recipients gives a whole new perspective to the gift research

This report includes brand new gifting data, such as the primary gift recipients for each holiday and occasion. For example, about half of the Valentine's Day gifts bought are intended for children. Who knew?

New data points in this study include:

Gift recipients for each holiday and gift occasions: Not only is the number of people gifts are bought for collected, but also what the gift givers relationship is with those gift recipients, specifically gifts for your spouse/significant other; child(ren); close family member, such as mother, father, sibling, grandparent; other family member such as aunt, uncle, nephew, niece; close personal friend; child's friend; casual friend; co-worker; child's teacher, sitter; service provider, such as personal trainer, hair stylists, etc.

Analysis of the household's primary gift givers: In the survey respondents were asked whether they were the person in their household primarily responsible for gift purchases. With over 80 percent of the sample comprised of 'primary gift givers,' this provides a view to an even more selected and engaged target market.

Deep dive into Christmas gift and Birthday gift buying behavior: This year for the first time detail data is collected about each product gift bought for Christmas and birthday gift giving, plus where people shopped for each of those gifts. This data allows marketers to determine whether people's shopping behavior is different for these two most important gift shopping experiences and the other gift holidays and occasions throughout the year.

Gift choices ranked as 'go to' gift category: Data is collected about 10 different gift categories, such as personal care items, giftables, consumables, electronics and more and nearly 100 individiual product and experience categories, such as candles, DVDs, women's fine jewelry, kitchenware and more. Further each of the ten categories is ranked as to whether it is one's favorite 'go to' gift category, good for most people and most occasions; appropriate for some people and some occasions only; or something the rarely or ever gift as a gift.

Types of stores ranked as their 'go to' source for gift shopping: Nearly 40 different types of stores and other shopping venues are tracked in this report, broken into three major categories of shopping venues: General merchandise stores; non-store retailers, internet, catalogs, TV shopping, etc.; and specialty retailers, include book stores, food stores, drug stores, electronics store and many others. And each of the 38 stores included in this report are ranked by respondents as either their 'go to' destination for gift purchases; appropriate only for occasions and some people; and stores where one rarely shops for gifts.

Brands ranked as good to give as gifts: Not only is brands that people purchase for gifts and stores where they shopped for gifts recorded, but in this survey more than 20 brands are ranked as to whether they are good to give as a gift or not.

Internet as a source for gift shopping: For those respondents who had used the internet to buy gifts in the past year, an additional series of questions were included to gather more details about how they used the internet and their satisfaction in using the internet for gift shopping. A list of websites were rated as a source for gifts as well.

Nearly 100 Specific Gift Products Are Included

Nearly 100 specific categories of gift items within nine major categories of goods and services are detailed. The major categories of gifts include:

Consumables (such as food, candy, wine, gift baskets, etc.)
Clothing and/or fashion accessories (such as handbags, shoes, wallets, etc.)
Jewelry and/or watches
Personal care products (such as cosmetics, perfumes, bath products, etc.)
Home furnishings and household operations products (such as home furnishings, decorative accents, housewares, home textiles, china, glass and tableware, small household appliances)
Giftables (such as flowers, candles, figurines, collectibles, greeting cards, stationery, crafting kits and supplies, seasonal decorations, gifts for pets and/or other popular gift-type items)
Books, Recreation Goods and other Non-digital/Electronic Entertainment Goods (such as books, sporting goods, games, puzzles, etc. Not electronics.)
Electronics (personal electronics, such as cell phones, PDA's, MP3 players, cameras and photographic equipment, personal computers, as well as home electronics, such as video/audio, DVD's and entertainment equipment, home computer systems, Wii and electronic games, etc.)
Store gift certificate and/or gift of cash, by type of store
Gifts of experience (such as spa treatments, dining and restaurants, vacations, trips, travel, special events, etc. which are often presented as a gift card or gift certificate)