4 Considerations To Make Before Selling Gift Boxes & Hampers

If you have an eclectic taste in comforts, refreshments and goodies, putting together a small side business with gift baskets or hampers for the holidays could be a great idea. Perhaps you work for a restaurant or hotel, and you’ve been tasked with putting these together as part of your seasonal sales strategy. We saw this a lot during Covid, but more and more businesses are returning to the joy of putting something special together.

However, while a gift basket or hamper might seem very easy to begin with (you just group like products together, right?) there’s actually a fair amount to consider here. You don’t want the packaging to come loose, the items to be damaged, or for them to not be suitable thanks to poor communications, leading to upset responses.

That’s why below, we hope the following suggested considerations can help you avoid any of those pitfalls and more. Without further ado, let’s begin:

Define Your Target Market Clearly

It’s important to make the hamper for customers, not yourself or even what your loved one thinks, as your wine-loving aunt probably won’t excite your teenage nephew or a customer like them. Gift baskets will generally be easier to put together when you know exactly who you’re trying to please, so spend some time figuring out whether you’re targeting corporate clients, busy parents, food enthusiasts, or whoever else is likely to buy.

Corporate gift baskets have completely different standards of taste compared to those gifted between friends, for example. They need to look more professional, won’t offend anyone with off-colour cards or jokes, and ideally have their branding somewhere. 

Alternatively, personal gift buyers are looking for something more thoughtful and unique that shows they put effort into choosing something special. Trying to appeal to both markets with the same products usually means you end up satisfying neither group well.

Think about price points too, because there’s a massive difference between someone wanting to spend $25 on a teacher’s gift and someone looking for a$£150 luxury hamper for their boss. Your target market is essential.

Plan Seasonal & Year-Round Offerings

Christmas and Easter are obvious gift basket seasons, but limiting yourself to major holidays can often cause you to miss out on steady income throughout the year. Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day, graduation season, and back-to-school periods are all opportunities if you think creatively about what people might want.

Corporate markets often need gifts year-round for client appreciation, employee recognition, or welcoming new hires as well. Additionally, summer picnic baskets, autumn comfort food collections, or spring cleaning motivation packages can all work if you position them right. You need a little soul and spark to plan for the seasonal moods people have, but you can certainly achieve it.

Source Reliable & Quality Products

With any gift basket or hamper, your reputation lives and dies on the quality of what goes into your baskets, so don’t get tempted by cheap suppliers who might let you down when you need them most. Finding reliable producers who can consistently deliver good products is going to be a golden approach, but the real balance here is finding those you can make a profit with and those that speak to the quality of your goods. It’s a balancing act from product to product but you can do it.

We’d suggest that local suppliers can be brilliant for gift baskets, because people love supporting regional businesses, and you can often get products that aren’t available everywhere else. Some examples will include artisan chocolates, local wines, handmade preserves, or baked goods, as these can all add character. You just have to build relationships with such vendors and make sure they approve of your hamper. They may want you to advertise them in the sale. If they decline, don’t ship them.

Always Plan For Packaging & Delivery Costs

Pretty baskets and ribbons cost money of course, so don’t underestimate how much proper packaging materials will cost, especially if you want your baskets to arrive looking as good as when they left your hands.

Shipping costs can absolutely kill your margins if you don’t plan carefully, particularly for heavier baskets or items that need temperature control. Wine, chocolates, and fresh foods all have special shipping needs too, and they can bump up delivery costs if you fail to decide whether you’re building these costs into your prices or charging separately for shipping. Either way, customers need to know what they’re paying upfront. Also remember that shipping alcohol over the holidays may need its own preventive measures to get right.