Business with a creative approach: how to open a gift shop.

The consumer culture has taught people to give each other gifts. Regardless of their financial situation, people still give gifts to their friends and family. The only difference is the cost of the gift. In this article we will tell you how to make money on this, namely how to open a gift and souvenir store.

Store format

There are three formats of the gift store: handmade gifts, souvenirs, and impression gifts. Depending on the size of your budget, the format of the store that can be opened is determined. The chosen format will also determine the marketing plan and profit. Let's take a closer look at these formats.

Handmade gifts

The option to open a handmade gift shop is the simplest. It involves selling handmade products that you can make yourself if you have handicraft skills and do not have a large budget.

Handmade gifts have an unusual design that conveys a feeling of warmth, love and care.

The assortment of handmade gift shops may look like this:

• Notepads and notebooks
• Knitted clothes
• Bags
• Sweets
• Accessories
• Figurines
• Simple souvenirs

To completely reduce costs and open a gift store from scratch, you can not rent expensive premises in a shopping center, but simply create a VKontakte page. With it, you will attract potential buyers and send goods by mail or using a delivery service.

Gift shop

This format assumes a standard gift shop with a large and varied assortment. In such a store you will find balloons, gift wrapping, and a variety of gift options for men, women, parents, and grandparents.

The most important thing in a business plan for a gift shop is choosing a good location. The number of visitors to your business and, accordingly, monthly profit will depend on this.

As a rule, souvenir products are not large in size, such as household appliances. Therefore, we can save a lot on renting premises. In this case, a small room measuring 10-25 sq.m. is suitable for us. Most of the products will be stored in display cases, so most of the space is allocated to the retail space. It’s still worth leaving a couple of square meters for storage.

Gifts of impressions

The third format of the gift store is the most unusual. Experience gifts are certificates that provide the opportunity to participate in something unusual.

The following certificates exist:

• Parachute jump
• ATV ride
• Expedition to the mountains
• Spa treatments
• Hot Air Balloon Flight
• Training flight on an airplane
• And others

To organize such a business, first of all you must agree with other companies to provide services. Then you print certificates and envelopes for them. The final and most difficult step will be distributing the certificates.

The most popular options for distributing such certificates are the following:

• Open your own small retail outlet
• Provide certificates to other gift stores
• Sell ​​online

Business registration

Once you have decided on the format of the store, you need to figure out how to officially register the business. To do this, you need to register an LLC or individual entrepreneur. For small souvenir shops, we recommend registering an individual entrepreneur, since the paperwork procedure will be much simpler.

OKVED of gift and souvenir shop:

• 78 “Other retail trade in specialized stores”
• 82.92 “Activities for packaging goods”

As for the second code 82.92, we will definitely need it. People may buy items as gifts that you don't sell. For example, a mobile phone or perfume. And to wrap the gift in beautiful paper and pack it colorfully, they will come to you.

Looking ahead a little, we will tell you about the stages of business registration that you also have to go through:

• Prepare a consumer corner where he can study your documents and leave feedback
• Register a cash register

There are no more difficulties in registering a store.

How to choose a room for a gift and souvenir shop?

If you are going to open a gift shop, then first of all, when choosing a premises, you should look at how it is decorated. The premises must be decorated as a retail space; if this has not been done before you, then you will have to do the decoration yourself, and this can take a lot of time.

The second thing to look at is the location. In tourist cities (St. Petersburg, Sochi, etc.) it is worth opening near the largest flow of tourists. For example, near train stations, beaches or hotels. Tourists love to buy magnets and other gifts for their family and friends who are waiting for them at home.

In non-tourist cities, the best option would be to open a business in a shopping center. Typically, premises in shopping centers are already decorated as retail, so you don’t have to deal with the decoration yourself.

For full-fledged work, we will need a small room in which we will need to make simple cosmetic repairs. Repairs will cost from 100 to 200 thousand rubles, depending on the original condition of the premises.

Analyze your competitors!

Your business plan for a gift and souvenir store must include a paragraph in which you will analyze your competitors in detail.

In this niche it is very difficult to fight competitors; the war becomes senseless and merciless. Therefore, we highly recommend finding a place where you will not have competitors.

Regardless of whether you plan to open next to your competitors or not, be sure to analyze other gift and souvenir stores. Look at how sellers serve customers, what assortment do they have, what additional services do they provide, what manufacturers do they cooperate with? All this will help you identify the weaknesses or strengths of your competitors and make your own business better and stronger.

If you are going to open next to your competitors, then the only way in this niche to lure buyers to you is a large assortment. As a result of increasing the assortment, the premises and rent will also increase, and if the demand for gift products at a given point is insufficient, then your business may bring too little profit or even work in the red. Therefore, this step is very risky.

What equipment will we need?

The business plan for a gift and souvenir store does not include a huge list of necessary equipment, without which the business cannot exist. In this case, everything is quite simple and cheap.

160,000 rubles will be enough to buy all the necessary equipment. If you buy used goods on Avito, the amount may be half as much.

Store assortment

The assortment of a gift shop depends on whether you are opening in a tourist city or not. If it’s for tourism, then the souvenirs should be themed: magnets, notebooks and other goods with the symbols of the city.

If you want to open a gift store in an ordinary city, then we will have a standard assortment that can be found at any competitor in your city.

The store's assortment is divided into the following categories:

• Travel gifts
• Handmade gifts
• Cheap souvenirs
• Expensive souvenirs
• Dishes
• Decorations
• Interior items
• Business souvenirs
• Gifts of impressions

The first batch of goods will cost you approximately 250-350 thousand rubles. When purchasing, focus on the category of cheap goods, as they will generate the greatest income.

All products must have quality certificates, so choose your suppliers carefully.

To attract the attention of potential buyers, place some unusual product in the window. For example, you can buy a huge dog measuring from floor to ceiling, which will cost 50,000 rubles. Most likely no one will ever buy it, but it will attract attention to your store and thereby increase the number of visitors.

As mentioned earlier, gift wrapping of goods brings good profits. Therefore, you must definitely purchase colored paper and bows.

Holidays

Always be prepared for any holiday. These days, the number of buyers will increase by 1.5-5 times, depending on the holiday. You must be prepared for this and purchase a large number of goods in advance.

It is especially difficult to predict how much demand will increase in the first year of operation. Perhaps in the first year you will purchase too much, or vice versa, too little, but already in the second year of your business you will have enough experience to make more accurate forecasts.

Additional services

You can diversify the standard assortment of a souvenir shop by providing additional services. Additional services include regular home delivery or come up with something unusual.

Unusual services involve you partnering with other businesses. For example, with the help of your outlet you can organize decorating your apartment with flowers, creating a romantic atmosphere, inviting Santa Claus to your home, and others. Clients will come to you for a service, and you will transfer applications to other organizations and receive a percentage for this.

Store employees

Please note that the souvenir and gift shop must be open seven days a week. For a small store, it will be enough for us to hire two salespeople who will work in shifts.

People love to give each other gifts and this is an important thing in their lives. Therefore, sellers must maintain an atmosphere of celebration and celebration. They don't have to be comedians, but at least they should look more positive than prison inmates.

Also, we will need a cleaning lady.

In the first months after opening, you can work as a salesperson yourself. This way, you will kill two birds with one stone: you will save money and see your customers in the eyes. Daily communication with customers can give you new ideas on assortment, room layout or some other issues related to your business.

You can take on the responsibilities of an accountant. If you don’t have time for this, you can hire a freelancer every month and pay him 5,000 rubles.

Gift shop advertisement

All you need to do is make a beautiful and attractive sign.

I tried to sell different groups of goods and I want to note that the souvenir assortment has a number of clear advantages. Unlike food and, for example, cosmetics, cute trinkets do not spoil and do not have a sell-by date.

Souvenirs do not need to be certified, there is no need to obtain special permits to trade these products, and the seller does not have to issue a health certificate. And although souvenirs are not essential items or goods in high demand, they sell well, and the relatively small turnover can be more than compensated for by high profitability.

Souvenirs “tourist” and “gift”

In my opinion, it is these two categories that souvenir products are primarily divided into. There are, however, also promotional souvenirs, but as a rule, they are not sold at retail. However, some products are equally well bought by guests of the city as souvenirs, and as gifts by the natives. An example is souvenir mugs with images of architectural monuments or views of the pearls of local nature. And, let’s say, Gzhel porcelain in the Ramensky district of the Moscow region will be a “dual-use” product, and in other places it will be primarily a gift item.

Of course, sometimes tourists willingly buy souvenirs that have nothing to do with local attractions, simply as gifts for loved ones. And yet, IMHO, the conditional division of the assortment into the two above-mentioned categories remains relevant.

Taking a foothold is the basis for business success

In retail trade, a good location of a retail outlet is one of the main conditions for profitable work. Of course, there are exceptions: if you sell something exclusive and at the same time desperately needed by people, they are ready to come to you on the other side of the city with two transfers. No one will chase souvenirs like that; they are already sold at every turn. To sell “tourist” products, you should choose sites near local attractions. It is advisable to first observe whether excursions stop at this place for a time sufficient to make purchases, or whether tourists are quickly “driven” further along the route.

Gifts are good to sell in large shopping centers, in the sales areas of large grocery stores, on pedestrian streets and at intersections of major passenger flows. The only trouble is that all the “bread” places are usually occupied by competitors for a long time and firmly, and if they are suddenly free, then astronomical sums are asked for rent (this fully applies to the approaches to tourist sites). Instead of a souvenir kiosk or department, you can try opening a trade from a portable tray or using a collapsible tent. But it is sometimes very difficult to obtain permission from local authorities to operate such a retail outlet (which, however, does not mean it is impossible).

There is another option: do not look for a permanent place for yourself, but take part in various exhibitions, fairs and folk festivals on the occasion of major and minor holidays. Here you need to carefully monitor the calendar of events and contact the event organizers in advance for approval of your participation.

Where to buy or order souvenirs for sale

It’s easier with souvenirs of a “gift” nature. You can create a wide assortment on the wholesale market or in the warehouse of almost any specialized company, something can be purchased from individual artisans (one thing does not interfere with another). An independent trip to China for cheaper souvenirs is too expensive for a novice trader.

With the “tourist” assortment it is more difficult. The attractions of some (especially small) settlements may be very poorly reflected or not indicated at all in the souvenir products offered in bulk. Then you have to turn to the services of manufacturing companies that produce custom souvenirs. And here the price of the product VERY STRONGLY depends on the size of the batch; the difference can exceed 100%. The best prices are sometimes offered not by manufacturers, but by intermediaries who place customer orders with their Chinese partners, but in this case we are usually talking about a thousand or even several thousand units, and the production time is several months. However, you can invest decent amounts in one or two items of goods only when ordering the most popular souvenirs.

A good solution may be to purchase components for souvenirs with a printed insert. With minimal skills, you can design the pictures yourself, and print them even on a home color printer (although, most likely, professional design and printing will give better results).

What souvenirs to choose

Which direction is better to choose - tourist or purely gift - depends primarily on the “place in the sun” that you manage to stake out. Although, if retail space and working capital allow, it makes sense to cover both in some reasonable ratio. To begin with, you should try to include a variety of souvenirs in your assortment, so that later you can decide on the most relevant ones. A variety of refrigerator magnets, key chains, souvenir plates and mugs, lighters, flasks, and products made from natural materials (wood, clay, straw, leather) sell well.

Should you mostly buy a cheap product or a more expensive one? Practice shows that goods in the mid-price category are usually in best demand. Expensive products will definitely sell poorly from a street stall - for substantial gifts, the buyer goes to more respectable retail outlets.

It should be remembered that souvenirs most often do not have utilitarian value, and therefore a significant portion of buyers may not appreciate the particularly high quality of the product, and people will regret the extra money. The same applies to the artistic level of souvenir design - unfortunately, few people have a developed aesthetic taste, and sometimes tasteless crafts sell much better than high-quality design developments. And at the same time, there is a certain stable demand for original handmade products.

Particular attention should be paid to the packaging. Properly packaged goods look and buy much better, and are less likely to deteriorate during transportation. Gift wrapping can sell well on its own; some people build their business on gift wrapping.

Competitors, let's live together!

Competition in the souvenir trade is quite strong - near the same tourist sites you can sometimes count dozens of kiosks and stalls. Sometimes the struggle for buyers takes the form of dumping wars, and as a result, all traders lose their profits. Isn't it better to have a coordinated pricing policy?! After all, tourists, and in the pre-holiday rush for gifts, most of our fellow countrymen are ready to fork out the full amount. And it is unknown whether it will be possible to sell so much more goods at reduced prices to compensate for the loss in profitability.

From personal experience I can give an example of successful cooperation with a competitor. Together we purchase larger quantities of goods and receive discounts. Each of us works with several of our own suppliers, and as a result we both have twice the wide range of products. One person would not be able to organize all these supplies purely physically, and finding a suitable assistant is not easy, and there is a high risk of raising a new competitor.

Souvenir Calendar

It should be borne in mind that the souvenir trade is seasonal. The main flow of tourists occurs from May to August and during the Christmas holidays, and the peak demand for gifts occurs on the eve of the most popular holidays. It is advisable to stock up on souvenirs in advance, otherwise you may be left without goods on hot days. As for purely thematic gifts, such as a symbol of the coming year, there is a high risk of getting large balances of illiquid assets, which you will then have to sell at a loss.

Growing your souvenir business

The logic of any business involves development, the alternative to which is decline. And here you have several ways. You can constantly expand and improve the range, find new suppliers, and develop exclusive souvenir designs. It is possible to open additional retail outlets and/or expand the geography of outbound sales. Or you can try to become a wholesaler, at least a small wholesaler for starters. But this is a topic for another discussion.

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A business selling gifts will be profitable in a city whose population exceeds several hundred. In such cities, such a narrow topic with high-quality advertising and assortment will quickly gain momentum. A business idea can be launched either at home or in a kiosk; There is also an option to create an online store.

Starting a business selling gifts

Starting capital: 40 - 200 thousand rubles;

Monthly profit: 10 - 30 thousand rubles;

Payback: 4 - 10 months.

Perhaps the most expensive way to create a business selling gifts, but very effective. There are options here for renting a room, a boutique, or opening a stall. Either method requires first registering a business and paying rent for the location.

But before starting a business, it is necessary to evaluate the project. If similar business ideas are already on the market, then it’s worth thinking about another way to create a business selling gifts or about a special assortment. With minimal competition, you can move on to the next step in creating a business, namely writing a business plan.

A business plan should answer the following series of questions:

A few answers to questions about the business plan:

An original product includes something that competitors do not have, something that a person can make, and something that a person himself would not think of giving as a gift. There are a huge number of product options and you will have to choose based on the importance of the product and the amount of money to start.

There should be many suppliers, as well as types of goods. We are looking for wholesale points on the Internet, in large cities, connections with China, and in factories producing the relevant product.

We attract clients with high-quality advertising and word of mouth. High quality service, gifts, constant advertising, business cards.

As for risks, they always exist. To minimize risks, you must:

— qualitatively analyze the market before starting;

- if the business does fail, plan B is to create a business at home or sell goods online.

There are several ways to develop a business: constantly expand the range, settle on the golden mean and stick to one level, create additional sources of sales.

This is roughly how a business selling gifts is created in the central part of the city. After the business is launched, initially expand your customer base and assortment. Afterwards you can hire a salesperson and do something else.

Starting a business selling gifts from home

To sell gifts from home, you need to deal exclusively with original large-sized products; It is desirable that these gifts be handmade. This can be painting, portraits, wood carving, embroidery, embossing and engraving. A home business does not require registration at first, so costs are reduced to a minimum. The only thing needed is advertising. Advertising in the newspaper, advertising at bus stops, placing advertising banners and word of mouth will supply you with customers.

Creation of an online store

As for a home business, an online store can be attached to a department. If the city is large, then with the help of the website and social networks you will receive a lot of customers and double the number of sales.

If you decide to create a website for business, then indicate the site address for each advertisement, and also use social networks to find clients.

To avoid registering an online store, use it only as a product catalog. The client selects, books and picks up from the point of sale, paying on the spot. This is exactly how an unregistered online store should work.

Online store for gifts in the form of a surprise

This idea already exists in the USA. The essence of the online store is this: the client pays a certain amount for a gift. What exactly the client bought, he does not know. What he gets will be a surprise. The gift can be anything from a keychain to an iPhone. If you create such a site for surprise gifts in the CIS and properly promote the original business on the market, then the business will gain publicity among millions of people.

Website www.somethingstore.com – surprise gifts.

Whatever option you choose to create a business selling gifts, the main thing is to accurately evaluate the idea, choose the right product and launch advertising. Without competition, the business will be profitable.

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The fashion for unusual gifts has returned again, thereby increasing profits from sales of souvenirs and gifts by 20-25%. Taking into account the statistical data, you can safely open a souvenir and gift shop, the profit of which will grow every year.

In this article, we will look at the business plan for a gift store and find out how profitable this niche is now and whether the market is free.

But before relying on extras, let's look at what it takes to open such a store in more detail. So, in this review, we will together draw up a business plan for a gift and souvenir store with plans for 2018.

Competition

1. Analyze what products competitors offer, what is purchased and how often, price. The information will be taken into account in the business plan. This will allow you to purchase an assortment of gift products with high demand.
2. Pay attention to online gift stores, you can also learn a lot from them: how they conduct a dialogue with the buyer, what they offer, what time frames they deliver. Later, you can emphasize that when you come to your place, you can buy something right away, without waiting for delivery.
3. Study the local market: if an exclusive gift shop already exists in some area, then there will be no point in opening it. There will be revenue, of course, but it’s still not big enough for you to call the business successful. In addition, if a competing store already produces small sales volumes, this does not mean that they are doing something wrong. It is quite possible that this product is simply not in demand in a certain area or city.

There are always a lot of gift shops, so you definitely need to think about how your store will differ from the rest. It would be appropriate to open a business with your own “zest”. You can import products that no one else in the city has. For example, Korean handmade jewelry. Even if their range is not large, there is no need to specialize in this, but it would be nice to mention the availability of such an opportunity.

Location

A very important point in opening a gift shop, of course, is its location. Please note in the business plan that the store should be in a high-traffic area, preferably in the city center or in large shopping centers.

Even if your price is 10-15% higher than that of stores located in another part of the city, people will still buy from you, since more are in the field of view of potential buyers. In addition, based on the psychology of people, they will always go to the center, a crowded place, to buy a good gift, and not buy it somewhere “on the outskirts”.

At the initial stage, it is not necessary to immediately open a large outlet with 5,000 types of gifts and a large square footage. Start small, for example 20 m². We will consider opening such a store in a shopping center with high traffic. The price of such premises will, of course, vary from Moscow to other regions. In the list of business plan expenses, let’s take the average cost - 15,000 rubles per month.

If the room has already been renovated, there is no need to redo it - just decorate it to your taste. Usually, gift shops use their products as decorations, which the customer can immediately buy. You don’t need a designer, you can design everything yourself - focus on the layout and design of existing competitors, personally inspect similar points in your city, look at photographs in Russia and abroad.

Equipment for work

To operate a gift and souvenir shop, you must purchase the following equipment:

1. Computer for accounting - 15,000 rubles. Using it, you can also post updates, new deliveries that come to the store, and their photos on social networks;
2. Cash register - 15,000;
3. Barcoding equipment - 7,000;
4. Various stationery and small necessities - 10,000;
5. Stands for display, cabinets, racks - from 50,000;
6. Other unaccounted expenses - 50,000.

In total, in the business plan, the cost of purchasing equipment will be about 150,000 rubles.

Of course, for any business it is necessary to draw up official papers and register with the tax service. You can open as an individual entrepreneur or an LLC. It will cost from 5,000 to 11,000 inclusive.

Store assortment

Before you open your own business, you need to understand the assortment; thoughtless purchasing of gifts and souvenirs will not give positive results. Maybe these will be goods for everyone or exclusive handmade products, which will be a little higher in price? Depends, first of all, on what competitors sell

If you are aware of trends and know what kind of purchase customers need, and there is no similar store in the area, then feel free to open, since such a business will already be successful due to its individuality, and therefore demand.

Gifts should be for any occasion and for any clients: wedding, birthday, graduation, anniversary and more. Some people like to buy original and unusual gifts for themselves, just because.

Gift products of a wide range (cards, balloons, confetti) are purchased from wholesalers, and exclusive products are purchased from online stores. When taking into account the costs of purchasing assortment in a business plan, do not give preference to the cheapest product names, being tempted by the price. Having bought a gift that immediately breaks in your hands, customers will be disappointed and will tell their friends about you. There is absolutely no need for a business to have a bad reputation; it will quickly affect demand.

Handmade crafts are always welcome; it is wise to open a separate line of goods in the store: handmade soap, jewelry, cards, embroidery and much more. Hand-made goods can be bought directly from manufacturers at a negotiated price, and then sold in a store with a markup. You can work with several local manufacturers at once to find out whose range sells better.

For a traditional souvenir and gift store there should be a markup on products of at least 200%.

The range of goods is expected to be as follows:

The cost of purchasing the assortment is - 76,000 rubles.

Sales income - 1,520,000 rubles.

Staff

If you plan to open a small store, then you can hire a minimum number of employees. Director and two salespeople (shift work).

The director should deal with tasks such as searching for goods, communicating with suppliers, concluding contracts, monitoring deliveries, hiring employees and much more.

Expenses in the business plan for monthly salaries of employees:

1. Director - 30,000 rubles.
2. Seller (2 pcs.) - 40,000 rub.

Total, monthly expenses for paying salaries to employees will amount to 70,000 rubles.

Tax deductions – 21,000 rubles.

Carefully monitor the quality of work of your employees; the success of the gift store directly depends on them. Especially from sellers, who must be as polite as possible and be able to sell well. The buyer comes not only for a gift, but also for the right mood; it is important for him to make sure that he is giving a truly useful and unusual gift.

Store advertising

As advertising, you can use any advertising methods, such as traditional ones - leaflets, banners, opening promotions, as well as online promotion. In your project business plan, you need to make a list of at least 50-100 advertising tools that you will master in the first months.

Use the most basic ones, which do not require any costs - advertising on social networks and among friends. Create groups, post photos of products. You don’t have to hire a professional photographer; you can borrow a good camera from your friends and take pictures yourself.

The name of the store should be memorable so that even people who don’t know about it won’t pass by. You can place a sign or banner at the end of the shopping center, which will cost 10,000.

Costs and payback

Starting investment for opening a souvenir and gift shop:

1. Renting premises - 15,000 rub.;
2. Shop equipment - 150,000 rub.
3. Product range - 76,000 rub.
4. Advertising - 10,000 rub.
5. Opening an individual entrepreneur - 10,000 rub.

Total: 261,000 rubles.

Monthly expenses in a business plan include:

1. Rent for premises - 15,000 rub.;
2. Staff salaries - 70,000 rub.;
3. Tax and social contributions - 21,000 rub.;
4. Product range - 5,000 rub.;
5. Advertising and promotion - 5,000 rub.
6. Income tax - 228,000 rub.

Total: 415,000 rubles.

According to statistics, 20% of the goods sold remain on store shelves, so the real income will be 1,216,000 rubles for 1 calendar month.

Net income: 1 216 000 – 415,000 = 801,000 rubles.

Payback:261 000 /801 000 = 0.3 months.

Risks

The business idea of ​​selling gifts is profitable throughout the year, despite the fact that some consider such a business to be seasonal. If you build a business model correctly, you will have customers at any time of the year. In order to have a good profit, the store should not be narrowly specialized; such a store should have gifts for all occasions (Birthday, New Year and any other holiday).

Implementation of a gift business idea

In many small towns, there is generally a problem with such stores; they simply do not exist, or the selection in such “gift stores” leaves much to be desired. This means that anyone can occupy this niche; moreover, he will not even have serious competitors. But don’t rush, let’s take a step-by-step look at what you need to do in order for such a business to bring you profit. You also need to register as an individual entrepreneur or LLC so that everything is official, as we described how to do this.

Location

The more crowded the place, the better; it can be either the city center, or a place in a shopping center or near the central market.

You need to choose a place again after you have carried out the analysis. The main thing is that this place is not somewhere in difficult terrain.

Store interior

It is not necessary to invest a lot of money in store design, especially at the initial stage. It should be a clean, well-maintained room and nothing more. The main thing is that the buyer can view all your products; for this you need good lighting.

You can divide all the goods into categories, for the New Year, for Birthdays, Valentine's Day and so on, this will greatly simplify the choice for the buyer and he will clearly see what suits him from the assortment.

Staff

The number of staff will directly depend on the size of the store; if it is small, one salesperson will be enough; it is better that at first you act as a salesperson, or at least be in the store, not far from the salesperson.

This is necessary in order to understand what customers like and what they don’t; this can apply to both the assortment and the design of the store.

You can also order a uniform for the seller, this will only give additional recognition to your store among customers.

If there is no store selling gifts in the city, this does not mean that there is no competition in this area. , usually such gifts can be bought at the market where they sell toys, cosmetics, etc.

In addition, an in-depth market analysis will help not only in analyzing competition, you can also understand which product is in great demand, how much the consumer needs such a product, and so on.

Range

The more assortment the better. But to compile an assortment in a specific region, you must first do a market analysis. Whatever the assortment, you must interest your client.

For example, Big bears up to 1 meter 50 cm high, such a gift can be given to a girl on her birthday or on another important date, with such a toy you can get a lot of attention for the store and even make an advertising campaign out of it.

You can use many directions to advertise a toy store. But the best advertising will be the store’s assortment itself; if the store has a really interesting assortment, your regular customers will spread the word about it by word of mouth. But at the initial stage, to get these clients, you will need to conduct a small advertising campaign.

As always, we advise using an integrated approach, that is, combining different types of advertising. For these purposes, we believe that the most effective types of advertising will be the distribution of leaflets (advertising a store in the city center and near the store), word of mouth and, of course, the Internet. The first two are clear, but as for we will talk about it in the step below.

An ideal addition for the store would be to create an electronic version of it and also receive new customers through social networks. Many entrepreneurs have already actively begun to develop the network, but not everyone has started doing this yet, and in vain. By creating a website, you can receive hundreds or even thousands of site views every day, which means dozens of potential clients.

In addition, the social network will give you a connection with your customers, and when you have a big sale, promotion, or just the holiday season has arrived, you can inform them through the group. This is a unique opportunity to keep in touch with customers 24/7, besides, they can ask you questions that interest them, and such things create additional trust in the store.

These are the simple steps you will need to follow to open a store. As you can see, business gift ideas, not so complicated, you only need a little money to rent a room and purchase goods. But if you don’t have money, there is also an option: find a person who makes toys with his own hands and offer him to sell his goods. If you don’t have money for rent, you can start by selling on social networks, so you don’t even need to have initial capital to sell. If you live in a city of up to 1,000,000 people, you may be interested in other business ideas for small cities, read more.