Gift Services – Another Tool for Value Added Selling

In the online world, buying and gift giving occurs 365 days a year, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day all over the world. Customers can purchase a product as a gift just about any time – it might be any holiday, a birthday, or just because. For example, one of my favorite gifts to give is tools. Sellers in the Selling on Amazon program have access to a couple of options for adding value for the gift-buying customer: Gift Messaging and Gift-Wrap.

Gift Messaging – there is no cost to set up and implement, but you must be able to handle the fulfillment side. How you do that depends on your business model and your customer service capabilities, but it could be as simple as a note on the invoice. If you utilize the packing slip in the Manage Orders feature, it’s taken care of in that system! More robust gift messaging might include ensuring that the dollar value is removed or covered on any packing invoice and inclusion of the gift message on an insert or card.
How fun to receive a special toolbox with a note from the gift giver!

 

Gift-Wrap – also no cost to set up and implement, but again, the success is all in the ability to fulfill the request. In this case, it means having appropriate gift wrapping materials and the ability to provide a nice looking package.

    
Didn’t know about these? Check it out in Seller Central: just a few clicks to the Gift Options tools – from the Settings tab choose Advanced Features and click on Gift Options.  You may choose to enable Gift Messaging or Gift-Wrap or both, and you’ll note that both default to disabled. When you enable Gift Messaging, choose to enable it so that it will display for each individual item or the entire order. Enabling Gift Wrap is by item only.

Don’t stop here – there is another step. You must inform the system which products are eligible for Gift Messaging and/or Gift-Wrap. You may choose to offer for all products, or you may exclude some. This can be done one-by-one in the Manage Inventory tool or in bulk through the gift fields in your uploads. Then the system knows that the product is:

a) eligible for Gift Messaging and/or Gift-Wrap and
b) that you have enabled Gift Messaging and/or Gift-Wrap as a service.

Note: If you receive your reports in text file format, enabling Gift Messaging or Gift-Wrap will permanently add new data columns to your Orders Report and your Settlement Report.

When offering Gift-Wrap, it is a best practice to prepare sample images of the Gift-Wrap choices. After all, it’s nice to know what the wrap will look like before buying. With up to 4 options, it might appear as shown in the example below or any combination of one or more options that you support. (Actual image size for upload must be 71x71 pixels.) You may choose to offer free wrap (price= 0), or set a price per Gift-Wrap option. Perhaps you already have a wrap that reflects your company and makes a special statement about buying from you – everything in your company colors, for instance.

About gift services – to tie a bow on this option, be sure to include your gift services features in Your Information & Policies. The fact that you offer gift services will be displayed on your At a Glance page on Amazon.com and the details will appear in the Seller Help tab there. Example help info: you could mention that gift messages are free and will be included on the packing slip, or you might explain that customers may choose gift wrap at checkout and what it will look like. Or maybe you explain that the customer will automatically get your signature box for free but may pay extra for their choice of other wrap. Whatever the option, let the buyer who is looking for something special know what you can provide. To learn about entering this information and more in your Info & Policies, go to Seller Central help.

Why not check it out? Might be right for your company! For all the details and how to information, read the topic Manage Gift Services in Seller Central.

UPDATE: This is for the Selling on Amazon program used by non-media sellers. The links in the post will take you to those pages only for that program.

Cathi C.

Comments

[Vince LaMonica]

Is the Advanced Settings feature only available for certain Marketplace sellers? I've been doing this for about a year, and my Seller Central has no "Advanced Settings" link to click on. This sounds like a great tip though and I'd love to try it!

/vjl/