Mail happy on Mothers Day – put some thought into mailing your number 1 gift for mum

Let’s face it, we’ll all be searching online for inspiration for that number 1 gift mum would be proud of this Mother’s Day (in one capacity or another) – but have you stopped to consider how your customers would feel if their beloved mums were to receive their gift either smashed, damaged, late with additional postal charges or have to collect their gift from a depot 10 miles up the road? Remember, that number one gift for Mum on Mother’s Day is a great way to say “I love you and I’m thankful for you” whereas the aforementioned failed delivery is a great way to say “I want a refund, a replacement product and a huge apology!”. You don’t want to be remembered for years to come as “that brand that ruined my mum’s special day”.

Mums deserve better!

Don’t be cheap or lazy when it comes to packaging your customers’ orders destined for proud mothers everywhere. Use packaging that will make Mum proud and shed a tear at how thoughtful and generous her children are. Mothers Day is a BIG revenue earner on the internet. If you’re in the business of selling and posting out gifts, cosmetics, fashion and fashion accessories, cards, flowers, experience days, meals out and much more – then you might want to read on!

Mums vs Dads – no competition (statistically speaking)

According to the Telegraph & VoucherCodesPro, our dear Mums are three times as valuable to internet retailers as our poor old Dads are. The average spend being around £30, it seems that mothers day presents of choice are flowers, chocolates, alcohol, beauty treatments or (as 39% of gents will probably agree) – just a card. In contrast, Dads generally get a DVD, alcohol, a gift voucher, or chocolate. Is this karmic justice for all of those forgotten anniversaries? Let’s not digress …

Some fun stats for Mothers Day 2018

1. Over 1/3 of Brits said that their mum was the most inspirational person in their life. (Cue warm fuzzy feeling…)
2. 1/2 of Brits believe that they’re turning into their mums… (She’s great, but I really hope not.)
3. …and that this occurs when they utter the most-voted mum phrase, “What did your last slave die of?!” (Cringe.)
4. 91% of mums said that they would prefer an iPad over flowers. (This is why our mailbox range, and our breezebox range are in demand this year!)
5. 81% are likely to look for a discount or a voucher on Mother’s Day! (Remember, great offers do not benefit from sub-standard postal packaging…)
6. The average spend on a present for mum is £27.37 (Expensive enough to need protecting with good packaging in the mail.)
7. 1/5 of mums received no gifts for Mother’s Day last year – sort it out, guys! (Guilty your honour.)
8. There are around 30 million cards sent for mothers around Mothering Sunday. (Our envelope range can protect them properly.)
9. Half of us will send our mum a Facebook message instead of a card. (Don’t mothers deserve better?)
10. The world’s most prolific mother was the Russian Mrs. Vassilyev, who had 69 children in 27 pregnancies. She had no single births, but multiple sets of twins, triplets and quadruplets.

Mother’s Day spending stats in a big, pretty infographic

Because we all love pictures, right? We’re leading the pack in terms of parental inequality (being a dad myself, I know this to be true – I’m so far down the pecking order that there are days where I am jealous of our pet rabbits) – as mentioned above, Mother’s Day UK really does fuel consumer spending up to three times higher than Father’s Day. Check out the global shopping trends infographic released by Rakuten, the 3rd largest e-commerce marketplace in the world and owner of UK’s play.com website (BTW – the French have it right!).

 

Whatever you’re packing for Mother’s Day 2018 – be sure to send it out with as much love and care as your mum gave you when she sent you out into the big wide world! That is unless your mother is akin to any that feature on the top 41 worst parents in Disney, in which case just use one of our mailers and follow our guide above and you’ll be a winner!

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Feature Photo by Jennifer Pallian on Unsplash

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How to setup a subscription flower business – growing a floristry business online

Looking for an easy way to grow your floristry business online?

Quick Answer: Subscription boxes! It’s no secret that interest in the subscription business model has increased dramatically over the past 5 years. It’s been labelled as a “disruptive industry” by the likes of Forbes. What is less known is that interest in the search term “subscription flowers” has increased by 400% since 2013 (with the search term “monthly flowers subscription” seeing a 350% interest growth). This isn’t surprising as the entire business model is built around making life easier for your customers. With time becoming such a precious commodity having the ability to offer your customers’ a service that is both convenient and time-saving will be a guaranteed winner (so long as you get the fundamentals right).

Here’s our quick guide on how to setup a subscription flower business…

We’ve taken a quick look into the industry and we’ve summarised a few key points you’ll need to consider when switching your local florist business to a subscription based flower delivery business model:

Despatch and delivery

This is the operational heart of any subscription flower business – fulfilment needs to be quick, storage spaced used by packaging needs to be kept to a minimum and the postal service you use needs to give value to the customer – the last thing you want is your customer having to travel 10 miles to the local depot to pick up their failed flower delivery (which by the time they get there are probably ruined). Letterbox friendly packaging for flowers is the way forward, as any other form of packaging will require the customer to be present to receive the package.  Also there’s the unboxing experience – does the packaging deliver a frustration free opening experience? Does it protect and support what’s inside, ensuring a consistent and presentable experience? Being a florist yourself, you’ll know that presentation is especially important!

Offer something unique

As a subscription flower business using a reliable postal service – your offering should already be convenient, but how do you stand out from the crowd?

You could offer added extras like:

• Timed delivery slots to further boost convenience.
• Free gifts like small scented candles, small packet of chocolates or even partner up with other businesses and offer discount vouchers.
• Add on gift tagging service.
• Care guide and free flower feed to help keep your customers’ blooms fresher for longer.
• Offer ethical credentials such as locally UK sourced flowers (low carbon footprint), eco-friendly packaging (FSC® certified and 100% recyclable), organically grown blooms, replanting service.
• Free seed packets (so they can have flowers in their garden as well as indoors).

The ways in which you can differentiate yourself from the crowd are endless and only limited by your imagination!

Pricing strategy

Offer your customers’ an incentive to save money by switching from a single flower box delivery to the subscription service. The service should also ideally be a monthly recurring service which they will need to opt out of. Will you offer a single price that includes all delivery costs or will you give the customer the opportunity to downsize and save? The one-size-fits-all approach is a limitation you may want to avoid in a subscription as customers like to have a choice, however if there’s too many options  to chose from your could end up confusion or frustrating them – remember a subscription business is all about giving convenience to the end user. Be sure to factor in all incurred costs and give yourself plenty of overhead when starting out – take a look at the competition and how they price there service and if you can’t compete on price figure out how you’ll compete on value (see above).

Conclusion

Given the above information and the boom in subscription flower delivery sector – can you really afford not change to a subscription business model? If you already have a floristry business that sells online locally and you want to scale it up and get a more consistent revenue stream with recurring customer base providing a subscription service is a no-brainer. We’ve responded to the growth in this sector with our new Printed Flowers Letterbox Mailer – now you can easily send long-stem flowers by a standard mail service (no need to sign for), ensuring that delivery is not delayed. This box has been created to fit through the vast majority of UK letterboxes (the UK standard size is 254mm/10” wide x 38mm/1.5” high). Suitable for fresh, dried or artificial flowers – this sturdy postal box enhances the customer unboxing experience with the pretty floral design printed in a subtle dusky pink on the inside.

No more missed parcel notes leading to disappointed and frustrated customers. Our Printed Flowers Letterbox Mailer is convenient, neat, easy for your clients and offers fuss-free efficiency to you.

 

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We make searching for the right cardboard boxes easy with our filtering page

We take the headache out of finding the right cardboard boxes or mailing boxes for your business – check out our filter by size page…

This filter enables you to find appropriate packaging for almost any item you are sending out via mail. From cardboard boxes through to our breezebox – all you have to do is specify the ‘footprint-size’ of the product or item you are shipping, using the Width (W), Length (L) and Height (H) measures. Simply use the minimum and maximum scroller bars to find the right number and the page will automatically update. Each time you enter a figure, the search engine will refresh the view and slim down the available types and available packaging sizes that apply to your needs – be sure to give yourself a range either side of your desired size to find the box that best fits your product. If you still cant find the size you need – get in touch today as we’re a manufacturer and able to produce packaging to virtually any specification.

Why buy cardboard boxes from Lil Packaging?

Lil Packaging manufactures and supplies cardboard boxes, postal packaging and custom retail packaging to individuals and businesses the world over. With over 1700 sizes and styles to choose from, we’re pretty much guaranteed to have a box size to fit your needs! With the recent uproar over the huge use of plastic in packaging, products and in places where plastic really shouldn’t be used all polluting our oceans and destroying natural habitats the world over – we’re making a conscious shift to expand our range of 100% recyclable kraft cardboard products and to taper off our use of plastics going forwards. Eco-friendly cardboard boxes isn’t new to us, we’re one of the first independent manufacturers to commit to using only 100% recyclable and FSC® certified material in ALL of our stock products. Also, we absorb the majority of the costs to the consumer – this enables our eco-friendly packaging to remain competitive like for like on price. Superior material quality and ethical credentials your business can be proud of. You’ll be wanting eco-friendly cardboard boxes that not only deliver excellent unboxing experiences but also presents your business as both socially conscious and progressive, look no further!

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Valentine’s Day 2018 – does your postal packaging show the love?

It’s very easy to think that Valentines Day 2018 is just another sham. Boring, damaged, crusty washed-out brown and grey packages will litter doormats all over the world. Presents that after delivery provide an uninspiring and completely unromantic setting whilst awaiting being opened. If you like unexpected surprises, because what’s inside is great, then that’s fine.  But if you like to build a little suspense, with a tidy, attractive and classy build-up to the unboxing experience that awaits the recipient of the romantic gesture, then retailers you need to try a little harder. The last thing you want is your customers to get a sense of ‘cognitive dissonance’ at the unboxing stage, as mentioned on our previous post on Customers Unboxing Experiences …

…it is clear that a great delivery experience (and the quality of the box packaging involved) hugely influences whether or not the customer will suffer from ‘cognitive dissonance’. That is that feeling that you’ve been let down, or ‘sold a pup’. That feeling often kills the act of repeat purchase, losing you a valuable and important customer.

Show your customers some love!

So, if you’re selling and then mailing something intimate, use discrete but clean packaging that reflects this. If you’re dispatching something fragile, package it well in a mailer that will keep it safe, secure, and well ‘retained’. If you’re sending something beautiful and classy, packaging that isn’t dirty or ugly will reflect well.  To put it bluntly, put some thought into how your romance-inclined customers will feel when they receive your packaged product, lest you become the online retailer that killed Cupid!

A great choice for a secure, easy to open, classy and clean packaging, (as well as our new for 2018 bomb-proof MGT mug box and M1C with return peel n seal) – The Lil crashlock

Patented, attractive ‘retention’ packaging for fragile, and expensive items – with several new lines launched for 2018 – The Lil breezebox.

Valentines cards to send out and arrive in mint condition – The Lil envelope range now comes with 2 new additions for 2018 – A-LTR is ideal for A5 items to fit through letter tariff and the Lil A7 which can hold jumbo A2 sized prints, enlargements and more.

It’s said that pictures say a thousand words, and move hearts everywhere – send big print pictures – The Lil flatpack.

Discrete, secure, attractive and letterbox-ready packing options – The Lil letterbox is fast becoming the industry standard for postal efficiency and will help ensure full letterbox delivery and postal tariff optimisation.

It’s not too late to get your packaging purchases in place for Valentines Day 2018

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