Since Pinoys don’t often celebrate Halloween, they use the start of the “-ber” months as a reason to prepare for the most wonderful time of the year: Christmas. As such, people may be looking to spend big to get great holiday gifts for their friends and family — sweet music to any entrepreneur’s ear.
If you want to start a business that serves a wide range of customers in the Philippines, try selling gift baskets. They’re versatile enough to be bought by both individuals for their loved ones and companies for their employees. But where should you start?
Find Your Niche
Though you can always go for the standard ham, wine, biscuits, and spreads for your gift baskets, they may seem generic to some customers. Make your offerings unique by finding specific niches to cater to. Find a trend or something your customers love and make an “essentials kit” out of it. Here are a few examples.
- SKINCARE BASKET — A kit for skincare would have a cleanser, facial scrub, moisturizer, different serums, a face mask, and eye cream.
- COFFEE BASKET — Capitalize on the Pinoys’ love for coffee by creating a coffee lover’s basket with beans in different roasts and origins, a mug, some sweet pastries or candy, and even a french press brewer.
- SNACK BASKET — You can also fulfill their need for quick treats by creating a basket that’s filled with traditional Filipino snacks from around the country, like piaya, pastel, otap, biscocho, and banana chips.
If you’re just starting, finding a niche may help you save more, as you only have a limited set of items to buy. It also lessens the headache of managing different types of products in your inventory. If you have the money and manpower, however, offering baskets from multiple niches may help you attract more customers. And in turn, get better returns.
Source Your Materials
Once you’ve decided on a specific set of products to buy, it’s time to fill your inventory. Avoid supermarkets and grocery stores; their items are already marked up. Contact the suppliers directly and see if you can get a good discount when you buy their products in bulk. This way, you can sell your sets for a competitive price.
Choose Your Medium
Now that you’ve bought your items and packed them into their baskets, you need to figure out where to sell them. Start your online store using platforms like Shopify or Wix. You may also create a store for free on Facebook’s marketplace.
If you want to interact more with your customers, call up holiday bazaar organizers to see if you can secure a spot in their event. However, you may have to pay a fee. Whichever medium you choose, post your offerings or bazaar dates on social media to let your family and friends know about it. Ask them to share it on their profiles, as well, so you can attract more customers.
If you’re buying presents in a rush, you can never go wrong with a good ol’ gift basket. Consider these tips to start and grow your gift basket business. And if you make a lot of money this holiday season, extend it to the New Year or offer your products year-round. Make sure to provide new things every month or year, and you’ll get the best gift for your business: return customers.
