As a gift retailer, do you need to offer the cheapest price to create the perception of ‘value’? Not at all! Relative worth does not mean cost, but rather, the QUALITY that causes something to be perceived as excellent. A product is valuable if it is useful, usable, and desirable.

Create a gift design that features outstanding brands and outlandish style -- something fresh your customers are craving. Maybe even go a step further and invent a gift concept that people find useful, usable, and desirable. Now you’ve got a product that will stand on its own legs. By doing this, you create value. And you put yourself above the mire of competing on price.

Less Is More (Conari Press) is a celebration in words and images of simple and profound answers. Is there any way to live the good life in an environment of scarity? Author, Mina Parker, answers with an unequivocal, “Yes.” She writes, “We can embrace simplicity as a desired outcome rather than a hardship we can’t control. We can throw ourselves into new creation and transform our circumstances into new opportunities by embracing a credo of recycling and renewal. Most of all, we can give back and move forward through a daily practice of gratitude and the intense joy it brings us.”

We only have to remember that in all sorts of situations, less really can be more. We can embrace simplicity as a desired outcome rather than a hardship we can’t control. We can understand that our outlook, our attitude, and our ability to see the glass as being half full, again and agian, day after day, is the key to our happiness. - Mina Parker

Those who are having a tough time financially can appreciate the positive suggestions in the book. With beautiful photographs and prose, plus essays, it makes a good read for anyone feeling a bit down. It is not remotely attached to religious thought, but still offers good meditations for feeling better in a society that has the economic flu.

Available wherever books are sold or through the publiers at www.redwheelweiser.com.

All set for fall sales? If you’re as savvy as I think you are, there are probably at least one or two new gift designs that you can’t wait to roll out to your customers. These are most likely your “breakthrough” gifts -- themes or motifs so new and different you’re absolutely certain your customers will love them (and you’ll make a lot of sales!!).

According to Jonathan Cagan and Craig Vogel in their book, Creating Breakthrough Products, these kinds of products (which are exactly what we need to keep current clients happy and attract new ones) are driven by 7 value attributes that connect with people’s lifestyles.
1. Emotion
2. Aesthetics
3. Identity
4. Ergonomics
5. Impact
6. Core Technology
7. Quality

According to the authors, if you get these things right, you’ll have a hit. In gift basket terms, think of themes that appeal to a sense of adventure, fantasy, security, a luxurious experience, or a sense of power. Make the gifts beautiful with good shape, color, texture -- even sound or smell (and, of course, select foods that are scrumptiously yummy!). Next, give the basket an identity or personality. It has to differentiate itself from direct competition. As for ergonomics, make the gift basket easy to use and logically organized (not a lot of tape or glue). Can you design a gift basket so that it has some social or environmental impact? Green design and linkage to charitible groups brings your basket into the forefront of today’s most desirable gift concepts. Finally, build your brand with ‘core technology’ -- gift components and foods that are always fresh, and service from your company that is completely, 100% reliable. Add to the mix a commitment to quality in everything from materials, supplies, components, delivery and final followthrough. Get all these things right and -- according to the book -- you’re going to have a big bump in sales.