1. Know your market; find out who your customers are likely to be and who your competitors are. Is there enough demand to support you and the competition? What makes other card shops successful?
2. Get to know your local artists, writers and crafters; they may be able to supply you with some exclusive cards, giving you a unique selling point.
3. Consider premises carefully; card shops don’t have to be large. A smaller shop with a carefully planned layout can be highly successful.
4. Up sell; stock related items to your cards. Give your customers the opportunity to purchase a small gift to go with that greetings card.
5. Window Display; rotate your window display often and link it with special occasions. Be aware that sunlight will cause fading.
6. Cheap is not always best; good quality greeting card units and glass shelving all adds to the impression that you stock impressive, attractive and unique cards and gift ware.
7. Don’t undervalue or overprice; take care with pricing. Too high prices will turn customers away but too low may damage your profit margin.
8. Storage; card shops need some easily accessible storage. Look for greetings card unit that include storage drawers. Some even have hidden drawers so that you make use of the full display area. Perhaps consider using Gridwall to display gift wrap.
9. Don’t neglect the paperwork; avoid getting so caught up in the actual sales that you forget the accounts, the ordering and HMRC deadlines.
10. Enjoy your work; card shops should be great fun so enjoy it, enthuse about it and be happy. It’s an infectious quality!
Crown Display is a Bristol based company supplying shop fixtures and fittings throughout the UK and Ireland including greetings card units for card shops, store counters, slatwall panels, timber and glass shelving, as well as bespoke display units and modular shop shelving.
