Edible Gifts

Food for Thought (From page 99) do a great job of how they display and merchandise their stuff, so that brings people’s eyes into the store.”

Over at Concord Hospital, Soucy said Gift Shop Manager Jana McGourty-Bunker and her team use a combination of window displays and eye-catching packaging to draw customers in. For example, the store stocks chocolate bars with clear packaging to show what’s inside the chocolate that is dressed up with a gold sticker or ribbon on it.

“Their packaging ... is so appealing to the eye that you can say I want this right now, or I can give it as a gift and not have to wrap it,” Soucy added. “It really serves that dual purchase and it’s really a marketing strategy.”

Spread the Word

All three gift shops agreed employees tend to be their largest customer base.

"Staff has become our most dedicated and really enthusiastic customers," Soucy said. "We generally try to cater to most of their needs by providing a variety and multiple choices and options. And we want to (offer) ease of accessibility ... in options, so offering dark chocolate, gluten free goods, sugar free options, but also the way that things are set up so they're easily accessible for staff and visitors to come in, see what grabs their eye, grab it very easily, and be on their way."

Simpson said they take advantage of the employee intranet at Banner University Medical Center Phoenix to let employees know when they are offering sales and promotions.

"We're starting to get really big into the promotions for the facility," she explained. "We'll pick several days through the month and we'll say, for example, October 26th is National Pumpkin Day and so 25% off pumpkin (products on that day)."

"We also do a lot of cross promotions with our coffee shop which is right across the hallway from the gift shop -- we work together really well with the coffee shop," Simpson added.

And Dinoff said never to discount the power of employee word-of-mouth. "I've noticed with our employees in the hospital, if one person or one department buys something, then they all come rushing down here," she added. "Our hospital employees are pretty good about marketing among themselves." ❖