-By Thyra Porter

Even as the economy sours, most of us still plan to give gifts (and want to get them.) Whether for a wedding, bar mitzvah, birthday or anniversary, gift-giving is a part of modern culture, and gourmet stores have the goods to deliver to those both buying and receiving presents.

With tableware and fine linens, crystal, high-end cookware, cutlery and appliances all sold alongside top-drawer vinegars, olive oils and specialty foods, the assortments found in most gourmet stores have a wide range of appeal: as suitable for a wedding present as for a housewarming gift.

No wonder, then, many specialty retailers consider adding a gift registry as a way to generate customer traffic.

But does adding a gift registry make sense for your store? Retailers interviewed for this article recommend taking a look at your competition, gauging the needs of your customer base, and being realistic about the scope of what you can offer.

First, Know What the Other Guy is Doing
Sure, technology is great, but before jumping into a registry computer program, consider this: All major brick-and-mortar retailers have gift registries, and most are online. New online-only retailers crop up every day. If you compete with stores like Target, Williams-Sonoma and Bed Bath & Beyond in your town, before investing in your own registry, get to know their system, and then figure out what you can do that is different.

That's what Karen Abrams, owner of Greenville, S.C.'s Foxfire Gallery & Kitchen Shops stores did.

"Our biggest competition is Williams-Sonoma," Abrams says, adding that while her registry is computerized and online, she was not going to be able to compete with Williams-Sonoma's technology. "Their Web site registry is unbelievable."
Abrams, who runs two stores in town under the Foxfire Gallery & Kitchen Shops name, instead plays up her staff's strength in giving customers individual attention. That's especially important when the customers most often using the Foxfire Gallery & Kitchen Shops gift registry service are getting married.

"We wanted to let our brides know we could take care of their guests' gifts personally," Abrams says.

To that end, the Foxfire Gallery & Kitchen Shops stores offer registrants elaborate gift-wrapping, a gift delivery service and a showcase of bridal registry choices that has become social legend in this traditional Southern town.

Abrams sets up one large storefront picture window as a display for registered brides, as part of that social showcase.

"One of our sales ladies has real nice handwriting, and we write down all the brides' names on place cards and set them in card holders that we display in the window. Everyone loves to stop by and see who is registered at Foxfire Gallery & Kitchen Shops."

Abrams also sets display tables in the stores with the registered brides' place setting choices to further satisfy local curiosity. "People love to browse and see who has ordered what," she notes.

Product assortment counts, too, when figuring out how best to compete in the gift registry category, Abrams says, noting she carries serving pieces that her department store competitors don't stock.

Then Be Different
In Logan, Utah, Chris Beykirch, general manager of Love To Cook/Kitchen Kneads, noticed that many of his customers liked to give and receive cash for wedding presents. He then noted that while the nearby Kohl's, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Dillards all offered gift cards, and online and in-store registries, those stores did not address the local custom of cash gifts.

Beykirch started offering Love To Cook customers a chance to set up a gift registry account where wedding guests could give cash, in lieu of buying a present. Post-wedding, the happy couple can tap into that account at the store, netting a 10-percent discount with each purchase.

Beykirch reports that the strategy has been a huge success all around. "Couples love it because most young people are too busy to spend a lot of time registering for gifts and don't know what they want, and they won't have a thousand returns to take care of after the honeymoon," he says. That also means he doesn't have to handle those returns, Beykirch notes.

And he gets ongoing visits from the married couple.

"Young brides don't know a lot about cooking outside of ramen noodles and microwaves; and the more times I can get them into my store after the wedding and experience our service and see the products, the more likely I am to keep them as long-term customers," Beykirch says.

While some of Beykirch's newlyweds will "drop $2,000 in an hour," others enjoy savoring their registry stash. "One person had $4,000 in cash in her account, and all she did was come in every Friday and buy a bag of candy. It was her secret thing."

The take-away point is, Beykirch and his staff had a registry plan that met the needs of both sets of customers, and was different from his competition.


Gift or Bridal Registry?
While most retailers interviewed say weddings represent the bulk of their registry business, they also recommend not limiting potential participants by calling it a bridal registry.

Janis Johnson, president of The Gourmet Catalog Co. buying group, says going general is a better business decision. "Gift registries create more opportunities for sales, other than bridal," Johnson says.

"We like to keep our registry really broad, and switched from calling it a bridal registry to gift registry years ago," says Mary Moore of the registry she runs in her Atlanta-area The Cook's Warehouse stores.

Housewarmings are tailor-made for gift registries. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and his wife Janet registered at two department stores in 2006, when getting ready to move from the Governor's Mansion into a new home, according to the Ft. Smith, Arkansas Times Record. The paper noted the Huckabees had registered for a $300 KitchenAid mixer, and a 12-piece Kitchen Essentials cookware set.

"People want to register for bar mitzvahs, birthdays, gay weddings and, quite honestly, I don't care what the reason is. If you have an occasion to register for, come do it with us," says Moore, who is founder and owner of The Cook's Warehouse.

Still, some retailers, like Margaret Junkhan, owner of Ames, Iowa's Cook's Emporium, find little business beyond bridal. Junkhan says while she advertises the fact she has a gift registry, "we get so little response other than weddings I don't even consider advertising the registry as a gift registry worthwhile."

Notebook or Computer?
What has been worthwhile for Junkhan is her investment (both in time and money) in moving the Cook's Emporium registry over from a paper notebook to the computer. Her journey started with the help of The Gourmet Retailer in 2000 (see link at end of story for Junkhan's path). Now, eight years later, Junkhan says of the switch, "It is a big change to use a computer, but once you get everything in place, it is very helpful."

However, Junkhan and others point out that, as in all things technological, there is no such thing as having "everything in place," as software changes occur so often that any computerized registry system must be monitored and upgraded.

Robert Coviello, president of H.T.I., a retail buying group, says that while using a computer to run a gift registry is a significant commitment of time and money, "I can't begin to understand why someone would do this manually," he says.

Coviello should know. When he first started as a retailer, he ran his store's registry by jotting things down in a notebook, a system he doesn't recommend. "It just gets too complicated; there is so much maintenance involved."

Most of today's retail POS systems come with a registry component that links to the main inventory program, Coviello says.

"You don't need to have two separate systems. Anyone with a POS system probably has the ability to have a registry program incorporated into that system."

Most retail POS systems also incorporate scanners for inventory management, which Coviello says is now standard equipment for customers to use when building a gift registry list.

Consider, too, your customer base. Retailers in a college town are going to have customers with different expectations than those who run stores near retirement communities.

Moore says that her younger customers are "much more technologically demanding" than her older ones. When she relaunched her company's e-commerce site last fall, she opted to fine-tune the new POS system's online shopping cart feature into an online registry.

Johnson points out registries often start "inadvertently" when retailers keep lists for customers "who have special wants." If you find those lists growing beyond the notebook stage, she suggests "checking into special software programs such as those from Your Registry and MarCole." Johnson adds that The Gourmet Catalog is currently planning a rollout of an online registry program for group members.

Appoint a Registry Czar
Some stores run registries with advanced technology, still others keep simple lists. No matter what the system, the most important priority is to keep gift registries updated, say both Johnson and Coviello.

While most will find that easier with a computer, software needs to be monitored for upgrades. That's why another key step in building a registry is to appoint a single person to oversee the program.

"Most stores with successful registry programs have designated employees who work with registrants," says Johnson, noting that registering a customer at store level is a time-consuming process.

While Coviello says everyone on the staff should be trained to handle a gift registry, and that regular staff meetings should review any changes, one person should run the show. "Someone should be overseeing any system that is in place, that is just good business procedure."

And that person may not be the store's owner. Coviello cautions against owners "taking responsibility for everything."

By appointing an employee or team of employees to handle the registry (depending on its scope), you can play to the independent store's strengths of customer service by making sure staff is trained to respond to customers with registry questions.

Junkhan has her staff watch for a beleaguered look in the eyes of customers roaming about the store scanning gifts, so they can step in and help out with the registry process.

Coviello says The Registry Czar should be put in charge of staff registry training, be the point person to work with vendors offering bridal programs, and oversee technology upgrades.

Is It Worth the Effort?
While it is always great to get a guaranteed return on investment, any retailer considering adding a registry should note that there are no guarantees.

Still, time-strapped consumers have given retailers a new math equation: gifts plus convenience equals big business. Gift cards totaled nearly $27 billion in sales this past holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation, up $3 billion from the previous year. The group says the average consumer spent more on gift cards during that time frame as well: about $123 versus $116 in 2006.

The bridal market alone hosted 380 million wedding guests during 2006, according to a survey from the Conde Nast Bridal Group, and most were expected to bring gifts.

Does that translate to more dollars for your store if you add a gift registry? Not necessarily. "A lot of store owners have the idea that they are going to wake up, do gift registry and have no investment," says Coviello, adding, "That is the number one mistake. There is a sizeable amount of money and energy that needs to go into it." However, he adds, consider the marketing benefit: "Registries show you care about your customer."

Mary Moore has found that gift registries come with a big growth curve, yet she says she expects to do "a lot more business" with the launch of The Cook's Warehouse online registry.

Still, Moore notes there are some unanswered questions. One is that her online Web site carries 3,500 SKUs as opposed to the 12,000 SKUs carried by the brick-and-mortar stores. That's fine if someone registers online. However, "When someone comes in and registers in the store for something not offered online, we have to create a new category for that item," Moore says.

Overall, she says, success in developing a gift registry comes down to planning to be flexible.

"Gift registries are living, breathing organisms," Moore says. "Running one is a very organic process. You have to work on it every day."

For more on the Gift Registry program at Cook's Emporium, click  here

Thyra Porter is a freelance writer based in Maine with years of experience covering the housewares industry. If you would like to comment or send us your feedback, please send e-mail to  thyraresch@mac.com