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Customer Service

Gift registry is a category where service is what sells. Registrants come into your store for the service, not the sale. It's critical that the quality of the service you offer be up to par since it will be proportionate to your gift registry sales.

The first point of service is with the registrants themselves and continues with each guest that contacts your store to make a purchase from their registry lists. While some gift registry participants shop around for the best "freebies," our gift registry experts believe this isn't where specialty retailers should attempt to compete. Instead, you should leave the freebies to the mass merchants and instead, focus on service.

Initially, Jane Fowler, co-owner of The Gourmet Pantry in Lubbock, Texas, began her registry program by offering a free gift in response to her local competition, which gives a free wedding book to registrants. Soon enough, Fowler discovered that her "freebie" offer to potential gift registry customers didn't appeal to them half as much as free delivery service and gift wrapping did.

"It seems to be the biggest reward to people who register with us than any other free gift, especially to the bride's mother and relatives who really are the backbone of the registry anyway," Fowler explained. "When we deliver these gifts to the shower and the guests see what the bride is receiving, they want it for themselves and they come and register. It's been a good word-of-mouth experience. The extra service seems to be our ace in the hole."

Cook's Emporium in Ames, Iowa, also offers free delivery and gift wrapping with its registry service. Registrants also receive a "goodie bag" after signing up for the service with pamphlets describing the items they registered for, as well as a pan strainer and a flexible cutting board with a Cook's Emporium logo on it.

"This way, if the groom isn't available or the couple wants to show their family some of the items available in the lines they selected, they have additional materials," Manager Vicky Flaws explained. "Also registering is really overwhelming and by sending them off with their own list and additional information, they can go home and see what they might have missed. Many times, they come back and register for additional things."

Cook's Emporium gift registrants receive many personal touches aside from the gift wrap, free delivery, and goodie bag.

"Personalized service and the education that you provide the bride and groom about the items they are registering for are the keys to a successful gift registry. We explain everything from getting the right number of glasses to demonstrating a particular gadget they may not have known about. It's all important," Flaws explained. "With gift registry, we have the chance to explain every product in our store, improvements in categories like cookware, what the differences are, and why it's so much better than what they can purchase at a discount store. It's much more than a gift registry surrounding one particular event. It's creating an educated, lifelong customer."

Personal Service

With that said, who do you put in charge of such an important task? While all three of our gift registry experts agreed it would be great to have one employee dedicated to the art of selling gift registry, that is not the real world. Just as you cross-merchandise your store shelves, an important element to selling gift registry is cross-training your staff. This way, no matter whom your registry prospect approaches, they'll be rewarded with an educated response.

Flaws agreed. "We try to have everyone in the store trained to handle a bridal registry because you never know when it's going to be important. If someone is particularly challenging, then I will take over, but generally anyone can cover the task," she explained.

The same holds true at Seattle-based Sur La Table. Carol Nockold, Sur La Table area manager and registry team leader, said all employees are trained in gift registry.

"Still, every store has a few people who are better suited for it," she explained. "It's a specialized knowledge base and it's different from selling a product. You are selling a wish list, not the items themselves."

One way to insure that your registrants receive the attention they deserve is through appointments. Appointments allow you to schedule your staff so that you provide what's necessary — constant attention to those customers when they are in the store. You can almost be guaranteed that customers won't receive the same high level of attention at mass merchants, thereby giving you your first advantage over the big guys.

Promote gift registry appointments in all your marketing and advertising materials. Customers who inquire about registry but who aren't quite ready to sign up are also good candidates for appointments.

Nockold explained that most of their customers begin their registries online. The others come into the store and browse before they begin posing questions.

"We start talking about it when they first come in, but they rarely register the first time. Ninety-nine percent of the time they come back either by themselves or with their fiancés," Nockold said. "We have a packet that they take home with a list of key items that every kitchen should have. That list is separated into a basic kitchen and a gourmet kitchen. It's designed to get them to start thinking about what they want."

The Registry

When a customer returns to Sur La Table to register, an employee starts them off by entering their information into the computer (if they haven't already done so online). Guests are then given a Palm Pilot to scan product. Whether or not a staff member follows them through the entire process depends upon the customer.

"It's so dependent on the individual. You have people who know what they want and others who have no clue. I have walked the entire store with customers while they scanned products, making sure they select a range of products they would not necessarily buy themselves," Nockold continued. "If they want to do it on their own, we check back with them periodically while they are in the store."

The most important part of creating a list is being sure the customer is thinking beyond his or her own current financial situation. In other words, there should be items that are beyond their own budgets that would make great group gifts, as well as moderately priced items.

Fowler said the majority of her brides have strong ideas about what they want. Generally, once the initial interview is over — in which details about the event are obtained, the parties surrounding it, dates, locations, and a local delivery address — many customers head out on their own to select merchandise.

"Sometimes, brides are offended if you try to help them too much. I am focused on bridal because we really don't do much general gift registry. If someone wants to do a gift registry, we will take a bridal registry card and fill that out," she explained. "When they come in, we have them fill out a card with their name, address, and phone number. We try to get a mother's phone number and a delivery address. We try not to deliver to an apartment because often there is no one home. Then, we ask about the showers they have coming up. After we get that business out of the way, we get started."

Fowler tries to gauge favorite colors and determine how much influence the groom will have in the decision-making process.

"We really try to determine a color and show them some combinations that we've worked with other brides. We'll clear a space on a table and get a placemat, a plate, a napkin, and so on. I had one bride tell me that I was the only store that tried to put something together for her," Fowler continued, "We just want them to leave our store feeling like they have some new ideas and things they can get excited about rather than just thinking, 'Yeah, I need a new coffeepot.'"

It's important to remember that everyone has his or her own idea of what gift registry will be like. Some guests have heard horror stories from other people's experiences — quadrupled gifts, bad return experiences, and back orders. It's critical to listen to your customers and find out their individual needs in order to create a personalized registry experience.

"Sometimes, we end up just completing the registry for guests that are in a hurry or stressed. We list the basic items every kitchen should have," Fowler continued. "Our registry process takes about an hour, but sometimes it can take as long as two-and-a-half hours, but that's all any of us, including the brides, can stand."

Nockold said Sur La Table's guests could expect a similar experience. Customers can begin their registry in the store or online and even type in SKUs from catalogs to complete their list.

"To register successfully in our store can take one-and-a-half to three hours — and that's if you come in with some idea of what you want," she explained. "If they want to review tabletop and lay it all out on the table, it can take a lot longer."

Sur La Table customers are encouraged to review gift registry information long before the list creation even begins. One category that's particularly time consuming is cookware, so Nockold suggests guests think about cookware in advance.

"You have to spend a lot of time with them, if they're not familiar with different cookware brands or haven't done much cooking. It's just like making a sale with the time and information that's involved," she said. "You really have to be flexible and listen to your customers and let them tell you what they want."

Once guests have gone through the store on their own — if that's how they choose to register, a Sur La Table employee will review their lists to be sure that their registries are well rounded.

"You want them to put things on their registry they might not purchase for themselves. You guide them through setting up a kitchen," Nockold continued. "More often than not, our customers come in with an idea of what they want to register for, but sometimes, they haven't looked through the whole store. We want them to really look at every department and give them options. But we also want to be sure we don't get it all back later, so it's important to listen."

Gift registry is an ever-changing business. Aside from the new technology and services available, the face of today's gift registrant is also changing. Life event-based registries are not always bridal — a trend Sur La Table has recognized. In addition, more and more couples are registering together, a trend Flaws has seen increase over the years.

"We're finding more brides and grooms coming in together. When I first started, it was the bride and her mother. Sometimes, it was even just the mother since the bride and groom lived out of state," she continued.

When a prospective registrant arrives at Cook's Emporium, the staff begins the process by assembling the essentials and asking about wedding colors so they can match the bows to the event.

"Then, we give them a tour or ask them to look around the store to give them an idea of what they might want to register for," Flaws said. "When they are ready, we go with them as they scan products for their registry. Walking them through the process allows us to educate them and answer questions. We can also check on items that might be out of stock and be sure products are scanning properly."

Flaws also stressed the importance of educating customers on how to register. She encourages them to think beyond their present lifestyles so they order the correct number of glasses for entertaining, consider holiday items, and determine both formal and everyday selections.

"It's important to have them register for the correct number of items. Take glasses for example. They may be used to purchasing sets of four when they really should register for a dozen," she continued. "I explain to them that they'll be spending their own money later to replace things that break."

The Guest

The gift registry process does not end with the list. The next customer in need of personalized service and uninterrupted attention is the guest. While today's guests are provided avenues to phone in orders or complete them online, the majority of registry purchases is made in the store. Their experiences in your store will directly affect the success of the individual registry, as well as future sales.

Fowler advised, "One thing I've learned is not to ask them how much they want to spend. Instead, we hand them the list and we let them look it over. Asking how much they really want to spend puts a wall between you because the guest is intimidated."

At The Gourmet Pantry, Fowler and her staff monitor the guests closely.

"We try not to let the customer hold the list too long because they get upset if we don't come right away and help them. There's no way they can take a list and quickly find the exact item. If you aren't there to help them, it's really frustrating. When they have selected an item, we literally walk them over to it."

Once the item has been purchased, the guest is asked to complete a gift card to place inside the package.

"This way, even if they purchase their own card, the bride will know who it's from in case the card becomes separated from the box," Fowler explained. "We're trying to really provide our brides with the best personal service available. We also are generating a Web site and hope to have the brides' registries on the Internet soon. Right now, we have an 800 number with a catalog and we can fax registries to anyone at any time."

Guests at Cook's Emporium can search for registries online and make purchases through the store's toll-free number.

"They can access them by the bride and groom's name and see what they want, then call us and we can have it shipped, or deliver it ourselves," Flaws added.

Sur La Table's guests can obtain registries on their own, although Nockold said the majority of them ask for help and the list is printed for them.

"Sometimes, they walk around with the list but generally, we say these are the categories and we'd be happy to show them something," Nockold explained. "Usually, they like to see a few items and then, they go it alone."

Sur La Table completes about 50 percent of its registry sales online. Nockold said those sales used to be higher, but as more locations have opened, the numbers have swayed back to in-store sales.

A frustration that can arise for guests is out-of-stock inventory. When gift registries are created six to eight months before an event, store inventory can be quite different when the guests arrive months later.

"I tell our brides that the decorative items in my store change frequently, so if they register six months earlier, then we'll hand her guests a list that's that old, and they will be upset," Fowler explained. "I encourage the bride to return to the store three weeks or a month before the wedding to juice up her registry list."

When guests are confronted with out-of-stock items, they often don't want to replace the item they selected with a gift card, so alternatively, they look for another item or stray from the registry list.

Fowler tries to avoid this by establishing inventory levels based on her upcoming registry lists.

"I've learned to order in half of what they select for their registry, if their events are local. It's a risk on our part because we're not sure how much they will be receiving, but it's exciting for them to get the actual gifts at their showers," she noted.

Nockold tries to address these issues by discovering more about the people who are registering when they first come into the store.

"I try to get people to put their colors and the types of cuisines they like on the registry because some people don't like to purchase items from the list," she explained. "I always tell the customer that the more clues you give your guests, the better the chance you are going to like what they buy you."

Extra Incentive

Even with all these bells and whistles, specialty retailers continue to offer added incentives to separate their registries from the rest. One area to consider is a vendor bridal registry program. Many manufacturers offer free gifts to newlyweds who register for their products. Be sure to discuss these programs with your vendors. If they aren't yet offering anything, you may be able to develop your own programs with them.

Fowler's special order service takes her registry a level above that of her competition. Her brides are encouraged to ask for anything, even if they don't see it in the store.

"We'll special order things for our brides. We attend the Gourmet Products Show every year, as well as the Dallas and New York markets and know how to find product," Fowler explained. "When you go to a department store and ask for an item and they don't have it, sometimes they'll say it's discontinued when it's not. So for our brides, we go to any length to find them what they want."

These are just some of the numerous ways Fowler customizes the registry experience for her customers. Another secret weapon in her arsenal is placing asterisks beside items her brides really want her to emphasize to guests.

Most registrants don't learn of these perks until the registry process begins, but it's services like these that affect registrants the most and lead them to recommend The Gourmet Pantry to their friends. It also gets them started on a lifelong relationship with the store and its owners.

Fowler continued, "When it comes time to return things, more brides tell me that we make it so simple. It's really interesting that when the brides start out, they want to register at a national department store and they're not excited about my store. But when it comes to returning, they say we are much easier to work with than the large department stores. I wish they could know this from the start."

Bridal registries are so personal at Cook's Emporium that couples are treated to their own displays. As the couple's celebrations begin, Cook's Emporium staff creates a bridal display complete with engagement announcements clipped from local newspapers.

"We clip out engagement photos with their shower card and create a display with some of the products that they have registered for," Flaws said. "As the products are purchased, we take them off the display so that nothing is duplicated."

Nockold has several cards up her sleeve as well. Sur La Table's return policy allows for unlimited returns for store credit. Registrants are also encouraged to call the store when they receive a duplicate item from another store so that the item is immediately taken off their Sur La Table list. Nockold is working on another registry bonus — a completion program that would provide a 10-percent discount off one purchase after the event.

"Ideally, it would allow guests to finish out their registries," she explained. "Certainly, there are pros and cons, but I think the potential for new business and making a lifelong customer is really great. Gift registry is simply another way to build a customer base. You are building a relationship for the future with this couple."

Flaws agreed with Nockold about the symbiotic relationship between gift registry and building a customer base. That's why Cook's Emporium saves its registries for years.

"Many parents and family members will come back at holiday times, anniversaries, or housewarmings and pick out items from the original list," she said. "The bridal registry is a true gift registry that keeps the bride, groom, and their entire family coming back for years. If you do it right, you're building your business on future purchases. It's not just a single event. Registries have a life of their own."