The Wedding Report

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Building A Wedding Invitaton Department From Scratch

 

 

Through my many years at Encore Studios, I have received thousands of phone calls and inquiries from retailers who were interested in selling invitations for the first time. Most of them were very uninformed on how to build a stationery department. They knew that invitations were showcased in large, bulky albums, that invitations were custom ordered for each customer and there was no requirement for inventory.

 

In fact it is relatively easy to be in the invitation business. For an investment of less than $7,500 in sample albums, you can have stationery department with a deep enough selection of products in all price ranges, categories and styles. The potential return on that investment can be extremely financially rewarding and the recovery of the initial investment can be quick.

 

With the knowledge that some invitation suppliers offered albums free of charge or for a nominal cost, knowing they had very little to lose, many of the businesses I spoke to already had a stable of those albums in or on their way. Even with their observation of a significantly higher level of quality when viewing our products as well as other more upscale suppliers that are tantamount to rounding out a successful stationery department, despite knowing the greater profit potential, many businesses in the most upscale areas opt not to invest. 

 

The retailers that populate their newly developed stationery department exclusively with brands that are already in party stores, quick printers, bridal shops, home based businesses as well as on thousands of websites are limiting their potential for the following reasons:

 

1)      They are offering products that are easily found elsewhere and have less experience in selling it. So they are at a competitive disadvantage.

2)      These products are easy to find at heavy discounts.

3)      They are losing the opportunity to build a reputation for design and differentiation.

 

The focus of profitability is to maximize the amount of profit for time spent and space allocated. Stores that have clientele that are looking to make a statement when sending an invitation to their guests, can afford to spend the money and are only exposed to that limited selection and price point are stifling their own opportunity for success.

 

This is the thinking of the many retailers that look at invitations as a secondary profit center. Their model consists of a space in a small corner with a table, a few chairs and a shelf to house the albums. The customer can look at invitations themselves, make a selection and a staff member can calculate the price less the 20-30% discount many retailers give. And now many of their suppliers have e-commerce web links they can add to their web site and take orders and have the supplier provided virtually all of the customer service.

 

At the end of the fiscal year they can look at their profit picture and see they did an average of $50,000 to $150,000 in invitation sales with gross profits of $15,000 to $40,000 with an average discounted wedding invitation sale of $240, which yielded a gross profit of $90 per order. The average mindset feels that this is sufficient; it helps pay the rent, it’s not their bread and butter.

 

What these retailers don’t realize is the lost profits that walk out of their store every day. Suppliers that offer free books typically have no restrictions on saturating an area with other competitors. Those dealers include the following:

 

1)      Quick printers that leave a few books on a counter that a customer has to stand to look at.

2)      Tuxedo stores that give the invitations at cost when the bridal party rents their tuxedos.

3)      Bridal shops that use invitations to keep the bride occupied when their sales staff is busy with customers.

4)      Home based businesses who can charge any price because they have no overhead

5)      Web sites that discount as much as 40%.

6)      Worst of all sister companies of these suppliers that sell direct to the consumer.

 

In the face of these challenges, there are retailers that sell invitations at the near or full retail price, have an average sale of $500 or greater. So here is their profit picture. It takes half the amount of customers and half the amount of time to sell an average of $50,000 to $150,000 in invitations, but their gross profits are often double their competitors who deeply discount.

 

Here are action steps that you can take to attain this profit picture:

 

1)      Add invitation brands that more exclusive and upscale. Some of them restrict or do not allow internet selling, are selective about what dealers they open based on proximity to another dealer and some do not permit discounting.

 

It takes the same amount of time to sell a $1000 invitation order as it does to sell a $200 order. Some of your customers buy from you because of your reputation and will pick from your selection regardless of its limitation. Exposing your customers to nicer products will inspire them to spend more money will result in generating referrals for your business from guests that have not seen such a nice invitation before and are more likely to ask where this invitation was purchased.

2)      Create customers that need you. Brides and grooms in particular often find it challenging to shop for invitations based on schedule conflicts. Extend your hours to evenings and weekends by appointment and you will attract a group of customers who will buy from you at any price strictly because you were open to accommodate them. Also heavily promote rush service to attract customers that have waited until the last minute, do not have the time to shop around and will be grateful just to be able to send their invitations out on time.

3)      Compete with expertise and service. Dedicate comfortable viewing space, attentive, rapport building sales help who help the customer avoid pitfalls like ordering too few or too many invitations, make sure the wording is done properly and makes suggestions on type faces, inks, liners and the other details that can help make an invitation special. Create a sales environment that inspires the customer to want to do business with you because of what you project rather than the discount you offer.

4)      Become proactive in your marketing approach. Here are some ideas:

 

a)      Participate in bridal shows and other consumer shows showcasing beautiful designs. Follow up with those consumers that visited your booth by designing a form that they fill out that goes beyond the superficial contact information like where they are getting married, if there was a specific invitation that caught their eye and use that information to call them with an already established rapport.

b)     Use the Internet to build local business instead of selling online. According to studies between 25-40% of consumers use the web to do research before shopping locally. There are target programs by leading search engines that are very cost effective.

c)      Contact editors of local newspapers and bridal magazines with educational information that would be of interest to their readers and images of beautiful invitations that are available from your suppliers. Being an editorial resource sometimes generates better exposure than an advertisement because you are borrowing on the reputation of the publication that is spotlighting you.

d)     Be assertive in the sales process. Many sales are lost simply by not asking for a deposit after you have helped your customer select an invitation. The excitement of the selection process diminishes when the customer can go home, sleep on it and then get decide to compare pricing, look online or go to another retailer.

 

Retailers that focus on personalized invitations as a viable profit center and capitalize on the unique opportunity to build relationships that retain customers for life can truly grow this part of their business without a significant amount of additional capital.

 

Posted by Brian Lawrence on 06/22/2009 at 3:04 PM
Categories: Small Business - Wedding Industry News - Expert Corner -

3 Wedding Marketing Tidbits To Take To The Bank

There is a lot of focus on using the internet as the front line of marketing to today's bride with web design, emailing, podcasting, blogging, and social networking. I agree that almost all brides use the web for research and the most imporant action a wedding professional can take to help their business is to have an effective web site that is easily found by local brides when searching.

However, the streets are not empty because everyone is on the computer, and certain consumer behavior remain highly influenced by off line strategies. Though I own Local Traffic Builder, http://www.localtrafficbuilder.com a wedding and stationery industry marketing company to help wedding professionals and retailers use the web most effectively to attract local business.

My manual "The Wedding Expert's Guide" offers many ideas and you can download it for free at http://www.localtrafficbuilder.com/weddingmanual. Here some easy to implement strategies that can help your offline marketing pursuits.

 

1) Networking is more than exchanging business cards. Develop tie in offers with your associates. For example if you are an Entertainment Company, someone books a photographer you are associated with and the photographer gives them a gift certificate towards your services.

2) At Bridal Shows make sure you know the brides that visited your booth. Have brides who visited your booth fill out a separate form and ask for where the reception and ceremony is, how many are in the bridal party, cell phone, fax and email (all things you do not always get on a mailing list given by the bridal show producer). Jot down notes about discussions you had with the bride and specific things she liked that you can bring up in follow up communications that will help her better remember you.

3) Add on additional products and services that tie in to what you do. Natural add-ons for wedding professionals are invitations, favors, bridal accessories, attendant gifts and other personalized items that do not require inventory and can hundreds of dollars in profits on each wedding.

You can check out http://www.encorestudios.com as an invitation supplier

You can check out http://www.fashioncraft.com as a favor supplier

You can check out http://www.beverlyclark.com as a bridal accessory supplier

 

Posted by Brian Lawrence on 06/22/2009 at 10:49 AM
Categories: Wedding Industry News - Expert Corner -

Wedding Marketing Book Available Free

Brian Lawrence, long time wedding industry speaker, author and marketing consultant is releasing his manual "The Wedding Expert's Guide To Sales and Marketing" as an ebook free to wedding professionals to help them with wedding retail marketing strategies during challenging times that do not involve advertising dollars, which includes networking, closing more sales, adding on other services and product, PR strategies and more.

Lawrence, also Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Encore Studios, an upscale wedding invitation brand, recently established a marketing company for the stationery and bridal industry called Local Traffic Builder to help wedding retailer most effectively use the internet to attract local customers. Even with continued marketing efforts through bridal magazines, bridal show participation and other off-line strategies, web sites are the first line of contact most brides will respond to.

Local Traffic Builder designs stunning web sites for all types of wedding industry using industry insight that will involve less time for you to spend educating the average web designer about your business before the design process. They will also will take your existing web site and update it with alluring graphics, images and content.

Once the site is up to date, you can then participate in a marketing program with google that will assure that your business is found by brides from a geographic region that you define.

 

To download the free 95 page manual, go to http://www.localtrafficbuilder.com/weddingmanual and you can also browse the Local Traffic Builder web site that will have web site samples and a demonstration of how the marketing program works.

Posted by Brian Lawrence on 04/07/2009 at 3:01 PM
Categories: Small Business - Wedding Industry News - Expert Corner -

[Part 2] Top Ranked Web Pages at Google - The Basics

In my last post I covered three of the things you should be thinking about when developing your search engine optimization strategy. You do have one, right? Here's part two, and four more factors to consider when trying to get your web pages top ranked with Google. Chris Jaeger, Book More Weddings

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Posted by Chris Jaeger on 12/08/2008 at 4:10 AM
Categories: Expert Corner -

Top Ranked Web Pages at Google - The Basics

Getting top ranked at Google doesn't happen by magic. Here are a few of the key factors you should be aware of.

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Posted by Chris Jaeger on 11/24/2008 at 4:04 PM
Categories: Expert Corner -

The Appearance of Your Web site Is As Important As Your Store’s

With almost every consumer doing research online before they purchase invitations or stationery, having a web site has become essential for you to even be considered in many cases. Even when responding to print ads in magazines and newspapers, for many consumers, a web site is a way of looking at the window of your store without leaving their home or office.

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Posted by Brian Lawrence on 11/20/2008 at 1:15 PM
Categories: Expert Corner -

Your Future Can Be Online Without Selling Online

The most important marketing strategy an invitation or wedding related business should embrace is using the internet to find local business.

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Posted by Brian Lawrence on 11/20/2008 at 1:08 PM
Categories: Expert Corner -

If They Are Not Coming To You, Go To Them

Selling in the home can increase your closing ratio and differentiate you from your bridal competitors.

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Posted by Brian Lawrence on 11/20/2008 at 1:04 PM
Categories: Expert Corner -

Give A Girl What She Wants (and Get More Inquiries from Your Website)

If you want more of the brides who visit your website to make inquiries you'll need to give her what she came to your website looking for. These are the five most important things you need "front-and-center" on your home page.

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Posted by Chris Jaeger on 11/17/2008 at 9:18 AM
Categories: Expert Corner -