Here at MyRegistry, we know that a registry full of personal favorites shared with family and friends is a win for everyone. The registrant receives the gifts they want, a gift giver can shop easily and with confidence, and you enjoy sales and a chance to build stronger customer relationships in the future.
BUT… sometimes this process doesn’t go as planned. A customer creates a registry, gets distracted, and never adds the gifts they want.
An empty registry makes no sense. The registrant has already made the time (admittedly, it’s easy and not much time) to set up a registry, but there’s no real fun or satisfaction in doing that. The fun part comes from curating a list of favorites that family and friends can shop from.
We think empty registries represent huge untapped potential. Our data suggests that as many as 15-20% of new registries remain empty. Imagine the added sales and future customer activity if those lists had gifts on them. There is unfinished business here.
Your registrants miss out on:
- The fun of selecting the gifts that they want.
- Providing an easy and stress-free way for family and friends to give them what they really want for any occasion.
- The hassles and stress of clutter or dealing with unwanted gifts; who wouldn’t love to avoid that???
You miss opportunities to:
- Cultivate stronger relationships with registrants and build their loyalty.
- Connect to new customers (those gift givers). Our research shows that as many as 60% of gift purchasers are new to your customer base. Go out and encourage them to become ongoing customers.
- Capture sales from the registry gifting itself and the self-purchases of both registrants and gift givers into the future.
So, How to Avoid that Empty Registry Syndrome…
We suggest two tactics: (1) direct registrant engagement and (2) targeted messaging about creating a ‘full registry’ in existing marketing materials. Use them in whatever combination works for you.
Don’t forget, MyRegistry sends co-branded emails to welcome your registrants and encourage them to add gifts. But these notes will never be as brand-focused as you would make them, nor as compelling.
Tactic 1: Direct registrant engagement:
Personal outreach to registrants is your most powerful and impactful tool.
- At signup: Acknowledge and express appreciation for their registry. You can make this note broad-based enough to recognize all new registrants and talk up adding gifts in a general way. Outreach while a registrant is still very much in the ‘registry moment’ lets you show appreciation and reinforce your commitment to be a helpful resource in a timely way. That message feels personal and appreciated. As appropriate, if you have a store, invite them to come in for a consultation or suggest a meeting via zoom/call.
- Check in after 10 days. A quick review of dashboard reports will identify and target registrants with empty gift lists. This time, you want to combine a friendly tone with a nice nudge; remind them that they already did the ‘unfun’ work to create a registry and now should enjoy building a list of what they want. Include a few gift ideas and reiterate your service commitment. Sum it up by saying that a full registry is a gift of convenience they give themselves.
Tactic 2: Leverage your marketing and messaging
Take advantage of your different marketing tools, and don’t be shy about touting gifts/adding gifts on your website and store.
- Mix it up: Combine efforts that are subtle (general reinforcement of great gift ideas and/or more direct (why a registry full of desired gifts is a win for everyone).
- Subtle messages should spotlight gifts worth giving or getting and invite adding them to a registry. Use new seasonal merchandise as the perfect foil to suggest items worthy of being on anyone’s list.
- More boldly, promote the power of a registry/gift list to ensure every celebratory gift is always perfect. These days, no one wants to spend frivolously or be stressed out, so be the great problem solver.
- Use all of your marketing tools: Tap into every consumer touch point you can, from emails and/or other vehicles to advise customers on smart gifting tactics; all the more important these days when marketplace uncertainty has everyone more determined to make every purchase more thoughtful.
- Websites and/or store signage and displays also offer other ways to reinforce all of this. Bursts on product pages or display signage can shout out popular gifts. The registry page itself and any dedicated store signage should underscore that a registry is useful only when it is chock-full of desired gifts.
These tactics can remind all customers about the importance of stress-free gift giving. Your efforts will pay back, near-term through more robust gifting and into the future from more personal shopping or even new gift registry use.
Reach out to us at marketingguru@myregistry.com for more tips on how to maximize your registry’s power.
