I am so ready for the holiday season to get going!! All the great stuff is here, and the traffic on Give Simple is starting to pick up – double to triple what it was in October, easily – but I’m ready for a full blown frenzy!! This is a really fun time of year, because customers get so excited about the amazing finds. We also get tons of new customers as people search the web for gifts. What are the top searches that lead people to Give Simple? Big Buddha, Murval, French Bull, Niven Morgan, Thymes, Dogeared Jewelry, Pine Cone Hill and Melamine top the list right now.
With the Live Chat feature much more prominent on the site, we’re getting more direct contact with customers, which is always interesting. Some days we feel like 411 operators. Customers are so happy to get a live human, that they think we are all knowing! And we do work extra hard to answer all of their questions with a smile. Even if it’s 15 minutes while someone tries to decide if they should buy pink or turquoise (They’re both great, just pick one!)
Lots of people seem to think that we make everything that we carry. After a life in retail, this amazes me! If only I really had created all this fabulous stuff…
The most curious inquiries come from people who claim they are retailers. “I have a boutique in Arkansas (or a Hair Salon in California) and can you please tell me where to get the handbags you sell?” Give Simple has spent 4 YEARS scouring the markets, stores and the internet to find the carefully edited assortment for our business. “You’ll have to figure it out for yourself” I tell them (kindly I hope)
Every day there are more chat questions and more and more packages going out the door. The really serious shopping begins next week with Thanksgiving. So my wish for shopping to escalate to the point of frenzy may be granted very soon!
A note on last week’s Big Buddha blog: My friends are too funny. At the end of the blog, I said I couldn’t wait for all of us to carry the same bag to a party –AND THEN IT HAPPENED!! On Wednesday, Brenda and Annette and I all carried the Big Buddha Gigi to our book exchange group! Our outfits were quite different from each other, but we all looked smashing, darling. All the women agreed that these bags are so great, especially for the price. Plus Brenda had to open the other three bags I was delivering so that everyone could ooh and ahh. All the women agreed that these bags are so great, especially for the price. Yes, that is one of the perks of hanging out with me, if you order something on Give Simple, I will bring it to you if we get together. Several friends now time their purchases to get delivery. Others still like to pick up so that they can see the new treasures at the office.