Registry Makeover 2000, Part I

By Laurie Brookins

FEBRUARY 01, 2000 -- Feeling the need for a makeover? Margaret Junkhan and Vicky Flaws were — but they weren't thinking organic mud baths and herbal facials. Rather, the facelift they were seeking was for the gift-registry system at Cook's Emporium, the Ames, Iowa, cookware and kitchenware store that Junkhan owns and Flaws manages. "Yes, our bridal registry is still all handwritten in a notebook, very 1950s," Flaws concedes. "We've done a lot of talking about what we'd like to do — computerize the registry, get on the Web. But we have a lot of issues, such as time constraints. Margaret and I are the only two full-time employees, with the other 10 employees all part-timers — so talk is all we've really been able to do."

And yet Flaws is quick to point out that gift registry plays a major role in the bottom line at Cook's Emporium. "Bridal is a big part of our business," she says. "In many of the slower months, especially in late spring and summer, bridal — people getting married or having showers — can really tide us over. I'd say it easily accounts for about 10 percent of our overall sales."

And so The Gourmet Retailer is coming to the rescue — or, to look at it another way, employing Junkhan and Flaws as our guinea pigs. In our four-part Registry Series in 2000, we're going to overhaul the gift-registry system at Cook's Emporium and bring it from the no-tech notebook into the high-tech 21st century.

Over the next year and through the assistance of a variety of experts, Junkhan and Flaws will computerize the store's registry, secure a non-commerce registry presence on the Internet, experiment with scanning guns, and become more adept and proactive in promoting and implementing product incentives for bridal couples and consultants.

In this and three more issues — June, September, and December — The Gourmet Retailer will chronicle the evolution of the store's gift-registry system and its related adventures, with a particular emphasis on specific challenges and how they were addressed by management and employees at Cook's Emporium. In each installment we'll also present a smaller "how to" feature that will offer tips if you're thinking about adding one of the illustrated components to your own registry system.

Who Wants to Be a Registry Retailer?

Here's the equation you need to apply to your wedding and gift registry these days: 2.6 million weddings annually = $17 billion in wedding business + an estimated $8 billion in fourth-quarter 1999 holiday shopping online x women as the fastest-growing segment of online shoppers. No matter how you do the math, your registry solution has gone far beyond the handwritten notebook.

"I think we are losing a certain amount of business to couples who are more Web-oriented," Junkhan acknowledges. "We know couples view certain aspects of registry service as a convenience for their out-of-town guests, so we are probably losing registries that we would otherwise be getting."

Yet as Cook's Emporium launches into its registry makeover, Junkhan says her ultimate goal always will be one of balance. "We don't want to lose the personal touch that we feel we provide to the bridal couple," she explains. "We don't want our registry to become something in which a couple is handed a sheet of paper and a wand and they set out on their own in the store. We know we need to update and streamline our process; we don't want to be perceived as old-fashioned, but we also don't want to lose the service aspect."

The answer, therefore, is a registry that boasts current technology, but which also remains hands-on for Junkhan and her employees. "There's no doubt that they're a retailer who's ready for an upgraded gift registry," says David Pava, vice president of sales for MarCole Enterprises. "They know that [gift registry] is a focus and direction of their business; they've just been doing it in a somewhat unsophisticated way. There's definitely a way to get them out of the manual mentality, yet not lose sight of the service."

Step One: Assessing the Needs

For a single-store operation such as Cook's Emporium, the first step in upgrading the registry, according to Pava, is to assess the retailer's current registry and POS systems. MarCole accomplishes this through a connectivity survey, in which retailers are asked to describe their existing POS systems, their UPC and SKU practices, and what they expect out of an upgraded registry — do they want purchases automatically applied to the gift registry, for example.

Based on the survey provided by Junkhan and Flaws, Pava has determined that the best course of action is a single in-store PC, in which Cook's Emporium employees will be able to create and retrieve registries and keep records on purchases made. The software is a text-based gift-registry data-entry system that Pava calls "a complete gift-registry solution designed with the single-store operation in mind."

Once connectivity has been determined, it's time to consider the events to be defined on the registry. "As we know, the world of gift registry has moved far beyond weddings, with housewarmings, babies, anniversaries, birthdays, and so on all playing a role," Pava says. "Depending on the marketing position of the retailer in his or her respective community, any of these could be appropriate and needs to be determined in the set-up phase."

Step Two: Plug and Play

Through several phone conversations, Junkhan and Pava have agreed they can avoid the time and expense of a technician personally setting up the new computer in the store. "We're doing another store, a small jewelry store, that I think is a good parallel to this situation," Pava says. "They're sending the PC to us, and we'll load the database and the application. Ideally, all they'll have to do is plug it in and turn it on. Obviously for multi-store retailers, in which interfacing between stores is an issue, you need someone coming into your stores for set-up. Single-store operations, on the other hand, usually are seeking a 'plug-and-play' situation."

By sidestepping an in-store technician, costs are reduced. Pava says the typical retailer can anticipate spending about $5,000 for a start-up system. "The software for a text-based data-entry system usually sells for about $1,500, without customization," he explains. "With another $3,500 for hardware and miscellaneous costs, a retailer can be in the entry-level game. But the caveat is that, even if it is entry-level, it has to be elastic. Any system a retailer chooses should be modular and scalable, so it can grow as the retailer's business or desire grows."

Asked if there's a formula to determine when the retailer is ready to make such a financial commitment, Pava admits that it can be "a bit of a Catch-22. You don't know what opportunity you're missing when your customers know you're not offering the most in service. It's like any other marketing expenditure that a small business faces: You have to analyze your particular place in the market, determine the type of consumer you want to attract, and determine the types of services that consumer is seeking."

In addition to streamlining her registry system — handwritten registries are Xeroxed for the couple on a copy machine, for example, while prices are entered into the notebook manually only after the couple leaves — Junkhan primarily hopes the registry will be seen as a convenience for couples and guests alike. "I want our registry to be more friendly to guests who perhaps don't live in Ames," she says. "Most couples register where either the bride or groom is from or currently living, and often they register in all of those places. So I'd like our registry to be much more convenient so guests can access whatever a couple wants, no matter where they might live."

Step Three: More to Come

At press time, the computer was due to be up and running at Cook's Emporium by mid-February. Here's a look at how we're planning on implementing the retailer's upgraded registry in the months to come:

This month: The computer and software are due in the store, and employees will begin training. "Usually either Vicky or I try to register couples, though we also have a young woman here who got married last spring, and she's good at it because she relates well to the brides, and she conveys an understanding of what they're going through," Junkhan says. "We want everybody in the store to be able to pull up a registry and help a customer with a gift purchase, however, so we realize that we will have to devote some time to training."

Junkhan is equally realistic about marketing her registry makeover. "Our newsletter will come out the third week of January, and this will be the big news of the newsletter," Junkhan said in mid-December. "We also think we'll be doing an advertisement on the engagements page of the local newspaper."

Pava agreed. "To simply implement a gift registry and have it sitting there as just another computer in your store is not going to do anything for your business," he said. "If it's not part of the business that you and your employees embrace through marketing and word-of-mouth, then it's going to be as effective as a piece of unread advertising."

March through May: Employees by now should be well-versed in using the new registry system, and Junkhan and Flaws will begin to explore ways to maximize sales through the registry using target marketing.

June 1: Cook's Emporium launches a Web site, which initially will serve as a way to provide information about the retailer and to provide couples and their guests a way to access individual registries. "I think e-commerce is a bit too much to throw at them at once," Pava notes. "I think the smartest thing they can do is view that as a 'Phase Two' program to implement once they've gotten used to being on the Web and they can gauge their customers' reaction to it."

July 1: Once the Web site is up and running, Junkhan and Flaws will start exploring ways to market the site through search engines and such wedding-specific sites as TheKnot.com, Della&James.com, and WeddingChannel.com.

August: With the summer months admittedly slower at Cook's Emporium, it's a good time for the team to look into bridal vendor programs and proactively implement incentives for couples and consultants alike.

September: The scanning gun arrives. There are at least two sides when it comes to feelings about the gun: It can sacrifice your outward appearance of personal service — but then again, the grooms really love it. Junkhan is aware of both these issues, and is eager to give the gun a try, especially when hearing a third: that couples who register using a scanning gun tend to register for more items. With this in mind, Junkhan will conduct her own comparison test.

October through December: With the fourth quarter upon them, and the number of weddings dwindling — December through February are the slowest wedding months — Junkhan and Flaws are content to have their upgraded registry up and running so they can concentrate on holiday business.

And in mid-December 1999, it was hard for Junkhan to believe that, 12 months hence, she'll have achieved a good foundation for a 21st century registry. "I do feel like I'm behind the times a little, especially when I see all of our part-time employees are college students and very computer-savvy," she says. "But I'm glad we're finally doing it. To be in business these days, I know this is something I have to teach myself and get under control."

What's the status of your gift registry? By answering the following questions, you should be able to determine if it's time for an upgrade in technology or service:







1. Which sentence best describes the current state of your gift-registry program?

My gift-registry system is completely manual, handwritten in a notebook.

I have computerized my registry, but it's a very basic database program.

I have a computerized registry and registry access through my Web site.

My registry is computerized, and guests can purchase gifts from registries on my Web site.

I have no gift-registry services at this time (skip to Question 3).



2. How often are you updating each purchase that must be applied to a registry?

The registry is updated immediately after the sale by an employee.

Our computerized registry automatically applies the purchase to the registry.

We update all our registry purchases at the end of the day.

We only have time to update our registry purchases every two to three days.



3. How do you and your customers perceive your registry potential?

We are a registry destination; people regularly ask if we have bridal/gift registry, and we consider it a big part of our business.

We have a steady but not overwhelming amount of registries; it's a necessary but not large component of our business.

We'd like to get into bridal registry, but we're not sure the best way to go about it.

We don't consider registry to be integral to our business.



4. My POS system is:

An independent register.

A PC with inventory tracking, onto which a registry database could be installed.

Other



5. My products and pricing aretracked as follows:

I rely on manufacturer SKUs and UPC codes.

I have my own system of SKUs and pricing.

6. My brides and grooms are asking (check all that apply):

How out-of-town guests can make purchases.

How often their gift list will be updated to reflect purchases.

If we have a Web site.

If they can update their own registry through our Web site.

If our Web site enables guests to purchase gifts online.

If we have scanning guns.

If we have self-service kiosks.



7. I actively work with brides and grooms on fulfillment programs after the wedding:

True _____ False



8. I am being proactive with target-marketing our store to both the couple and their wedding guests after they have come in/called to make a purchase:

True _____ False



9. Which of the following statements best describes your employees' knowledge of and participation in your gift-registry program?

Anyone in the store can help a couple register.

Only one or two employees help couples register, but everyone can help guests purchase gifts.

When a couple comes in to register or a guest comes in to purchase a gift, every employee makes an extra effort in service, because we realize there's a good chance this is the first time this customer has walked in our store.

It's tough to juggle being out on the sales floor with taking the time to look up a registry or to register a couple, since it's a time-consuming process, but we do the best we can.

10. I believe customer service to be:

A vital component of gift registry, as word-of-mouth plays a big role.

Important, as good service always is, but the couple's choice of product plays a bigger role in their minds.

Most important to my day-to-day business, though I'd like to have more time to devote to a couple or their guests when they come in.



11. My strategy for working with a couple is:

They must set up an appointment with a registry consultant, who takes a few minutes to discuss the couple's lifestyle and then takes them around the store to register.

They can walk into the store, and someone will find the time o take them around to register.

We let them walk around on their own and fill out a form, which we'll then use to create their registry.



12. The couple is presented with their registry list:

Immediately upon completion of the registry process.

In the mail, or they can come back to pick it up, since it takes time to enter the information, products, pricing, etc.



13. To make changes to their registry, the couple (check all that apply):

Must come into the store.

Can call us.

Can make changes to their registry via our Web site.



14. In 1999 vs. 1998, my registry business:

Increased. _____ Decreased.

Read more from our 2000 Registry Makeover Series:

2000 Registry Makeover Series, Part I

2000 Registry Makeover Series, Part II

2000 Registry Makeover Series, Part III

2000 Registry Makeover Series, Part IV