Top 7 Tips to Maximize your Holiday Gift Sales

Quarter 4 holiday meat sales can be an incredible time for your farm or butcher shop! Holiday meat gift boxes make great Christmas presents, employee gifts, and client thank-you's.

That's why we hosted a webinar specifically on selling meat gift boxes in the fall of 2023!

Our holiday gift box webinar is truly one of the best we've done so far, thanks to help from Teresa at West Forty Market and Rebecca at Dalton Farms. Both experienced in selling Christmas gift boxes of meat, they shared practical, "been there, done that" advice with viewers, including the tips below:

1. Include a variety of price points

Teresa and Rebecca, our expert panelists for this webinar, both suggested having a couple different bundles priced between $50 and $150.

Rebecca says, “I try to keep them at the $50 to $60 price point because I agree with Theresa that $50 sells great, $100 sells great, even up to $150, you know, depending. But once you get any higher than that, it kind of limits the amount of sales you see.”

This is similar to what we see on ChopLocal. The average order value for shipping is about $120, so it’s wise to keep your bundles close to that amount. For local (pick-up) orders, the average order value is closer to $75.

2. Thoroughly describe your gift bundles.

One common mistake people make is not being thorough enough in their product or bundle descriptions. Rebecca’s advice? List exactly which items will be included in the bundle. This will cut down on questions asked AND increase your orders.

“If you don't list the description and what's in it, you're gonna get asked. People are gonna want to know and you're gonna then spend your whole time telling people what's in it. And I also think that when you list the items they can see the value in it a little more than just saying, ‘Hey, this is a $100 bundle of meat.’ Well, what am I getting for that $100? So by listing it, they kind of see the value and they feel like they're getting a deal.”

3. Make it easy for people to order.

If you have great descriptions and an online ordering system, your customers can browse your selection at all hours of the day, and place their order immediately when it's on their mind. You’ll never miss an order because your hours aren’t convenient or because you have to message back and forth and the customer chooses something else in the meantime.

Teresa and Rebecca both use ChopLocal for their online ordering system and Teresa says, “I have absolutely loved being a part of ChopLocal for the last year. It's taken my business just to a level that I never knew I could go to, and obviously shipping all across the United States has been huge for both myself and all the farmers and the businesses that I support here at West Forty Market.”

4. Share frequently and repeatedly.

Rebecca says, “There are actually studies that in marketing, people have to see something up to 9 times before they'll actually pull the trigger and order that product. So you just have to keep in their newsfeed, you need to keep it in the back of their mind. They might need to see it in an email and hear it on the radio. They might need to see it multiple different ways before they actually order.

So don't be discouraged if you do holiday boxes or holiday baskets and they don't fly off the shelf the first time you post it.” And Teresa agrees. “You can never share too much. Depending on the times that you post it, you're always gonna hit somebody different; a different audience. Even if you reshare literally the same thing every 2 days in your stories. I'm just always hitting the exact same stuff over and over and again, because I promise you the person that saw it today won't see it tomorrow, and vice versa.”

5. Create FOMO/Urgency

Fear of Missing Out, or FOMO, is a strong motivating factor, and it's one that our webinar panelists use to help them market their holiday gift boxes.

Teresa Davis, West Forty Market: I advertise “Just get it done before I run out.” I don't offer any early bird pricing. I offer the fact that it's going to not be around if you've got last minute shopping to do in December. … Otherwise it’s going to be gift cards for everybody.

Rebecca Dalton, Dalton Farms: Make sure that you put it out there that there are limited quantities of these available, and they sell out every year, and you better hurry up. Get your order in today.

Teresa: And quite honestly, even if  you're new to ChopLocal or considering doing this, and this is your first Christmas doing this… it doesn't matter if you haven't sold out before. Like she said, hype your stuff up, you know, really create a sense of urgency. Create a lot of excitement around it.

Rebecca: And you could always go back and say, “Oh, guess what I was able to make 10 more. There's 10 more now available.” And then it creates even more excitement around it.

6. Include a handwritten note.

Your gift boxes give you a chance to gain NEW customers, so be sure to include a handwritten note, a holiday card, and/or a coupon for future orders.

Teresa said that she includes a handwritten note with each of her orders, and is planning on including a coupon this year, as well. Rebecca often includes a Christmas card with a photo of her family and sometimes writes “Thank you” on the outside of the box in sharpie, too.

7. Push gift cards for last minute shoppers.

There will always be last minute shoppers, and often, inventory is running low.

If there’s still time, our panelists adjust their bundles based on what is available in inventory, and last minute shoppers don’t seem to mind. Rebecca assures us that, “Those last minute shoppers will be just fine with you making a substitution in that bundle.”

She also says, “Gift certificates and gift cards are huge around the holidays. I don't have to push them at all. They fly off the shelf.”

At ChopLocal, we actually do a gift card promotion where customers can get a $150 gift card for $100 in the last few days before Christmas. This has generated quite a bit in gift card sales, and even with the big discount, we’ve always come out ahead because so many gift cards are never used.

Local meat is really a great gift, so we hope that these tips and the holiday gift box webinar help you maximize your sales and gain new customers this holiday season!

For more information, including how to handle shelf stable items, working with other local companies, and packaging tips, check out the full webinar here.