How to Create a Gift Guide That Will Inspire Your Customers

Creating a guide that features a number of gift ideas will provide your customers with a seamless shopping experience and can increase the chances that they complete a purchase from your shop.

Making it easier to compare and choose products can lead to a 7% increase in sales. A gift guide will not only help your users find a gift for their special someone, but it will also help them discover new products for themselves, resulting in increased traffic to your website as well as increased sales.

In 2020, Netflix introduced the "Top 10" feature for movies and TV series, which is displayed on the home screen of the app. The reason: It was too time-consuming and stressful for users to choose what to watch from such a large library of content.

It's the same with e-commerce (especially if you have more than 30 items in your product catalogue): it can be time-consuming for users to get through a huge number of product pages to compare your products. According to Think with Google:

“Solving issues like scrolling fatigue or making product comparisons easier can drive 4-7% additional sales.”

The purpose of a gift guide is to help shoppers make a purchase decision more easily. A gift guide works because it helps provide a seamless shopping experience in your shop, helping people choose a gift without spending too much time on the task. Simplifying the choice of gifts will help you increase your sales.

According to a Statista survey, 22% of consumers surveyed considered gift guides to be a useful resource, especially during busy shopping periods such as Christmas or Black Friday.

6 steps to creating a gift guide

1. Identify your target audience

The first step to creating a gift guide is to establish for whom exactly the guide is intended.

You can, for example, split your target audience by:

Age:

infants/children
teenagers
40 years and over

The relationship between the gift giver and receiver:

partner
child-parent
colleague

The interests/hobbies of the gift recipient:

sports
sewing
Harry Potter fans

In the example below, Corazon Latino has set up a few different gift guides based on different events in a woman's life. They can be found directly in the navigation:

Source: Corazon Latino

This is also where you have the chance to show some originality. You can create a gift guide for "the person that has everything", "people who've got a bad back", "people that are are stressed out", and so on.

Equally important is determining who your buyers will be. Striving to deliver a personalised shopping experience increases customer loyalty. So think hard about your buyer persona.

If you have multiple personas, you could segment your audience into regular or occasional customers, by types of products purchased, and/or by purchasing habits. Use Google Analytics to find this and other useful information such as age or location.

2. Divide products into price ranges

The budgets of your visitors will naturally vary. Offering filters will make the purchase decision both easier and less time-consuming for your customers. For example, offer the possibility to filter the results for gifts by price:

Under £10
£10-50
£50-100
Over £100

3. Differentiate products by occasion

Christmas, birthdays, Valentine’s Day; each occasion has a theme that may be reflected through the choice of gift.

Lush, for example, bases its Halloween gift guide on the colours and scents of the season. They even give their products spooky names:

Source: Lush

In order to choose the right products, look at the best-selling products at different times of the year. The data you've collected over the last few years should be a source of inspiration that you should not overlook.

Reviewing this data will help you make strategic decisions about the types of products to include in your gift guide, especially when it comes to holidays like Christmas.

4. Keep up with current trends

It is essential to follow current trends. Identify the most popular products and trends which are relevant to your buyer persona and include these products in your gift guide.

Source: shutterstock/vectortatu

To identify these types of opportunities, you can use Google Trends or study what your competitors are doing: which products have they chosen to highlight on their homepage? Which promotions are currently ongoing?

Also, search for the most relevant keywords to include to increase organic traffic. Although many searches begin on marketplaces, nearly 40% of product searches in Europe still begin on Google.

Use Google’s Keyword Planning Tool or other SEO tools to find out which keywords have the most search volume.

Finally, another source of advice may be your suppliers – ask them which items are the hottest. Their insights might be more valuable than you think when it comes to creating your gift guide.

5. Engage your customers

Relying on sales and trends is important, but addressing buyers directly is just as important. Connect with your customers and learn about their ideas and what they want, as well as their budget limitations.

You can do this by creating a survey or an interactive post to share on social media. Engage your followers and fans by asking them which options they prefer.

6. Add links to product pages

When creating a gift guide it is vital that you include a link directing shoppers to the product page for the item they are interested in. Entering this shortcut and avoiding them having to search through your entire online shop will help you keep your buyers' interest.

You should also make the most important information visible in your list. When collecting customer reviews, displaying star ratings (i.e. providing social proof) makes it even easier to choose the perfect gift. Also, did you know that customer reviews improve SEO?

In the example below, you can see that Dotty Fish has created a gift guide for newborn babies (All their gift guides can be found directly in the navigation). Product ratings are displayed under each product:

Source: DottyFish

PS: To increase the value of the average shopping basket, you can show products with a few extra features at a slightly higher price below on the product page (upselling). You can also display complementary products that are generally purchased together with the product in question (cross-selling).

How to promote your gift guide

Now that you’ve created your gift guide(s), it’s time to make it available to your customers. How? There are several possibilities, five of which are listed below.

Add a banner to your homepage: Your users can see it here before they begin their search.

Add an exit intent pop-up: You can invite buyers to stay on your site for longer with a pop-up that appears as they move their mouse cursor over the X of the window.

Put together an e-mail marketing campaign: Globally, the highest ROI in e-commerce is through e-mail marketing. According to Statista, in 2022, over 50% of marketers reported a ROI of double, and over 26% saying triple or more.

Create posts on social media where your audience is active: Promote your guide to inform your followers and to reach a new segment of users. This way, you can invite them to visit your site and, if needed, you can also incentivise them with special discounts for a limited time. Collaborating with an influencer whose audience is similar to your own can help you give your range more visibility.

On Instagram, you can create a digital showcase that makes it even easier to buy your products. By clicking on the post, your users will be directed to the product page where they can complete the purchase.

Collaborate with partners who have a similar audience to yours: Choose online companies or local businesses to partner with. For example, if you sell herbal tea you might think about partnering with a yoga studio or a spa to reach a wider audience and add more value to your offer.

Conclusion

With a gift guide, you help your customers make a purchase decision more easily. Start increasing sales and delivering a seamless shopping experience now by allowing your shoppers to find the right gift for their special someone in the easiest and fastest way possible.

Reap the benefits and remember to give your guide sufficient visibility by applying the tips provided.

This article was translated and adapted from our Italian blog: Come creare una guida ai regali per ispirare la tua clientela

31/10/23