The Personal Touch

The ability to personalize gifts is one of the most important services the independent specialty retailer can offer a bride. Whether she's looking to engrave toasting flutes with her favorite poem or inscribe wedding favors with her and her fiance's initials, today's bride is "getting personal" like never before, according to industry experts such as Melinda Pace-Cantor, Allison Goldenstein, and Steve Neer.

"Brides tend to get crazy," about personalized wedding items, said Allison Goldenstein of manufacturer Mixed-Up Mosaics in New York City. "They want everything to match. Everyone is trying to outdo their wedding or their wedding gift."

If you are already offering some personalization services, you'll have an idea of the variety of services available and the investment required. If it's all new to you, here are some tips on getting started.

Basically, there are seven different processes used in personalizing product: embroidering, engraving, transferring, etching, printing, lettering/signing, and stamping. You can do these in your shop, or rely on outsourcing.

"Don't jump into several processes at once," advised Steve Neer, associate executive director of the Personalized and ID Products Association in Fresno, California. "Take the orders, but send out the product," to be personalized by a reliable craftsperson.

"If a shop owner can't do it themselves they should find someone that does it well," said retailer Melinda Pace-Cantor of Only You Personalized Gifts in Islip, New York. But before you offer your customers someone else's services, make sure they meet your standards. "Get all the facts in writing beforehand," Pace-Cantor advised. "Try them out first. Place a few orders and go from there."

Before bringing any personalizing service in-house, be sure that you have a market to support it, noted Neer. The larger equipment can cost as much as $20,000," he said.

"In-house personalization is great," said Pace-Cantor." But, she continued, "Allow plenty of room for whatever technique it is. And talented workers are a must."

Be prepared for just about any kind of request. This is where your role as advisor plays an important part, as Allison Goldenstein can attest. When one of her customers wanted wedding bells as a personalized motif, "I talked them out of it," she said, "because you're not going to want wedding bells on your table years from now."

Melinda Pace-Cantor took in stride an unusual request from a family of scallop fishermen. "They saved scallop shells and thought I could use them for something unique. Well, we personalized each one with a guest's name and used them as place cards," she said.

Of course, creating personalized gifts can lead to mistakes. The most obvious are misspellings. To minimize errors, provide your customers with a copy of the material you are going to use and have them proof and sign it. Always explain in detail. Never assume that the customer will know how it will look.

If a mistake is made, take Pace-Cantor's advice and deal with the customer in a professional and courteous manner. "We always make good on any error on our part. Even if the customer makes a mistake we discount the remake — we're all human," she said.

"Bridal retailers should only offer [personalization] service if they have a knowledgeable staff and reliable vendors," said Pace-Cantor. "Don't get into this half way. Know what you are doing, understand the product."

Once you have made the commitment and established the expertise, you'll be able to offer a service that is in great demand among today's brides. Personalized items are something a bride cherishes, noted Allison Goldenstein: "Things that are handmade especially for you, you keep and pass on to your children."

And that has to be very satisfying to any retailer's bottom line.