Touching Tag Along

A customer just came in with an idea she had a for a book.  She was delighted to meet our Tag Along.

This is the sketch she made at home:

This is the Tag Along she left the store with 20 minutes later:

Holiday Postmortem

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share with you the Cameo Style product sales at PhotoLounge through Xmas eve.  Sales were very high, but even so  more established Cameo Style retailers did even better, (we only set the concept store in November).

This is what we sold:

• 25 Tag Along books
• 5 Tag Along Envelope
• 13 Peanut Books
• 1000+ Folded Cards, (we sold these in dozens, and average order was probably around 24 card),
  
• 500+ triptych Cards, (same as above but here many single cards were ordered as well)
• 10+ 9x12 Books, with additional pages
• 4 12x12 books, with additional pages
• 29 Calendars
• 11 Easel Frames
• 4 Coasters

This level of sales added significant profits and excitement to PhotoLounge, and other services also rose as a result.

Success came from moms who make for great customers.  We enjoyed the long line of strollers and seeing moms complete projects while babies were still taking naps. We also had many new brides making projects with wedding pictures, and many original pictures that were scanned with the Kodak Shoebox scanner and personalized on the Cameo system.

The continuous attention to merchandising, and to keeping the department looking great, combined with a very enthused and well informed sales staff made the difference.

And this was, without a doubt, the year for personalization as consumers were seeking to make gifts that were more personal but less costly. This was evident in the store, but read more in this interesting article.

Ravid

Cameo Style Holiday Gifts for Employees

An enthused staff will make sales of personalized products in your store soar.  This ties in perfectly with the fact that staff in most retail stores end up making products for gifts, and mostly on this holiday eve, at the last minute. By offering them a great incentive on Cameo Style products  you will not only stay popular but also turn them into evangelists, and brand ambassadors for your most profitable department.

I myself just made a 70 page  12x12 photo book, (which Cameo cover is yet to be determined), and the experience of putting it together was very emotional and joyful for me, (it took me about 45 minutes).  It was nice to practice what I preach, and it more than validated what I believe Cameo Style products mean to customers.

I included some book pages.

Have a great Holiday.  We'll do postmortem next week, but it was good!

Ravid

Success at PhotoLounge

Cameo Style at PhotoLounge has had a strong showing since we set up the department. But today orders exceeded $1000.

Paying careful attention to merchandising has really paid off, (keeping the Boutique tidy and rotating the displays every day, and setting up a table in front of the Boutiques with an overflow of samples, about a 10 minute daily chore).

Today PhotoLounge processed orders for hundreds of cards, about 10 5x7 Tag Alongs, about 4 Envelope Tag Alongs, a number of easle frames, and over 20 calendars.

PhotoLounge devoted a person to Cameo Style production all day, and as we speak she is still printing.

A couple of points:

1) This is your week to recruit local customers whom the national websites cannot serve in time. Send a newsletter advertising extended deadlines in your shop, and place a big sign in your window letting customers know you can make last minute gifts. Make sure to follow through with fast turnaround.

2) From conversations with store customers I got the distinct impression that this is the year of the make-it-yourself gift. And I have seen no price resistance to the full price charged by Cameo Style. What a boon for Cameo Style retailers.

3) If professional photographers or graphic designers come into your store to process last minute orders always allow them to make a sample card for clients for free. In every instance where this has happened the client ordered over 100 cards.

4) We got many requests for a flat double sided card. This is something we'll add to the collection early in 2009 but for now PhotoLounge is cutting 5x7 cards in half and printing both sides.

5) PhotoLounge has sold several "blank" Peanut books and frames as gifts to be completed in the store by the recipient. The purchaser took with them the blank frame or Peanut book together with a gift card. A cute gift idea.

6) let customers access their online albums and get images while in your store. Several orders today came out of Picassa and other online albums.

7) Finally, don't discount, (except for multiple copies where a 10% saving is in line). And always ask "how many would you like" when writing up an order. More times than not its multiples.


Happy Selling!

Great Creative Promotion at our friends at F11 Photographic Supplies

Here is a great, great promotion F11 Photographic Supplies in Bozeman MT is running at the last minute on the 20th:

F-11 elves will work work late in the lab to complete your holiday photo gifts. They're there to make your cards, your special framed collage, Canvas and Pearl gallery wrap prints, coffee table photo books, charms, calendars and so much more while you wait. Take advantage of this last chance to come in and shop late.

Bring your digital images and your appetite!

Along the same lines we planned a party at PhotoLounge that grew organically  by a mom customer who took the lead and sent this invite to dozens of urban moms:

Hello friends!

I don’t know about you, but my digital photo backlog is out of control! I’ve started working on printing at CBOP Photo Lounge and noticed that they have quite the selection of gifty sort of things.

Last year, I made my in-laws a photo book of the grandkids and they said it was the best present I’ve ever given them. Ever. They still talk about it. They actually bring it along with them when they travel! So, I’m going to make them another one this year, with updated photos of the kids.

I was joking around with the owner of CBOP that he should host a holiday gift-making party with music and food. He liked the idea and told me to go ahead and plan a party at his store! Here are the details – evite to follow.....

CBOP Photo Lounge
1909 Chestnut Street

Wednesday, December 9th (still in time for Hannukah presents)
PLEASE RSVP by SATURDAY the 5th.
7:45-9:45 pm

BYOB!! (for legal reasons, CBOP may not provide alcohol but there will be yummy holiday treats)

Bring your camera memory card or cd and get creative! CBOP will be offering us, and us alone :) a special group discount, as well as a couple fun surprise prize drawings. Everyone will get between 5%-20% off, with the ability to use it that night or in the following days to finish your product.

Come out and get creative with me!
Rebecca

Old Pictures into Gifts

We’ve been so successful in converting shoebox scans- a quick way of scanning old pictures- into gift products such as books and accordion books.

The Cameo Style folded cards also breath a new life into old family photos and make for the most unique greeting card of the season. PhotoLounge has the Kodak i1220 scanner with great success. When customers place more than $150 in gift orders the scanning is free.

In the pictures you can also see other display ideas and especially our "gifts for men" showing golf pictures.

By the way, if you're a Cameo Style customers these sample files are available, just ask sibyl(at) cameostyle(dot) com

Welcome to Cameo Style Concept Store, and the Blog

Welcome to our new blog.  Like the new concept store it exists to help you sell more.

We used to try ideas in our showroom in the Cameo office.  But the truth is in the pudding... so without real customers ideas were, well, just that.

That’s why we jumped on the opportunity to work with PhotoLounge in center city Philadelphia.  They have 16’ of Cameo Boutiques in the front of their store that needs to produce more in sales.

Every business today is looking for the selling lines that will feed it tomorrow.  For PhotoLounge, a twelve year old, 1700 square foot modern photo lab, the race is on to establish local market share and a leadership position in rich new services that include personalization and self expression. 

Cameo Style is therefore the new Photography and Stationery Studio at PhotoLounge!

The first rule of the concept store is to offer  ideas that you can easily implement with minimal expense.  The second rule is that reasonable, constant effort will lead to superior selling results.  That’s why we’ll be consistent in our weekly posts, adding new posts daily at first, just to bring you up-to-date with what we’ve already done in the store, and then  weekly as on-going updates.  With feedback from you we hope to create a playbook everyone can follow to new profits.