If you’re stumped for gift ideas, Erin Zwigart’s got you covered. From tea to bubble baths, her gift box service Georgia Crafted has a little something for everyone. Sending a care package? Try the Dorm Room Munchies box. Boss hard to shop for? Maybe the Southern Snack Attack pack will tickle her fancy.
Georgia Crafted's Takes on Customer Retention
The online shop's owner explain how she keeps her audience hooked.
Georgia Crafted was born one evening in 2013 when Erin was having a glass of wine and discussing her passion for shopping local. “Georgia Crafted is the only one-stop shop for Georgia-made products,” she says. “Our goal is to help both individuals and companies shop local and help support small local artisans in the most simple way. Our intention was to only ship once a month to customers primarily in Georgia, and today, we ship worldwide to thousands of customers.”
But customer retention is a challenge of its own. Here’s how Erin keeps them coming back:
Grab any product off the shelves in her basement filled with orange insulation, and Erin will tell you the story of how it came to be. Admittedly, after trying a feathery homemade marshmallow, I was hooked—I placed 2 orders for a multitude of items when I got home.
Georgia Crafted also creates compelling content for customers: Each month they feature a small business on their blog and link to the Artisan Spotlight in an email. “We have made such an incredible difference in some of our artisans’ lives,” Erin says. “Their only reach for so long was simply the customers they would see at farmers markets or small events in their towns.”
Now, with Georgia Crafted, they have the ability to get their products into hands of new customers they never could have reached—and that means turning even more people on to their addictively delicious products.
“We have always operated on a shoestring budget, and typically get the word out via networking events, word-of-mouth, referrals and, of course, online marketing (Mailchimp newsletters, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter),” Erin says about creating brand awareness.
Large corporate orders also fuel the organic word-of-mouth fire, as well as Georgia Crafted’s build-a-gift-box option, which lets customers select from more than 150 products.
I experienced this first-hand when I forgot to write a note with my order and someone swiftly emailed me asking what I’d like to include.
Whether it’s sending an email to a customer thanking them for an order, calling a customer if they have a question, offering discounts periodically, or even sending out complimentary gifts as a thank you, “we are constantly striving to offer the best to our customers—all in hopes to keep our customers coming back for more Georgia-made products!”