Scouting for the Perfect Souvenirs to Sell in Your Shop

If you’re a collector of souvenirs and travel memorabilia, you don’t have to spend too much money on your credit card if you are a tourist. If you’re a shop, you want to give your customers the best value for their money.  There are so many choices out there to sell, how do you choose?  We have a few tips on what customers are looking for when they buy souvenirs.  We hope this will help you decide on a few gifts we think are beneficial to your shop and bring you a good ROI so your not sitting on stock after the summer wondering why so and such didn’t sell.

1. Buying some souvenir items from a particular country or city you’ve visited is big.  Customers want something with the country or city name on it.  They want toremember and show others that they visited a particular place and they loved it.  London is a great example.  When you go into a gift shop in London, it is filled with items that have to do with London.  Tower  Bridge, The Queen, Black Cabs, Double Decker Buses and more.  Almost every item you see has something to do with London, England, Scotland, Wales and has either the name of the city or country (Wales, however, is not actually a country).  It’s a fantastic idea to have souvenirs that have where you are located.  New York Los Angeles, The United States etc.  These things bring a great return to your business.
2. Make sure a lot of the items you stock are ones that people can carry easily and fit into their luggage.  No one wants to buy a separate bag  just to carry a cool souvenir from some place back home.  An awful lot of folks travel by plane these days.  Make sure items you stock are small enough to fit into luggage and can pass through airport security.  These are key things to think of when purchasing your souvenir items.  Magnets, mugs, shirts, spoons, miniature statues and other items should be light weight and easy to carry.
3. Find items that are unique from your city or country.  Aside from the flags, you can buy something indigenous from the tourist spot your customers are visiting.It may range from collector’s items, food preserves, and more.  People love buying apple butter from Silver Dollar City in Branson Missouri because you can watch them make it the old fashioned way.  It’s part of the experience of being there.  They then buy apple butter because it was something that they felt they were involved in making (even though they just watched a presentation of someone making it).  Tea in London is a big thing.  You can buy tea pots with the Union Jack on it and a box of Yorkshire tea.  It’s part of the English vibe in the city.  Brits drink tea, so your souvenir hunter will buy these products.  Even though they didn’t watch someone make the tea in the pot, it’s still the experience they had while in London.  So when purchasing items for your shop, think about items that people might experience while visiting your city or country.  It helps them prolong the experience when they’re back home and they can share the experience with their friends and family.
4. Souvenir items that are environmentally friendly or products from recycled materials are the in-thing these days.You can look for those handmade items that are the source of living for the people that live there. Items like native american jewellery or bags, paper mache’ dolls or headdresses are things you can or might consider if you’re in an area that has or is associated with Native Americans.  Same goes for the “old west”.  Hats, badges, toy western holsters and Indian tom toms are a huge hit with kids.  These are easily packed and children will have hours of fun playing with them.  Fairway Manufacturing Company carries a large selection of Native American gifts for shops.  They are on of the few companies that still sell these items.
5. Most people will buy a souvenir for a friends and family member.  People put a budget on what they will spend for

   

   that souvenir. Good items to keep by the till are custom designed pens, like floating view pens or custom imprint pens by Fairway Manufacturing Co.  Custom magnets, bumper stickers,  pins, patches and other items are another great little non-expensive item that customers will by as a little memento from their trip for their friend or mom.  These items around the till are known as impulse items.  A last minute thought while standing at the cash register.  Customers thing “hey!, that will be a perfect little something for my mom or best friend”  Decks of cards with an image of your attraction, or a theme to your area, say wild west, or even a monument that is associated with your location.  These make fantastic gifts that will be sure hits.  Again, they are small and easy to carry.  They are cost effective and will give you a great ROI.

Hope we have helped you get your creative juices going on what are good items to sell in your souvenir or gift shop.  Sometimes it’s about selling a lot of little things that will bring a better ROI then selling a couple of big things.  No one wants a lot of product that they will have to store until the next selling season.  Get items that turn over quick that your customers really want.