Making the right choice.
Nobody can tell you which is the right choice to make and only you know what the gift recipient would like. With this in mind ask the gift basket supplier if they are happy to make up a gift basket for you to include items the recipient would love to receive. Most suppliers are happy to accommodate you on this and will ask a series of questions as to the recipients likes and dislikes. They should also ask for your budget so they can work within this.
Will the products move within the gift basket during delivery process?
Ensure that the products will not move within the basket while being transported. Although the basket may look beautiful in photos, how will you know that it will arrive with the recipient in the same condition. Well you could ask the gift basket supplier how they stabilise the products in the gift basket along with questions about packaging. You can normally determine this without asking the question though.
- Have a good look at the photo, if the gift basket is already wrapped n cellophane, you can normally determine if the products are stabilized in the gift basket. To do this first check out the cellophane wrap. Has the gift basket been wrapped tightly with all products in an upright position. Tightly wrapped gift baskets help ensure products do not move while being transported. Bear in mind though that the supplier may use shrink wrap and will shrink wrap the product prior to shipping. This is one of the best methods of wrapping gift baskets as the shrink wrap fits tightly around the products leaving no room for the products to move.
- Is there shred in the basket and are the bases of products tucked into the shred? If not and the products are just layed in the basket the likelihood is that these products will move freely while being transported which means that when the recipient receives their basket the products will have shifted and will more than likely be in a jumble and not look as appealing as they did in the photographs.
- Try and determine from looking at the photo whether you think the products would move if you were to pick the basket up and give it a shake (many gifts basket suppliers do the shake test to determine whether products will move while in transit) Remember that it does not matter how many this way up stickers or fragile labels the gift basket suppliers use, the likelihood is the courier company will not heed these and your gift basket could be placed upside down in the courier depot and van. So checking out and determining whether the products will move if shaken or turned upside down is a good way to determine the condition the gift basket will be in when it reaches its intended destination. For Example:
This gift basket has been tightly wrapped and a shrink wrap film has been used. Once the designer has shrunk the wrap the contents of this basket will not move anywhere. The basket has also been filled with shred and you can clearly see that the base of the products has been snugly fitted into the shred. This basket has had the shake test as well has been turned upside down and shook, and nothing has moved. The products in this gift basket will not move while in transit and the recipient of the gift will receive the gift basket in the same condition as photographed.
Now we will show you an example of a gift basket where the products have not been stabilised. And you can clearly see the difference.
This basket looks pretty enough and everything looks in place, now for the shake test.
The basket has now been through the shake test and as you can see everything has moved to the right leaving a gap in the basket on the left. Now let us assume the couriers end up turning the package upside down. Let's see what happens when turned back the right way up.
In this illustration the basket has been turned upside down and then the right way up. You can clearly see the the products have shifted and the basket now no longer looks as appealing as the lovely gift basket you saw photographed. Now we all know that if the parcel is going to get turned upside down, with all the moving of the parcel from depot to van etc. the parcel will end up a little shook up, so let us see what happens then.
The basket no longer resembles the basket you originally purchased with products all jumbled up, although from this shot you cannot see exactly what has happened inside the basket let's take a closer look
You can clearly see in this shot how the products have shifted and in fact the base of the basket is just an empty cavity while the products have settled at all angles on the rim of the basket.. Would you really be happy knowing that the recipient of what you thought would be a great gift ended up with a gift basket that looked like this? I am sure you would not, but by using the above tips this can be avoided.
I see so many gift baskets made up in this way and quite frankly I cringe everytime I see them as I know what will happen when in transit which is why we at World of Hampers always use the shake test prior to sending our baskets out to ensure that the recipient of the gift basket receives it in exactly the same condition it was when photographed and despatched.
If you are unsure or cannot tell from the photograph supplied by the gift basket supplier, please ask questions. A great gift basket designer would be happy to answer them and advise as to how they secure the products in the basket ready for transportation. There are great gift basket suppliers out there, but there are also those that are under the impression that to make a gift basket you just add a few things to a basket and wrap it up with cellophane and a bow. As you can see from the above examples this is simply not the case and so much more goes into gift basket design than most realise.
