What's up in 2012

Welcome to 2012.

After a relaxing holiday period with family & friends - we're ready to go again.

The New Year always brings new energy, new resolutions, new goals & new challenges.  We've got some big plans for this year.

2012 is going to be a year of extreme's : extreme high's & extreme low's.

The way the 1st few weeks have shaped up, there'll be a lot of major events landmarking this year & there's no reason for You not to be involved.

No matter what you do; do it with great energy & excitement - take on the challenge & aspire to do better.

This is the way we live & work at Bag People.

Stay up to date on this Blog aswell as Twitter - www.twitter.com/bagpeople.

Until next Post.

Closing 2011

Hello Everyone,

Well... what a year it's been!  I think everyone deserves a good break & lots of rest with their loved ones.

This year the GFC continued to grip a lot of businesses & although we saw a number of our competitors close their doors we managed to maintain our solid grounding of customers by delivering continually great products & service.

This year we began testing the boundaries of what could be achieved with print technologies.  We created an oil-painting finish on a Canvas Bag.

We continued our commitment to the Fairtrade movement by increasing our stock holding of Fairtrade products in Australia & supporting a variety of Fairtrade events during the year.

Cotton pricing went crazy & has not really restored itself to previous levels, but with continual developments & close relationships with our suppliers, we're able to deliver a quality product at a reasonable market price.

We brought a number of functions in-house so we would deliver superior service.  Our greatest advance has been artwork management, preparation & creation for customers that require it.

Plus we expanded our Australian warehouse which allows a wider variety of products to be available more of the time.

And finally, we always have a bit of fun... brining you Weird Facts & making sure you have something to do in those quiet times with our Retro Games.

In closing, we thank you for a great year & we look forward to continually innovating in 2012.

The Bag People Team.

Messages from our Customers

At this time each year, we always let our customers know when we'll be available over the holiday period.

We always get a few replies - here's a couple from this year :

---------------------------------------------------

Hello Kathryn,

You guys have made things so easy this year.

Once I get you to do something, I forget about it.

Deliveries have always been made as promised & product quality is great.

The only time I ever hear from you is if there's a problem; but when you call, you always have a couple of possible solutions.

Keep it up for 2012.

Andie

---------------------------------------------------

Hi Kathryn,

Would just like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, you have been a great help and definitely deserve the champion of the year to preserve with our challenging order.

Best wishes

Loani

---------------------------------------------------

Thank you Kathryn! You've been awesome and I look forward to working with you again soon.

I hope you have a wonderful break  :)

Kara

---------------------------------------------------

Many thanks Kathryn!

Best wishes to you and the team and we look forward to our association in 2012.

Regards

Lesa

---------------------------------------------------

Hi Kathryn,

Thanks for the lovely message and Merry Christmas to you and your team too.

Michelle

---------------------------------------------------

Dear Kathryn and Team, 

All the best to you too.  And thank you for your excellent service!

Kind regards, 

Sylvia

---------------------------------------------------

Thank you Kathryn

It's been a pleasure doing business with you.

Out office hour will close on Thursday 22^nd December and re-open Monday 9^th January.

I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

Look forward to working with you in the new year.

Regards,

Julie

---------------------------------------------------

Many thanks Kathryn – the bags are out there in use and we are thrilled to have them.

Merry Christmas,

Carrie

---------------------------------------------------

Non-woven Bags Now in Stock

We're pleased to let you know that we're now holding Non-woven Bags in Stock for our Australian operation.

Until now we were never really happy with the print re-production capable on Non-woven Fabric, but a couple of recent technological advancements has meant that the printing now reaches our exacting standards.

Here's our range of Non-woven Bags in Stock that are ready & waiting for your order.

These can be printed & delivered within 2 weeks of confirming your order.

Contact Us to find out more.

Improve Customer Loyalty

Get your Reusable Bags to increase customer traffic & loyalty.

Encourage customers to return to your business with a simple loyalty program.

Many businesses use these programs with great effect.

Some are quite complex, like Frequent Flyer or Credit Card programs.

Others are very simple, like your local Coffee Shop who may have a loyalty card (like a business card) they punch every time you buy your favourite coffee.

Buy 7 Coffee's & get the 8th for Free.

Why not use a bag?

Get bags printed for your business & be sure to include your loyalty message on it somewhere.

Something simple like :

 - 5% off your total when you reuse this bag

 - free carton of milk when you reuse this bag

 - 5 free Oranges when you reuse this bag

You get the idea.

What can be adapted to your business?

Have a think, then Contact Bag People to get the bags.

Easy.

Bag People's Learning Lab

In the New Year, we're introducing a number of "mini-series" style posts to help you get the most from your bags.

The Bag People Learning Lab will be a central store of information relevant to the little things that make great bags.

We will have style & design tips, ideas for layouts & artwork, plus a few little things that make a massive difference to Reusable Bags.

Be sure to check the Bag People Learning Lab in 2012.

In the mean time, Contact Us directly if you need any input or ideas.

If you only need a couple of Bags

Often we have end-of-line stock available.  This means you can buy just a few at a time (minimum order of 10 bags).

Be sure to keep an eye on the stock available - Bag People End of Line Stock.

These bags are in our Australian Warehouse, so delivery will be cheapest within Australia, but we can send to all corners of the globe - if needed.

Contact Us to find out more.

Jute Innovations

We sell bags to lots of different people for lots of different reasons.

Kathryn Leggett, the owner of Nanny Squirrel Creations takes our unprinted Jute Bags & converts them to exceptional pieces.

Here's a couple of Kathryn's recent conversions :

It starts with our unprinted Jute Bags




Then a Leopard print is added




Or perhaps a funky B&W pattern is more your taste


Find out more directly from Nanny herself :: www.nannysquirrel.com.

Study the Quotes you get

Our business is based on integrity & Ethical Trade.  The Corporate Responsibility section of our website shows who we are & how we work.

We do not waiver from these principles.

Our products are very popular & we sell a lot of bags, but we are never the cheapest.

Because we're not the cheapest, we loose a lot of orders based on price.

However, when the comparison quotes are analysed, we tend to have the better price.

The way it occurs is :

  1)  we receive the details required for the bags

  2)  we quote on the requirements as stated

  3)  our pricing is invariably more expensive than the competition

The hidden factor is usually found in the competitive quotes - whereby they have under-quoted on the specifications requested & as such they'll win the order because the quotes are not scrutinised closely to check comparability.

The result is that you, your business, your clients & customers are undersold on the quality that was expected.

Don't undersell your business - make sure the quotes you receive are based on like-for-like products.

When the playing field is level, you'll find out pricing is actually very competitive.

Be sure to Contact Bag People for your reusable bag needs.

==================================

When making comparisons, be sure to compare :

  --  fabric weights

  --  fabric colour option - are they an additional cost?

  --  plastic base board - included or additional?

  --  handle stitching method - sewn to top seam only, or sewn all down the side

  --  any additional print set-up charges

  --  local taxes, duty or clearance fee's

  --  courier & delivery charges

==================================

Get the Conversation Started

Having excellent brand exposure does not always mean spending big dollars.

Exposure is all out getting people to talk about your product or service.

So, the question to ask yourself is "how do you get the conversation started?"

Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest & big companies use the simple ideas very well.

Here's a bag we produced for a new book.  The publisher used bags by Bag People to get the conversation moving on a new book release.

The bags were a gift-with-purchase to those that bought the book, then the conversation starts by someone asking "hey, where did you get that interesting bag?"

Conversation Started.

How can you start the conversation?

Contact Bag People to find out what we can do for your business.

Survey Responses

Every order we deliver is closely followed by a confirmation email to our customers.

The confirmation email has a link to our Feedback Form, there are 3 questions & a Comment Area.

Here's the Results :

  1)  How was our communication ?
          -  93%  -  Exceptional
          -  4%  -  Very Good
          -  3%  -  Good
          -  0%  -  Poor
          -  0%  -  Very Bad

  2)  Did we deliver as promised ?
          -  97%  -  Yes
          -  3%  -  No

  3)  What about our product quality ?

          -  94%  -  Exceptional

          -  2%  -  Very Good

          -  4%  -  Good

          -  0%  -  Poor

          -  0%  -  Very Bad

  4)  Do you have something else to say ?
          -  see our Testimonials page for customer comments

Make an enquiry or place an order to see what these customers are talking about.

Be Careful with your Brand

Eco-friendly Reusable Bags are a brilliant method of expanding brand awareness & getting your message to more potential customers, but you should take care in choosing who you get to look after your brand.

A lot of bag suppliers are driven by busy mums & fanatical environmentalists.  They're in the business for the right reasons, but are they the right people to do business with?

Be careful to check they have the track record of quality production & on time delivery for you to be comfortable that they'll do the right thing with your brand.

Price is a consideration & is not to be overlooked - make sure you're still getting good value for your money, but be sure to investigate a number of options before choosing your supplier.

Have a look through their website.  Pay attention to a couple of pages :
 -- about us & their business practices
 -- corporate responsibility & commitment
 -- supplier relations, particularly how they interact with their suppliers

There are a number of things you can find out with a simple phone call... does someone from their office answer the phone, or are you diverted to a voice mail recording?

Do these few simple things to make sure whoever you select to make your bags will do the right thing for you.