Friday, November 28, 2008

Inspiro Australia evolves in to Bag People

We’re pleased to announce that Inspiro Australia has expanded & is now called Bag People.

We have wholly owned operations in Australia, England & America so no matter where you are, you're dealing with someone local.

The name change to Bag People brings all our operations under the one umbrella.

Our business philosophies are the same & are just as simple as ever :
1) make the customer happy; our track record stands this test, and our customers keep coming back.
2) supply quality products at great value. We’re not always the cheapest, because we only sell good quality product.
3) always treat your partners (both customers & suppliers) fairly, our Ethical Sourcing Policy has more details about how we operate.

Our global reach gives you automatic access to the latest designs, innovations & fabric developments. You can be assured that your bags are produced with the latest fabrics using the most efficient manufacturing methods available.

Our local support ensures that we know what is happening in ‘your’ market because what’s hot in England might be cold in America.

Please have a look through our Australian site.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Thanks from the Bag People Team.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Support by Bag People

At Bag People we always try to make a difference in everything we do.

Our Company Policies explain more about how we manage our business & our Mission Statement shows how we go about it.

We also give back to the community by supporting our selected charities :

1) World Vision -- we contribute to World Vision so we can help them make a difference in the lives of young people in the developing world. Our support assist vital infrastructure projects to deliver health care & education to those in need.

2) The Smith Family "Learning for Life" -- this program assist young people from under-privileged families & communities that need a hand with their schooling & general life skills. The program assists during the most troubled developmental years of a youngsters life and helps to guide through vulnerable transition points.

We are continually asked for donations & support with our products, but unfortunately we usually cannot help.

The reason is that all our bags are "made-to-order" which means we will not start production until a customer has confirmed an order - every single bag is custom-made exactly as needed.

By not holding stock of finished products, we are doing the best for the environment - we do not have any surplus stock & therefore we have virtually no waste.

Feel free to Contact Us; but please don't be upset if we cannot help.

"You can please all of the people some of the time - but you cannot please all of the people all of the time"

We'll always do our best to help where we can.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Case Study :: Wine Shop


This one comes from our UK operation.

:: Scenario ::
The local wine shop had been in the same location for 35 years & had been run by the same family for 30 years.

They had been part of the community since buying the business & had always supported the local school, charities & junior sporting events.

Customers would come in for the great advice & friendly service.

However, as time & progress moved forward, business began to dwindle, a big factor was the massive chain store supermarket that opened in the next suburb.

The new store has a discount liquor chain attached to it & has heaps of exposure to passing customers as well as catching all the people visiting the supermarket.

The sheer volume of the chain means they can offer great pricing on most of their stock, but the selection is a bit limited & the staff are nowhere near as knowledgeable as at the wine shop.

:: We need a Plan ::
The wine shop owners knew that something needed to be done, so as part of their new marketing push they called a number of marketing & promotion companies to find out what was available & how they could get back some of their lost customers.

Together with the marketing company the wine shop owners formulated a multi-staged plan to get customers coming back & to keep them coming back.

:: It’s Our Shout ::
After a new weeks of ideas & concepts the campaign was called
“It’s Our Shout”.

This campaign centred around the wine shop being the experts & that although they had all the technical knowledge about what “should” be good; customers needed to come & try for themselves simply because every taste is different.

:: The Action ::
The campaign basically centred around tasting before buying & had 3 main objectives – getting new customers, keeping existing ones & getting them to come back.

The owners selected 3 main tools to accomplish each objective.
1) invitation to existing (database) customers & also advertising in the local newspaper.
2) offering specials & a loyalty program to those customers that bought something
3) giving a
Bag People wine bag to each customer with an incentive to reuse it

:: The Result = 12% new customers & 62% repeat customer ::
As soon as the campaign started, customers began to come back to the shop. Most customers were returning, but there was a good slice of new customers also.

The owners were very pleased with the initial result, but the best result from the campaign was totally un-measurable; word-of-mouth.

The biggest upside of the whole campaign was the fact that customers were talking about the shop again & with that revived exposure, business began to grow.

:: 6 Bottle Wine Bag ::
The owners selected a
6 bottle wine bag as their selected give-away to customer retention.

As the name suggests, this is a Bag People bag made specifically to carry 6 bottles of wine.

This wine bag tied in to the
“Its Our Shout” campaign by custom printing ‘this one’s on the house’ on one of the bottle compartments.

As an added incentive to get people coming back to buy their wine, the shop would offer a free bottle of wine for people who came back with their bag & bought 5 full priced bottle – of course their was fine print with this offer
“our shout is your choice of any bottle valued up to the retail price of your cheapest bottle you’re buying”.

:: Loyal Customers ::
The wine shop ordered
2,000 x 6 bottle wine bags from Bag People & gave them all out in 10 weeks & they’re still coming back.

Contact Bag People for more information.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Handy Reusables for Halloween

Boy did my reusable bags come in handy last week for Halloween.

Firstly, the pumpkin. After a lengthy debate over exactly which pumpkin would face the carving knife, the kids and I were able to safely pack it into our heavyweight grocery bag. We didn't dare risk a flimsy plastic bag! Even the checkout operator commented on our wise move.

Next came the school Halloween costume parade. All the kids came decked out in their gruesome glory. Naturally they had to change back into normal clothes for lessons. I couldn't help but notice the number of kids who carried their change of clothes in an eco-friendly bag of some description. It really demonstrated to me the eveyday practicality these green bags have.

As the day wore on, trick or treating was eagerly anticipated. What kid doesn't get excited about the thought of more candy than they know what to do with? Of course we had to choose a strong, comfortable bag. Our trusty cotton canvas shoulder bag won that race. It was filled to the max by so many generous householders. Again, I was impressed to see an array of eco-friendly bags out and about collecting all the goodies.

So, Halloween or not, next time you need to carry a heavy load, take some extra gear to work or school, or collect lots of stuff, your reusable bag will do the trick!

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Reward Your Customers For Bringing a Bag

There is a lot of consciousness around the issue of plastic bags and their environmental impact. Despite that, the move towards reusable bags is largely led by individuals in their own quest to do small things in their daily life that make a difference. The next step is for businesses to raise this awareness even further with their packaging options.

Many retailers and other businesses contact us here at Bag People wanting to offer their customers a plastic bag alternative. Naturally we steer them towards our wide range of cotton, jute and non woven bags. Given the range of bag styles and range of price, there is always something that will meet our customers' needs. One of the obvious "barriers" is the reusable bags cost more than plastic bags.

Part of the process for our customers in choosing a bag, is working out how the bags will be offered. They often ask:
* "Should we sell them for a profit or at least cover costs?"
* "Can we offer them free as an incentive to purchase up to a certain amount in store?"
* "Should we just give them away? The cost of this will surely be outweighed by the marketing opportunity when our customers carry our bag about."

The answer is any or all of the above. We have seen all of these options work well for our customers. Yes, eco-friendly bags are more expensive than single-use plastic bags, however, the opportunity to engage with customers at a new level is truly exciting.

Contact Bag People to find out more.