From the owners of PG Buzz, a new digital portal for the gift industry – GiftsandHome.net has ‘gone live’ delivering news and views on the gift sector into over 7,000 inboxes twice weekly.
In addition, the site carries an industry jobs board, digital issues of Progressive Gifts & Home magazine, plus links to other sources of valuable information such as The Greats gift retail awards, industry analysis, and with limited spots for leading brands to showcase their exciting products and services.
“After almost 20 years at the helm of Progressive Gifts & Home, I couldn’t be more excited to be spearheading the launch of GiftsandHome.net,” enthuses editor Sue Marks. “It’s a real privilege to work in such a fantastic industry, with GiftsandHome.net making it a quick and easy way for readers to keep up with the news and views wherever they are in the world. We see GiftsandHome.net as a very important part of our ongoing commitment to the gifts and home industry.”
GiftsandHome.net will also have the opportunity to considerably broaden its reach through social media platforms such as its Twitter channel (@prog_gifts).
“Like PG Buzz, GiftsandHome.net is free to receive and signing up only takes seconds as all we require is your email address – no lengthy form filling required!” assured Angie Bryant, advertisement manager of PG&H and GiftsandHome.net.
Similar in format to PG Buzz, the new GiftsandHome.net will share many exclusive news items as well as retailer and supplier interaction.
One of the stories that attracted much attention from the inaugural GiftsandHome.net enewsletter was how leading lifestyle retailer Oliver Bonas is playing its part in safeguarding the environment by encouraging customers to cut down on plastic waste – notably through reducing the use of single use plastic water bottles.
“Consumers are increasingly aware of the impact plastic water bottles are having on our environment, particularly the oceans,” gift buyer Hannah Tait told GiftsandHome.net. “The recent Blue Planet series definitely highlighted this message, and our customers are responding by cutting down their individual plastic waste through buying reusable, well designed water bottles that easily fit into their lifestyle.”
The multiple retail group, which trades from 70+ stores (with another 10 stores due to open this year) has highlighted a plastic reducing, environmentally- friendly message on its website to encourage its online customers to join the battle.
‘Upsurge in UK gift manufacturing’ was another story that caught the eye of readers. The news item revealed how The Great British Exchange, which helps retailers source British-made goods, shipped 10,000 boxes of UK made products into stores (containing 200,000 units) on behalf of its network of handpicked designer makers in the last year.
“We have seen a far higher level of interest in British goods from gift retailers over the past 12 months than previously and a large part of that growth can be attributed to consumer demand for locally sourced and unique gifts,” Matthew Hopkins, managing director of The Great British Exchange told GiftsandHome.net.
