When most consumers think about photo gifts they unfortunately conjure up images of tired looking mugs and mouse pads with grainy, dark images of mom, dad and the kids. Making sure your customers realize “that was then and this is most definitely the digital now” is vital as the photo gifting market has shifted into high gear with unique, and in many instances very high-end photo gifts being made available that carry that all-important “wow” factor that creates retail buzz.
Photo gifts that were usually the domain of the corporate gift market, that also carried some rather hefty price tags, are now available to imaging retailers to offer their customers at affordable prices that still carry very high margins. The fact these gifts can be created quickly and at such a high quality due to today’s digital printing technology has lifted this category to new heights.
“The increase in quality is really a factor on both ends of the equation,” began dotphoto.com’s Director of Marketing, Sebastian Pistritto. “Consumers are capturing higher quality images due to what has happened in the digital camera market and this is added to the fact digital printing technology has improved at an even greater pace.”
Pistritto’s online image company is offering several unique photo gifts with one of the hotter items this season being their photo wine bottles. Visitor’s to the site can upload the image of their choice and have it placed on a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay (among other choice) along with a personalized message.
Not unlike many of the other online companies that are offering premium photo gifts, dotphoto is looking to partner with interested brick-and-mortar retailers. We’ve covered this category in the past and this market is just beginning to blossom as consumers are beginning to realize the potential lying within their digital image files. North Carolina-based Picture Weave’s photo blankets and throws are playing to rave reviews and the company has hooked up with several imaging retail stores in recent months and California-based FotoArt.com is yet another photo gifting company that takes the concept to another level with their classy-looking maple and lacquer keepsake boxes among other nifty photo gift items.
California-based Pictureal is yet another relatively new entry that takes the concept a step further by offering to customize consumer’s memories (stills and video) into personalized slide shows and movies. The site also allows their customers the chance to create the movies themselves, turning hours of video and thousands of digital images into a slick 45 minute or 1 hour long movie/slideshow complete with music and a few fun effects.
While there will undoubtedly always be a market segment interested in the 4×6-inch print, we may be entering a time period where we are seeing a shift that sees a larger segment clamoring for something more, something of dimension when it comes to their images.
