According to a recent report by personalised gift retailer GiftPup sales of teachers gifts have soared by more than 250% this year.
“We definitely saw an increase in demand for small token gifts and thank you cards,” says Emma Paisey, owner of Daisy Park in South Molton. “Examples include Cath Kidston mugs, East of India keepsakes, hand creams and joint gift vouchers. We made a display at the front of the shop which was a huge success and inspired last minute shoppers to get something to thank their children’s teachers. We also sent out a newsletter and made a blog post giving inspiration for what to buy. Teachers were delighted, and it was great to see them using their gift vouchers in the shop.”
In Barnet in North London, Louise Rolfe, owner of The Present, said that the shop has always done well at the end of term for teachers gifts. “However, we have definitely seen an increase over the past couple of years,” she confirms. “Customers tend to want to do something personal just from their child rather than to join in with a joint collection – or even do both. We allocate a table to doing a display of suitable gifts and sometimes pre giftwrap a few small gifts together to give people ideas.”
Louise adds that gifts that say ‘teacher’ on them are less popular. “We therefore tend to re display existing stock that we have. Candles and jewellery are good sellers but this year we have seen an increase in higher priced items such as Katie Loxton pouches. We also noticed that people came in and bought 10 or 12 presents at once for teachers and teaching assistants.”
Up in Scotland, Fiona Fabien, owner of Papyrus in Glasgow, concurs that the teachers’ gifts sector continues to grow, with sales remaining buoyant. “As price point is important, we saw gifts around £10 and under selling well,” she confirms. “Home fragrance – especially products from Candlelight and Lily Flame – along with fashion accessories such as scarves, purses, pouches and shopping bags etc., were all popular, as were mugs, reusable coffee cups and coasters.”
Meanwhile, at Something Special in Edenbridge, owner Karen Ebers highlighted that gifts specifically aimed at teachers have been declining over past few years. “However, we found that customers were choosing alternative items such as pens, notepads, bath bombs, scented candles, mugs, scarves and necklaces,” Karen highlighted.
GiftPup’s head of product design, Mark Shooter, added: “The most popular items this year were cufflinks, key rings and mugs, personalised with the teacher’s name, or saying best maths teacher, etc. These weren’t expensive gifts but thoughtful gifts to say ‘thank you’.”
A survey of 1200 teachers carried out by the parenting website mumsnet last year found that almost half of teachers appreciated receiving a gift.
Top: The teacher’s gifts display that was showcased in the front window of Daisy Park in South Molton.
