Tapping Into the Gift Market Want strong sales all year? Use your site to tap into the gift market.

Naturally, the year-end holiday season is a boon to e-tailers. But what about the rest of the year? Your customers purchase gifts year-round-and designing your site to appeal to gift buyers at all times will invite sales.

Believe it or not, consumers buy the majority of gifts outside the peak November-December holiday period. According to the November 2005 white paper "Gift Services: Year-Round Retention Tools" from The E-tailing Group Inc., the typical gift-giver spends just 40 percent of his or her annual $2,062 gifting budget at Christmas.

So how do you appeal to these gift buyers? You can start by making it easy for customers to purchase gifts. Add a gift suggestion section to your site (and keep it updated), offer a gift registry service, sell gift certificates and gift cards or messages, and offer gift wrap.