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

By Melissa Campanelli

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

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.

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