The secret (or at least one of them) to making the most of your registry: Make your Dashboard your new best registry friend.

The Dashboard is the operations center of your registry. With all the business tools and data you need to manage and grow your registry, it’s a password-protected resource chock-full of information, and it’s personalized for you.

There are three important ways your Dashboard helps you maximize the success of your registry. It :

• Serves as the administrative engine for all registry activity: The tools you need to maintain your registry and its use are all found there.
• Provides reports and analytics: You can access a wealth of real-time information about the customers using your registry. Track their activity, then use the data for marketing and merchandise planning.
• Offers access to new features: In a few clicks you can access our Partner Connection content, which archives all these blogs, or review our latest software updates and the other management tools we add regularly. Take advantage of all sorts of useful marketing tips and other advice to make your registry a success.

We encourage you to log in and regularly review Dashboard information, then use it to build your registry growth plans. Logging in is easy: There’s a link on the bottom of the MyRegistry.com home page.

In this blog, we’ll focus on the data available in your Dashboard analytics and reports. There’s so much information there, it may seem a bit overwhelming at first. So here are a few tips and tricks to get you started and keep you focused.

Reports and Analytics: Real-Time Information

Dashboard data is organized into three buckets. When you first log in, the data will default to activity for the past four weeks.

• Registrant signups: Track all customers who open registries with you (on your website and/or in your store). You’ll see their event date and contact information, and you’ll also have direct access to their registries to see activity there. You can even review where they signed up (in store or online, via computer or mobile device).
• Gifts added: Track all gifts added by your registrants and see where they added the gift. This recap also includes gift activity by customers who signed up with MyRegistry.com and then added your products to their gift list.
• Gifts purchased: Track all purchases of your products and capture purchaser information.

A deeper dive: At any time, you can choose to dive deeper into the data. You can select time frames you want to review and/or filter data to focus on just a specific segment of activity (for example, by event type or event date, where the activity took place, whether online or in a store, and more).

Exportable: All this data can be reviewed in a report format, a spreadsheet you can print or export for review and further analysis. We encourage you to use this information to develop future marketing programs and even guide merchandise and business plans.

How to Put the Data to Work

Focus on registrants: You now have data about registry users that lets you manage more personalized relationships with them. It’s an opportunity to make them feel appreciated by sending them messaging specific to them and their event. Research shows these efforts build even greater loyalty among these customers. Start with two “contact” priorities:

• Welcome them when they sign up (who doesn’t appreciate the attention)?
  • Call out their event with an appropriate comment and/or congratulations.
  • Use this as an opportunity to reiterate your commitment to be their go-to resource for advice and tips that make the registry experience positive.
  • Follow up about a week later to identify any empty registries (oops… a registrant was excited enough to set up their registry but hasn’t gotten around to adding any gifts). A quick “nudge note” can ensure that a registrant will receive the gifts they most want.
• Stay in touch by sending targeted, timely messages during the life of their registry.
  • Pre-event, send out tips as well as reminders to review, update, and share their list.
  • Offer congratulations when the event date arrives (especially appreciated for events like weddings and new babies).
  • Follow up with special offers (such as completion discounts) that will keep them engaged.
    
    • Remind them they can repurpose their registry for a future event.

There is even more information you can communicate that reflects your desire to be a helpful resource. For example, identify suggestions for complementary add-on or related products to include on a registry or consider for self-purchase; share relevant product tips or care guides; and create sweepstakes, contests, and referral programs.

Based on your volume of registry activity, you can set up a regular schedule (say, once a week) to export such important information about new registrants as their event type and event date, along with their contact information.

Don’t forget the gift purchaser: While your registrant is someone who consciously chose to register with you and already had some relationship with you, the same is not true for the majority of gift purchasers. Our data suggests that over 60% of gift givers are new to the store’s database and now represent a customer acquisition opportunity. So grab it!

• Consider an acknowledgement/thanks for their recent gift purchase. That will likely pleasantly surprise them. Then consider wowing them with an incentive to come back and shop again. You can gain a new customer and maybe even a future registry user as well.

Gift data gives you insights into what’s hot: A look at what registrants are adding to their gift lists can spotlight popular items and other information you can use in future marketing. Shout out hot trends in your customer messaging, or build merchandising stories/displays around those items. This can generate another source of sales beyond gift registry activity.

Together, this valuable data gives you insights into your registry activity and information you can use to personally engage with your customers. Both are powerful tools to build business and strengthen relationships.

We Love Connecting with You

It’s wonderful to connect with many of you each week to talk about the specific needs of your business and how MyRegistry can support you. Feel free to contact us at marketingguru@myregistry.com to discuss marketing ideas for your unique registry business.

You can read all our partner and marketing blogs here.