This item in from Sarah Mahoney for Mediapost got me thinking about an opportunity retailers can exploit when expendable dollars are shrinking.

The article talks about how more than 50% of Americans are eating more (gasp) leftovers! I'm a girl who can squeeze multiple meals and a great pot of soup out of one roast chicken so I am glad to see more folks coming to this idea. Why waste what you've paid for?

The article says that last century was known as the century of prepared food. This century will be the one of prepared meals. So last century you'd buy Shake n' Bake and instant potato flakes and this time you just pick up a container of fried chicken and hot mashed potatoes  already made to warm up and eat at home.

Let's look at how we can apply this trend to scrapbooking.

More leftovers-Innovative designers come up with ideas to use scraps. Think of the positive and negative of a die-cut for example. You get two pieces- a die cut and a frame.

Some retailers gather up the odds and ends of paper, embellishments and stickers and put them in clear plastic take out containers and call them Scrapper's Salad. They can be sold inexpensively or given as a bonus with a purchase.  Use the white containers for chinese food and call it Scrapper's Chop Suey.

Take out food- One word here: kits! Sell pre-made kits or kit your own (with a photo and instructions) and it is an easy take away project perfect for the customer who has limited time to collect all the bits and pieces. Great way to get slow moving merchandise out the door too.

Also look at the "almost done" pages like those from Bisous that are designed layouts that you put your photos into and customize with a few embellishments. The customers still gets to be creative and take credit for the project. Added bonus for you- these products command a higher price.

Cooking at home- When people are cooking at home they enjoy their gadgets more. Especially inexpensive ones that do lots of things. Take a good look around the store- you've got lots of those! Plan classes or workshops around gadgets. Include in the cost of the class the tool and invite scrappers to bring in their own supplies to keep the class fee down.

Or, create a Crop Party in a Case and rent it out to groups who want to have a home party. In it you will include tools, a die cutting machine, dies, punches stamps etc. The only drawback is that you have to have a very detailed inventory to count items in and out to make sure you get all your stuff back. But that can also be settled with charging a high fee then rebating part when the stuff gets returned.

Ideas are all around you! Next time you are at the grocery store or a restaurant, check out what they are doing to keep their customers coming in and spending money. Then see how you can translate it into the goodies you sell.

Have a good weekend, I'll be spending mine making yummy vegetable soup from the odds and ends leftover from this week's dinners--Beth