Corporate Gifting E-commerce Retailer (US) is a Chicago-based e-commerce retailer curating gourmet food and gift boxes. While they sell direct-to-consumer online, a key growth avenue is bulk corporate gifting, providing holiday or event gifts for companies. The ideal clients are HR managers, office administrators, and marketing teams at businesses who order gifts for employees or clients. They partnered with PrompX to open B2B sales channels by securing meetings with these corporate decision-makers, aiming to boost large-order sales and balance out seasonal consumer demand swings.
Challenges
Finding the right buyers: The client’s team struggled to identify and reach the people in companies who handle gifting (sometimes HR, sometimes office admins, sometimes marketing). Cold calls often hit receptionists with no idea whom to refer them to.
Seasonal spikes: The business had huge Q4 spikes (holidays) and low B2B sales the rest of the year. They wanted more corporate orders year-round (events, onboarding kits), but off-season outreach wasn’t getting traction.
Limited B2B brand awareness: Corporate buyers didn’t know the client. Convincing companies to trust a relatively unknown vendor with important client/employee gifts required credibility they hadn’t established.
Competing offers: Corporate buyers get many proposals from gift suppliers, especially approaching holidays. The client needed to stand out early, before budgets were committed, and not be just one more brochure in the stack.
"PrompX turned our corporate sales from an afterthought into a thriving channel. Suddenly we’re in talks with HR and marketing teams we never thought we’d reach. Some booked their holiday orders with us by October a game changer for our planning!"
- CEO, Corporate Gifting Ecommerce Retailer
Our Approach
1. Prospect targeting by occasion
PrompX created segments based on corporate use cases: employee appreciation, client thank-you gifts, event swag. For each, they built a list of prospects (HR for employee gifts, marketing for client gifts) and tailored messaging to that scenario and time of year.
2. Visual email content
Outreach emails featured a tasteful image of a signature the client’s gift to immediately catch the eye, paired with a short note (“We helped Company X delight 500 clients last holiday - in 15 minutes, we can show you how too.”). The visual showcased product quality upfront and increased email engagement.
3. Early bird holiday push
Starting in late summer, PrompX began a holiday campaign stressing limited production slots for custom-branded gifts. This FOMO/urgency angle got the client on calendars before competitors. Messaging offered a “sneak peek” sample box for qualified prospects - a tangible incentive many found hard to pass up.
4. Off-season value props
For spring and summer, outreach highlighted use cases like conference giveaways and new hire welcome kits. PrompX shared mini case studies (e.g., how the client helped welcome 50 interns with personalized kits) to plant the idea that gifting isn’t only for holidays, sparking interest in traditionally slow periods.
5. Follow-up and sample fulfillment
When a prospect expressed interest, PrompX moved fast: scheduling a meeting and arranging a free sample box to be shipped to them ahead of the call. They coordinated with the client ops to ensure these VIP prospects got their sample on time. Having the physical product in hand during the meeting often sealed the deal.
Key Metrics
→ 70 meetings with corporate decision-makers (office admins, HR, marketing) arranged in 6 months. This flooded the client’s B2B pipeline with opportunities, versus virtually no proactive B2B meetings before.
→ 15 significant bulk orders were booked in advance of the holiday season (many 200–500 unit orders) directly from PrompX leads. Pre-booking holiday business was unprecedented for the client and allowed better inventory and staffing planning.
→ Outreach emails saw 45% reply rate, thanks to enticing visuals and targeted messaging. Many prospects cited the sample offer or relevant use case reference as reasons they replied, showing the approach resonated.
→ The client’s Q4 B2B sales were on track to rise 50% YoY, and even Q3 saw a bump with mid-year event orders they typically would have missed.
→ Beyond immediate sales, the company built a database of interested corporate contacts for future re-engagement. They also gained confidence in the B2B model: seeing that the right outreach could bring in corporate clients, the client planned to invest more in their corporate sales, using the blueprint PrompX helped establish.
Key Takeaways
1. Appeal to the senses
In retail/e-com, showing your product (images or samples) is powerful. PrompX’s visual and tactile touches dramatically improved engagement for the client, a picture (or sample) is worth a thousand words.
2. Time the market
Starting holiday conversations early and highlighting other gifting occasions kept the client relevant year-round. Hitting prospects when they plan budgets ensured they were first in line with a solution.
3. Incentivize and act fast
Offering something of value (a free sample) and responding quickly when interest is shown can push lukewarm prospects over the line. It demonstrated the client’s high service level and made prospects confident choosing them for their own gifting needs.
Ready to Get Started?
Want to break into B2B sales for your retail or e-commerce business? PrompX can showcase your products and land those high-value corporate customers.
PrompX Team
Retail & E-commerce Success Story