Wishing you a very Happy Easter from everyone at 81 Red Balloons. :)

So.. there I was inflating, writing messages and packing the balloons that were due to be sent out as 'balloon in a box' gifts last week when a customer came into our shop and distracted me for a moment. When I finally got back to the job in hand I was a little surprised to see that we appeared to have a new addition to our gift range!

Whereas there's little doubt that it would add an extra element of surprise for the lucky (?) recipient I'm not sure it's going to catch on - what do you think?

Cathy

Our little village now has it’s own website! The Odiham Community Website was finally launched to the world on Thursday 23rd March. The new website was commissioned by the Odiham Town Manager Group, sponsored by gencon and built by Garrett Coakley, Cathy Griffiths and Lee Hughes, who also created www.81redballoons.co.uk.

Odiham is a lovely little village, with one of the richest collections of historic buildings in Hampshire. The buildings in the High Street, many of which have Georgian facades concealing medieval origins, are almost without exception of special architectural or historic interest.

Amongst the many historical attractions in Odiham are Odiham Castle, which was used by King John the night before he travelled to Runnymede to sign the Magna Carta, a 17th century Pest House used to quarantine sufferers of the plague and other infectious diseases and is one of only five such buildings that remain in Great Britain, and our very own set of stocks used up until the early part of the 19th century “to encourage virtue and discourage evil doers”.

The Odiham Community Website has been designed to strengthen the, already strong, sense of community in our area and to give everyone in the village a chance to be involved in the decisions that affect them, and to get their voices heard.

It’s based on a very similar style to www.81redballoons, and contains an ‘Odiham Blog’ as well as information for visitors, community groups and a directory of local business’s and services.

It’s early days yet but this site has been very well received in the village and as more and more people start to use it, and add their voice to it the Odiham Community Website looks set to become an invaluable resource for the area.

We hope you like it.

(Well 60 actually, we took a little creative license with the title!)

We recently did a balloon release for a lady in Farnborough who told us she had an epiphany one night and came up with a lovely novel way of celebrating her husbands 60th birthday and retirement.

Apparently the birthday boy wasn’t keen on a fuss or a big party, but nonetheless his family and friends wanted to mark the occasion for him somehow.

So in a flash of brilliance his wife, Shirley, came up with an idea. The plan was to release 60 balloons with a label attached to each one with a short message and an email address so that anyone who found a balloon could send her husband, Ray, a birthday greeting which we all thought was a lovely idea.

So on Saturday 11th of February, on a slightly overcast, but dry and mild Saturday morning we trundled off to Farnborough with our balloon net, and gas, armed with 60 red balloons (and a couple of spares just in case). The Police, the local council and the Civil Aviation Authority were all informed of our plans and although the CAA generally don't need to give permission unless it's 5000 or more it's always a courtesy to let them know, even if it's only a small number. Especially when you're releasing them very close to an airport!

In a team effort Cathy (from 81 Red Balloons) and Shirley blew up all the balloons and with one exception managed to get them all in the net, ready for the big release.

Ray, the birthday boy, arrived and took hold of the net and after a countdown by the family members, friends and neighbours who had gathered to watch as he set them free.

We understand that Ray has had several emails (and no doubt he’s been added to a few spam lists by now as well) and was ‘secretly chuffed’ with his birthday surprise despite his initial reluctance.

81 Red Balloons all hope that Ray had a lovely birthday and wish him a happy retirement, and to say thank you to his wife Shirley for sending us this lovely email.

“This is just a quick email to say a very big thank-you from all who were involved in Rays 60th birthday balloon release. He was thrilled and thought it was a great way to celebrate a landmark birthday and retirement.

Thanks once again for making it a memorable occasion.

Shirley and family”

(everyone at 81 Red Balloons would like to thank Shirley and Ray for sending us these lovely photo's of the balloon release)

Whilst trawling the Business Link Wessex website for idea’s to help us market our on-line shop I came across this article which I thought was quite interesting. Now I have to confess, I am guilty of the odd drunken phone call and maybe a slightly less than sober email or two but, to the best of my knowledge, I’ve never bought anything while under the influence. I’m sure I’ve filled a few shopping trolleys but I don’t think I’ve ever made it to the checkout, although I daresay if my flexible friend was a little more flexible I probably would have. So with the weekend upon us when you wind your weary way home after an evening in the pub you might want to ask the question - are you bloto?

A growing number of Britons are shopping online after one too many drinks and some are even shopping naked, according to new research.

Many Internet shoppers make purchases under the influence of alcohol, resulting in the spread of a new syndrome called bloto (buying loads of tat online), according to customer experience group, Conchango.

By 2009, the value of the online shopping market will have risen to £80billion, as one in four retail purchases in the UK are made online, according to the Interactive Media Retail Group.

In a further twist, research also found 6% of Britons know someone who has shopped online in a state of undress.

Conchango believes that while many UK consumers are able to curb their desires as sober high street shoppers, these inhibitions quickly disappear when they reach for the mouse in a state of intoxication. Head of customer experience, Paul Dawson, said: “These findings throw a new light on Internet spending and pose a number of questions for retailers as they develop new online products and services.

“While it’s important that retailers offer a consistent experience across all channels, they need to bear in mind that many of their customers will behave very differently when in the comfort of their own homes and hidden behind the anonymity afforded by the internet.

“Retailers should consider how this impacts web-shopping decision-making and tailor new online facilities, features and services accordingly.”

I'm not too sure how we, as online retailers, can 'tailor our facilities' to help our customers avoid drunken shopping so we'll just have to make sure we don't have any tat, and remember drunken shopping costs money!

Cathy

:)