wiki/knowledge/ecommerce-strategy/doudlah-farms-gift-basket-strategy.md · 615 words · 2026-04-05
Doudlah Farms Gift Basket Product & Pricing Strategy
Overview
Doudlah Farms sells curated gift baskets through their WooCommerce storefront. As of November 2025, the team is revisiting basket contents, product photography, and pricing strategy ahead of the holiday season. Two specific baskets required immediate updates, and a broader strategic decision was pending on how to handle perceived value vs. basket fill.
Related: [1] | [2]
Pending Strategic Decision
Mark Hope (client-side decision maker) must choose between two approaches for gift basket pricing and contents:
| Option |
Description |
Trade-off |
| A — Add product, raise price |
Increase bag count (e.g., 4 → 6 bags) and raise the basket price accordingly |
Higher revenue per unit; requires sourcing more product per basket |
| B — Keep price, use filler |
Maintain current price point and use crinkle paper to fill visual space in the box |
Lower cost; basket may feel less premium but ships the same |
Decision owner: Mark Hope
Action required: Mark Doudlah to measure gift box capacities and send dimensions to Karly; Karly to consult Mark Hope on the 4-bag vs. 6-bag question and corresponding price adjustment.
Basket-Specific Updates
Baker's Basket
- Issue: Honey included in the basket has crystallized and is visually unappealing.
- Resolution: Remove honey (and honey sticks) from the basket contents and update the product description accordingly.
- Status: Action assigned to Karly Oykhman.
Cool Beans Basket
- Issue: Product description references pinto beans, but the product photo does not show them.
- Resolution: Update the product photo to include pinto beans so description and imagery are consistent.
- Status: Photo update pending; description already reflects pinto beans.
Product Photography Notes
All gift basket product photos that show the old bag design (with a brown sticker applied over the logo) need to be updated to reflect the current bag design, which has "Tested Clean" printed directly on the bag. This affects multiple basket SKUs.
Photography updates should be coordinated with Jen (the photographer) and batched to control cost (she charges ~$125/hour). Updates should not be initiated until the basket contents and pricing strategy decision is finalized, to avoid reshooting.
Gift Message Plugin
The existing Loom-based gift message plugin had known issues. The team approved a replacement plugin at $80/year that:
- Allows customers to enter a gift message at checkout
- Passes the message through to ShipStation
- Enables the fulfillment team to manually write and include a card with each gift basket order
Action: Karly to install the new plugin, test the ShipStation integration, and send the plugin name to Mark.
Key Principles
- Contents must match photography. Discrepancies between product descriptions and photos erode trust and create fulfillment confusion.
- Basket strategy should be decided before photography is updated. Changing contents after a photo shoot wastes budget.
- Gift message handling is manual. The plugin routes the message to ShipStation; a team member writes the physical card. This is a known constraint, not a bug.
Action Items
- [ ] Remove honey from Baker's Basket description and contents — Karly Oykhman
- [ ] Add pinto beans to Cool Beans Basket product photo — Karly Oykhman / Jen
- [ ] Measure gift box capacities and send to Karly — Mark Doudlah
- [ ] Consult Mark Hope on 4-bag vs. 6-bag decision and pricing — Karly Oykhman (after receiving box measurements)
- [ ] Install gift message plugin; test ShipStation pass-through; send plugin name to Mark — Karly Oykhman
- [ ] Batch-update basket photos to reflect new bag design — pending contents decision