Baskets Galore Blog

Latest Hamper Delivery Update Tuesday 1.15am

2011-12-20T01:16:00.002Z

Good Morning,

It is 1.15am GMT on Tuesday 20th December and we are preparing to ship all orders received so far later on today in order to give the gift baskets the best possible chance of arriving before Christmas.

We use all the major couriers and will be upgrading to the express 24 hour delivery service from now on for all orders.

Basketsgalore is still taking orders and is up to date with all processing.
Our logistics operation this year has been running smoothly due in no small part to the more favourable weather conditions than last years white out, which afflicted the British Isles.

All couriers are delivering up until Friday 23rd December. However we prefer to ship Tuesday and Wednesday so that we can intervene if problems may be encountered or people are not in. Also some businesses close for Christmas on Friday, so we don't like to take that chance.

The Basketsgalore group will all be working on Friday 23rd December to help our customers with any issues. Please assist us by emailing any problems you may be experiencing. Otherwise call us, give the details of your problem and a member of our team will work with you to assist in resolving any delivery issues. We will close for Christmas at 15:00 GMT on Friday, but will re-open on Wednesday 28th December and Thursday 29th December.

Gift Baskets dispatched on Wednesday 28th December and Thursday 29th December will be upgraded to express service. No Gift Baskets will be dispatched on Friday 23rd December unless they are non perishable.

We hope that everybody enjoys their Christmas hampers this year and we look forward to being of service to you all throughout the coming year.

Regards,
All at Basketsgalore

Christmas Hamper Delivery Update 2011

2011-12-13T21:15:00.003Z

Merry Christmas to all our customers.

Christmas Hamper Service

Thankfully no snow this year. It was at exactly this time of the year last year when we heard that hampers and gift baskets dispatched immediately were not guaranteed delivery before Christmas.
So through the night we worked to give the hampers the best possible chance of arriving before Christmas.

This year there are no such problems.
We have processed, checked and booked in all orders received up to 11.30am. Orders after this time are currently being processed.

Orders received tomorrow Wednesday up until 16.00 GMT will be dispatched on Thursday assuming the hamper is non perishable. We may upgrade perishable hampers to the express service, but this is at our discretion and should not be relied on. Otherwise hampers containing fresh meats and salmon will be dispatched on Monday.

Customers are advised that all hampers can be expedited for just £14.99. The range of Christmas hampers can be dispatched more quickly than say "a create your own hamper", so if time is a leading factor, then we recommend selecting from the range of Christmas Hampers on our web-site.

Gift Basket Service

All orders processed as of 22:04 GMT for non Christmas hampers are scheduled for dispatch within 24 hours unless otherwise specified for a later date.

Can we guarantee delivery before Christmas?

Whilst nothing is ever guaranteed, we are very confident we can process, assemble and dispatch your Christmas Hamper so that it arrives before Christmas. Based on our experience over the past 10 years, we find that the couriers will endeavour to clear their warehouses before Christmas. Therefore orders placed now with Basketsgalore will have a minimum of 5 days to be delivered. This does not include Saturday, when nearly all the courrier companies are working.

We will stop taking orders for delivery to Europe on Monday 19th December. We expect to still be dispatching last minute orders to UK & IRL on 22nd December, which will still likely arrive before Christmas. However, this cannot be guaranteed.

Weather is good, warehouse reports no delays and there are staff in the office to handle any questions or queries you may have.

Next delivery status update on Friday 16th December, 2011.

Thank you for your support throughout the year.

Basketsgalore

Preparation Time

2011-11-02T15:31:00.003Z

Apologies Bloggers,

It has been a while since we have written to you, with so many projects on the go at once during the summer period. So there must be lots to tell you about by now! There are 3 major projects that immediately spring to mind.

One of the main projects we've been working on is the introduction of a new management system, which works as a stock control & order dispatch system as well as an accountancy & reporting package. After researching all the available packages on the market we decided to go with one called Linnworks, as it integrates seamlessly with our Magento E-commerce store.

With any new system it takes a while to set up implement, learn & test before everything is as it should be. There was a lot of data entry to do, but now all that initial information has been inputted it will simply be a matter of keeping it up to date. Easier said than done I'm sure!

We also had the Corporate Restructuring, as detailed in an earlier blog. This has also been a time consuming & ongoing process, but we feel it was important to prepare for the changes that will soon be introduced, rather than re-acting to changes when they are made required. The restructure also involved a lot of physical & administrative changes, but we are almost there!

Finally, we have also been gearing up for our busiest time of year - Christmas! (Ho ho ho!) Both the warehouse and office staff have to start preparing months in advance. All the products are decided upon, ordered and Christmas hampers designed & photographed throughout the summer. We also have to bring in extra staff and prepare the order processing systems. We try not to play any Christmas music until at least November, although I think I might have heard "Oh I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" coming from the warehouse last week though!

The BG Team

Non Alcoholic and Hampers without alcohol.

2011-11-02T15:30:00.005Z

Christmas Hampers in 2011

2011 will be our 9th season of preparing and dispatching Christmas Hampers and every year we think we offer a better and larger selection from last year.
Most importantly we refresh the contents of our hampers as packaging and tastes change, whilst retaining the key products, which make our hampers so popular.

This year we have clarified our non alcoholic range of hampers and hampers without alcohol. Basketsgalore grew originally from a desire to change perceptions and move away from the traditional format of a duo of wines with low cost food products.
Our differentiation was to include food products, which were too expensive to be included in the hampers of competitors. Thus the hamper without alcohol was born. We advertised the concept as being a no alcohol hamper although we included things such as brandy butter, brandy laced mince pies, etc.

In those days we were just a small provincial hamper company and we were thinking locally. However, because we were the first to do something different from the norm, our Christmas Traditional Feast Hamper was selected for review by the Sunday Times. They loved the hamper, but commented on the inclusion of Brandy Butter and Rich Fruity Chutney with Stout in a non alcoholic hamper.

Basketsgalore is now recognised as the online market leaders in hampers without alcohol in the UK, Ireland and Europe. Our range is based upon the minimisation of wine and alcohol within our hampers to offer something different from the competition.

This year we have our largest ever selection of hampers without alcohol available to buy on basketsgalore.co.uk. Our non alcoholic section is the strictest definition of the hamper without alcohol in the sense that there are no products whatsoever which contain any alcohol.

We are also offering a selection of our best selling hampers with wine and these can be purchased directly at basketsgalore.com.
Unfortunately Basketsgalore does not offer a hamper collection service for legal and insurance reasons. We have no insurance cover for retail customers visiting our premises, so please do not call around as we are unable to serve you. The exception to this is corporate entities organising their own collection for onward distribution using their own transportation networks.

Our brochures are now available for download at
basketsgalore.co.uk(Hampers without alcohol)

basketsgalore.ie(Hampers to Ireland)

basketsgalore.combasketsgalore.com (Hampers with Wine)

Corporate Restructure at Basketsgalore Ltd

2011-09-29T16:27:00.005+01:00

BASKETSGALORE OPENS NEW PREMISES IN IRELAND & GREAT BRITAIN

Important News for all Customers

Over the next 3-4 months, Basketsgalore Ltd corporate structure will change.
The reasons for this are due to local legislative requirements and to comply with the new EU 2013 regulations governing sales taxes payable on goods between EU member states exceeding £35000 per annum.

We are taking this opportunity to structure our operations in order to comply with these regulations. By 2013 all sales taxes and duties to another EU member state must be paid to that state for goods and services delivered within its borders. Currently Basketsgalore Ltd pays all duties, corporation taxes and sales tax to HMRC UK on the basis that goods are dispatched from the UK regardless of destination.

In order to comply with these changes within the prescribed timeframe, Basketsgalore will be restructuring its divisions over the coming 15 months.
We would appreciate our customers understanding & assistance as we aim to make this transition as easy as possible. Please understand that these changes are as a result of changes in the law of the land.

All Sales regardless of origin, but going to the Republic of Ireland will be processed by Ciseáin Go Leor Ltd (Irish for Basketsgalore Ltd). A dedicated website basketsgalore.ie has been established for Irish deliveries. Customers are requested to use basketsgalore.ie for all non alcoholic gift baskets and hampers going to Ireland.

For sales going to Northern Ireland, customers can chose to purchase from either basketsgalore.co.uk or basketsgalore.ie as long as the gift basket does not contain alcohol. The reason for this is that the Northern Ireland delivery market is very small and it is not possible for us to exceed the £35,000 sales limit.

Any gift basket or hamper sales containing wine will be dispatched by basketsgalore.com, which is being operated by Ciseáin Go Leor Ltd for the remainder of this year. This is the only website where you can buy a hamper containing wine for delivery in Ireland.

All sales originating from anywhere in the world and going to the UK will be processed by the original basketsgalore.co.uk company. This excludes any baskets which contain wine.

Next year Basketsgalore.com will be owned and operated by Basketsgalore GB Ltd (a registered company in England & Wales, whereupon wine will be available for sale within Great Britain).

The premises in Ireland will be opening next month with England & Wales scheduled to open early next year.

We appreciate how confusing all of this may seem. We would far rather just get on with the business of creating and dispatching great value gift baskets and hampers on behalf of our customers around the world. However, by 1st January 2013 all these changes will have been phased in to the extent that the following occurs.

Basketsgalore.ie only accepts orders for delivery to Northern & Southern Ireland.
(Ciseáin Go Leor Ltd)
Basketsgalore.co.uk only accepts non alcoholic orders for the United Kingdom
(Basketsgalore Ltd)
Basketsgalore.com accepts all orders including wine and champagne for delivery only in Great Britain (excluding Northern Ireland)
(Basketsgalore (GB) Ltd)

As a result all 3 legal jurisdictions will have a Basketsgalore with its own premises in each region and comply with the regulations and laws relating to that borough.

We are still able to create economies of scale through Basketsgalore Ltd with that company acting as a general food and drink wholesaler for the Group purchasing requirements. Goods will be held in bonded warehouses where necessary and duties paid to the EU member state where the goods are delivered.

If in any doubt please contact or phone us. Our mission, as it has always been is to unite friends and family from around the world by providing the greatest gift baskets in the world.

Our objective is that by the end of 2012 we will have a wide range of even better websites, which can handle our customers orders wherever in the world they live or wish to send a Basketsgalore Gift Basket.

Sincerely,
Basketsgalore

Online Gift Basket Business Top Mistakes

2011-06-24T13:13:00.003+01:00

Our Top 10 Mistakes: (Part 1 of 2)

As Basketsgalore approaches its 10th Birthday we’re looking back at some of the highs and lows of setting up an online gift basket business.
As you can imagine a lot has changed since the first Basketsgalore website went live in 2001. Over the years the primary website has seen five rewrites with numerous amendments in between. Here is a selection of our most memorable mistakes.
And on the basis that more is learnt from our mistakes than our successes, we begin with the aforementioned.

1) Maya the talking Mannequin.
This was a great idea in theory. It involved purchasing a software licence to enable a 3D character to talk to the customer and deal with their most frequently asked questions. The character had to be programmed to blink and make facial changes.
We got to the point of beginning voice recordings for the character and programming changes in facial expressions. Maya was uploaded to the website, but was met with a hail of opposition. “What’s that dummy doing in the corner?” was the most frequent question. Maya was quietly dropped from version IV of the website.

2) Animation Website
The animation was brilliant, we got the detail perfectly and it was drawn by an excellent company from Canada. We wanted something which set us apart from the competition and the animation captured it brilliantly. Unfortunately it slowed the website. With Google’s emphasis placed on fast loading times, it became a casualty of progress.

You can see it confined to the annals of e-history at:: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuOiwRG_8Dw

3) Babygifts.basketsgalore.co.uk. In the olden days of the early 2000s, sub-domains were highly effective. Over the years we simply didn’t have enough resources to tackle this domain effectively. It is now in its 3rd incarnation and has been transferred to a new domain; babybasketsgalore.co.uk. However, the 2nd version was a horror and is a testimony to what happens when you keep patching and repairing a website. Navigation was confusing, imagery, shapes and fonts were mish-mashed. When design and technology do not coordinate this web-site is the result.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:rLnyZwUxS4cJ:babygifts.basketsgalore.co.uk/clothes.html+babygifts.basketsgalore&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&source=www.google.co.uk

4) Valentines Gift Boxes. Perhaps our favourite mistake of all as it was an elementary and idealistic novice’s mistake. When the company started off we targeted Valentines Day as a great potential market for our gift baskets. We wanted red boxes and we would wrap them for delivery around our local area. The supplier needed a minimum order quantity and we agreed. We had no idea what 1000 boxes looked like, but its quite a lot when you’re working from 2 downstairs rooms and a garage.
Looking back on it now, we sold quite well as we were running around drumming up sales days in advance with flyers and calls to local businesses. However, the legacy of the red boxes is that 80% of them are still floating around. They are still wrapped in their original brown paper and at least provide some amount of insulation in our roofspace.

5) Brochure No 1. Our first brochure was a horror from a financial and marketing perspective It was designed in 2002 and bears testimony to naïve and irrational youthful exuberance. We chuckle about it now as it was 10 years ago and we have moved on eons since then. It was full A4 sized 16 page colour glossy brochure. It was expensive, cumbersome and completely ineffective. In our defence it must be remembered that the internet was not like the way it is today. E-Commerce sales were still very much in their infancy. Our beautiful brochure was obsolete as soon as it was printed. Thankfully we could not afford to print many. Nevertheless it is remarkable how certain elements of that brochure can still be seen today, so on that basis perhaps it was worth it. There was category segmentation, imagination, and clear competitive differentiation from anything else in the market place. It was a Gift Basket brochure designed for a small region of the UK which was theoretically sound, but practically incorrect.
Click to view original brochure.

Hopefully if you are thinking of starting up a gift basket or hamper business, you will recognise some of these issues and consider our experiences. Maybe it will help to prevent you from making the same mistakes.

Second part of our Top 10 mistakes of the past 10 years next week.

The Joys of Designing A Gift Basket Website

2011-06-21T10:46:00.001+01:00

The Joys of Designing a Gift Basket Website (PART 1)

The Basketsgalore website is based on the Magento platform, and has been heavily modified to suit the needs of our customers. Like all things internet, it is a work in progress and may not be suitable for new start companies. Ten years ago, Basketsgalore was built using Dreamweaver and there was no back end content management system. Nowadays there are many off-the-shelf CMS website templates.

The objective of Basketsgalore is to sell the best Gift Baskets in the world and in doing so create the best possible shopping experience for our customers.
Over the past year as we have rolled out a succession of improvements, our site has attracted the attention not only of our competitors in our industry but from companies in other sectors. We rely on the work of others online with their hints and tips when we meet what are seemingly intractable problems, so on this basis we’re sharing our experiences in the hope that at some point in the future.

1) Refreshing the cache:
This is one of the very first things I imagine anyone learns when using Magento that fixes 99% of problems is refreshing the cache.
To refresh the cache go to System > Cache management and change ‘All Cache’ from No change to Refresh.

2) Another very useful thing to know how when you first start using Magento is the tips feature. When trying to change certain features on the first website there was quite a lot of trouble locating the files which were bringing the pages together.
To activate tips, go to system > Configuration. Make sure you select the website you wish to change under ‘Current Configuration Scope’ (otherwise you’ll add tips to all of your websites, which you really don’t want), and go down to Developer at the bottom of the side bar.
Under debug, change ‘Template Path Hints’ and ‘Add Block names to Hints’ to yes, and click save. This will bring up the file paths on the web page you are working on. To turn it off, simply go back to the same place and turn the hints off and save.

3) Finding things in Magento can be a nuisance. When starting using the program, you may only edit the main content on the index page. This is easily found by going to CMS > Manage pages and then searching for the store and page you want. This is perfectly fine until you want to change an image on a category page and you can’t find the category page you needed anywhere. However, what you must remember is that category pages are set up in the back end of magento, but that they are brought together via php via the ftp.
Also remember that Magento is similar to wordpress, in that all the elements on the screen are separate files that are all brought together using one php file. The tips feature in Magento, when it’s enabled will tell you where the files were being drawn from and you can then change them.

4) When changing the look of a website in Magento, you are no doubt going to need to go into the files via ftp. Theres only ever going to be 2 places you use in the ftp when styling magento - App and Skin.

lets start with the Skin folder. In public_html > Magento > Skin > front end> default, and inside your chosen website folder, you’ll find a number of files and folders related to your website. This is where you will store all your websites images, as well as your css. You will only ever change the CSS files in this directory. You can only change the content via the magento backend or through the php files in app.

moving to the app folder go to Public_html > Magento > app > design > front end > default > your chosen website > template. In this folder you will find lots of folders from different sections of your website. This end of magento can look very confusing at first, but the more you use magento’s tips feature, which will locate where an element is situated for you in this section of the ftp, you’ll soon become more and more familiar. The hard part is working out the php!

Hopefully these experiences over the past week will assist others as they develop their websites. If you use Magento, there are serious obstacles that you have to overcome, which are well documented online. The above are merely our practical experiences of our work with the platform and how it relates to our little Gift Basket company in the UK and Ireland.

BG

Baby Baskets Galore

2011-06-14T10:55:00.008+01:00

Last Thursday saw our dedicated baby website being re-launched with a new look & navigation. We hope you like it and would be interested to hear any feedback, epecially from customers who had shopped on the previous version. As with any new website there can be teething issues, so we are also keen to be informed of any issues you may come across please!

We hope the new layout will make it even easier & more fun to create your own baby gift basket. There are so many gorgeous items to browse through & new products are added all the time. You can create your own baby basket by using the horizontal navigation bar & clicking into the various sections such as Baby Toys & Baby Clothes. Please remember to click into the 'Baskets' section too, to pick a container for all your items. The price includes the basket/gift bag and the straw/lining, ribbons, bows & cellophane wrap which all help to turn your selected items into a beautifully packaged baby gift.

Using the vertical navigation menu on the left hand side of the screen you can view our 'readymade' sections of pre-designed baby gift baskets. These sections include New Baby Baskets, Parents & Baby Baskets and Mother & Pregnancy Gifts.

We have also introduced a 'shop by price' navigation menu so you can see all the baskets in your budget at the click of a button.

As usual next day delivery across the UK & Ireland is available, or pick the standard service for delivery in 2 days. We will email you when your gift basket is dispatched & also email you tracking details so you can follow the delivery progress.

Baby BasketsGalore also now has its own Facebook Page, so be sure to follow us for all the lastest news, updates, special offers & competitions.

We hope you enjoy shopping on Baby BasketsGalore & please just drop us an email if we can be of any assistance.

Kind regards,
The Baby BG Team

Father's Day Gift Baskets

2011-06-09T17:27:00.008+01:00

Well Folks, that next occasion to celebrate is just around the corner - Father's Day falls on Sunday 19th June this year. Have you thought about what present you might get your long suffering dad? At BasketsGalore we have created a range of manly gift baskets, perfect for a Father's Day present.

This range of gift baskets contain yummy gourmet treats that dads everywhere will love, from delicious creamy cheeses to Sicilian koppa ham, chilli nuts and stuffed peppers & olives. They say the way to a mans heart is through his stomach after all! You can also create your own basket of goodies if you prefer.

We can deliver all over the UK & Ireland on a next day or 2 day basis, so there is still plenty of time to place your order. Simply choose to have the gift delivered on Thursday 16th or Friday 17th June, or there is a special Saturday delivery service for an extra charge.

We are also offering one lucky facebook fan the chance to win one of these Father's Day gift baskets. Simply like us on Facebook & tag yourself in one of the Father's Day gift basket images. Everyone tagged will then be entered into the draw. 20 finalists will be selected at random & these 20 will then compete for the gift basket. We are currently coming up with a fun game for staff members to play on your behalf, that will narrow the finalists down to 3 & then down to the eventual winner! Check back next week to see the video of what we got up to & who won.

The BG Team

Dzien Matki 26 Maj

2011-05-19T14:33:00.002+01:00

Dzien Matki w Polsce juz wkrótce!

Dzien Matki to wspaniala okazja na prezent z wysp!
Podarujmy 26 maja naszym Mamusiom prezenty, upominki, kwiaty i złóżmy życzenia.
Tego dnia wszystkie dzieci - zarówno te malutkie, jak i już całkiem dorosłe składają życzenia swoim mamom.

Mama jest jedną z najważniejszych osób w naszym życiu. Całe życie stara się, abyśmy mieli świetlaną przyszłość, i chce wychować nas na porządnych obywateli. Ale przede wszystkim ofiarowuje nam swój miłość. Za te całe lata wychowywania powinniśmy jej jakoś podziękowaćh.

Gdy wpadniemy na jakiś pomysł na prezent dla mamy czym prędzej powinniśmy go zrealizować, pierwsze idee są zawsze najważniejsze. Jeśli nie wymyśliliscie jeszce czegos odpowiedniego moze upominek z Baskets Galore bedzie dobrym pomyslem i wyjatkowym prezentem w tym niepowtarzalnym dniu!
Ja juz zamowilam kosz pelen wysmienitych, nadziewanych czekoladek, pysznych przekasek i zdrowego soku. Polecam!

Nie zapomnijmy o naszych kochanych matkach w Ich wyjatkowym Dniu!

Choć raz w roku jest "Święto Matki" - mamie się co dzień należą kwiatki .

Mother's Day Again?

2011-05-04T14:04:00.005+01:00

You may have noticed us talking about Mother's Day & be wondering why, seeing as we just celebrated it on the 3rd April 11 in the UK & Ireland! Well the reason is that it is Mother's Day this Sunday, 8th May (the 2nd Sunday in May) for the majority of countries around the world:

* Anguilla
* Aruba
* Australia
* Austria
* Bahamas
* Barbados
* Bangladesh
* Belgium
* Belize
* Bermuda
* Bonaire
* Brazil
* Canada
* Chile
* China
* Colombia
* Cuba
* Croatia
* Curaçao
* Czech Republic
* Denmark
* Ecuador
* Estonia
* Finland
* Germany
* Greece
* Grenada
* Honduras
* Hong Kong
* Iceland
* Italy
* Jamaica
* Japan
* Latvia
* Malta
* Malaysia
* Netherlands
* New Zealand
* Peru
* Philippines
* Puerto Rico
* Singapore
* Slovakia
* South Africa
* Suriname
* Switzerland
* Taiwan
* Trinidad and Tobago
* Turkey
* United States
* Uruguay
* Venezuela
* Zimbabwe

Of course there are countries who celebrate at other times besides March/April or May. In Thailand, for example, it is on 12th August, as this is Queen Sirikit Kitiyakara's birthday!

If your mum is living in the UK or Ireland then why not celebrate May Mother's Day by sending her a lovely card & pressie. It is also very handy if you forgot to send something on the UK date! We have lots of Mother's Day gift baskets to choose from & each is sent with your personalised gift card message.

We can also deliver to Europe from as little as £19.99 remember. We noticed a few European countries (like Belgium & Germany) also celebrate Mother's Day on May 8th, so there is still time to send your Mothers Day gift today.

Remember...Mum's the word!

The BG Team

Royal Wedding & May Day Weekend

2011-04-27T11:25:00.003+01:00

The Easter Holidays are over already, we hope you all had fun in the sun barbequing and picnicking! Operations at BG have returned to normal, but only for a couple of days as there are some more holidays coming up..yey!

This Friday 29th April is the Royal Wedding of Prince William & Kate Middleton (if you hadn't heard where have you been!) Because of this many of us in the UK are getting an extra days holiday, so we can join in the celebrations. The courier companies are not collecting or delivering, so at BG we have decided to take the day off too.

Then Monday just happens to be the May Day bank holiday which means another day off. There are no deliveries or collections on this day either.

Any orders placed on Friday & over the long weekend will be dispatched on Tuesday 3rd May.

There are still deliveries tomorrow (Thursday 28th) though in England, Scotland & Wales so why not send a basket of goodies for your friends & family to tuck into while they watch the Royal Wedding, or to take on a picnic on May Day? Or Saturday delivery to UK addresses is also an option for £23.50. Order by 3pm on Thursday 28th though please (as no Parel Force collections on Friday)

Our couriers in Ireland & Northern Ireland (Nightline) will still be delivering on Friday 29th, so please get in touch if you would like a Friday delivery to an address in these areas. Or simply place your order & reply to your email confirmation requesting a Friday delivery (possible for orders placed before 3pm on Thursday 28th to Irish addresses)

Many thanks,
The BG Team

Easter Deliveries

2011-04-20T17:43:00.006+01:00

Well the BG Easter Bunny has been busy dispatching all your Easter orders to their lucky recipients! Due to arrive in time for the Easter Holidays & to be enjoyed in the sunshine!

However, if you forgot to get your order in on time, there is still a chance of it arriving before Easter if the delivery address is in Ireland! Couriers in Ireland still operate on Good Friday, but are closed on Easter Monday & Tuesday. Whereas UK couriers close Good Friday & Easter Monday, but re-open Easter Tuesday.

When you order you will see the calendar at the checkout tells you Tuesday is your next available delivery day, which is true if the delivery address is in England, Wales or Scotland.

If your order is going to Ireland we can still dispatch these on Thursday for delivery on Friday 22nd (if order placed before 3pm on Thursday 21st) Just place the order & pick the "next available day" shipping option. We will know to send the gift ASAP if you have included an Easter message. Or feel free to reply to your order receipt email to confirm you would like a Friday delivery if possible! Remember this is for addresses in Ireland & Northen Ireland only.

If the delivery address is in the UK, then there is still the option of Easter Saturday delivery. You need to order before 3pm on Thursday 21st to pick this Saturday option though, as there will be no Friday collections. Saturday delivery is a bit more expensive, as this is a special service.

Easter Holiday Delivery Schedule:

Addresses in Ireland/ N Ireland:
Orders placed on Wednesday Night & Thursday 21st (up til 3pm) - Delivery Friday 22nd
Orders placed Thursday (21st) Night & Friday (22nd) Morning - Delivery Wednesday 27th

Addresses in GB: (GB Couriers are closed Fri 22nd & Mon 25th, but re-open Tues 26th)
Orders placed on Wed Night, Thursday 21st or Friday 22nd (up til 3pm) - Delivery Tuesday 26th April
Orders placed between Friday Night & Tuesday 26th (up until 2pm) - Delivery Wednesday 27th. Unless a future date is specified or the standard delivery option has been picked. (Standard delivery means delivery will take place 2 days from the dispatch date)

Any European deliveries will simply be sent ASAP when the European courier re-opens on Tuesday 26th/Wednesday 27th, on the 3-5 working day service.

If this is all too confusing please just drop us an email to check!

Happy Easter!

The BG Team

Easter Gift Baskets

2011-04-06T15:49:00.008+01:00

What a beautiful day it is today. Spring is truly here & Spring time makes me think of warmer days, pretty flowers and baby animals - lambs & chicks! Don't you think people seem to be happier too when there is a bit of sunshine around? Easter will soon be here too. Good Friday is the 22nd April this year, with Easter Sunday on the 24th & Easter Monday the 25th April.

Easter time is one of our favourites at BasketsGalore, as it goes hand-in-hand with baskets. They remind me of Easter Egg hunts especially! Easter baskets are also a great gift idea. For Easter 2011 we have introduced some new Easter gift baskets, some for children (or big kids!) and some for the whole family to enjoy!

As well as Easter Eggs, chocolates, lollipops and sweets you might find the Easter bunny himself! The goody basket is decorated in pretty ribbons & is then ready to be unwrapped by the lucky recipient! In our Family Easter baskets you will also find all these things, but with the addition of freshly baked cakes, flapjacks, muffins and cupcakes!

You can reserve your Easter gift basket now. Simly place your order & then pick a delivery date just before Easter. Couriers won't be delivering on the public holidays, so we advise picking a delivery day a few days in advance. Your gift arriving a bit early may help mums & dads to keep the kids entertained on the school holidays anyway!

If you think the kids may be all chocolated out, then maybe a children's activity gift basket would be more suitable. For the grown-ups simply take your pick of the many gorgeous gift hampers on offer!

The BG Team

Still Time For Mother's Day Delivery!

2011-03-30T22:50:00.004+01:00

Hi All,

Just a quick update regarding Mother's Day deliveries. Still time to order for delivery before Sunday!

Lots of gorgeous Mother's Day gift baskets are already winging their way to mums across the UK & Ireland, after a busy day of dispatches today.

However, there is still time to order & have a gift basket of treats delivered on Friday (1st April). Just place your order tonight or before 3pm tomorrow (Thursday 31st March) and pick the 'next available day' delivery option. We will then dispatch your gift on an overnight delivery service. Unless of course the address is in the Highlands, Islands or an extended area, as delivery to these areas takes a little bit longer.

We may also be able to offer a Saturday delivery option for UK addresses. Couriers don't generally operate at weekends, but they will sometimes deliver on a Saturday morning for a slight surcharge (as it is not a standard service). Please get in touch by phone or email if you want to check if Saturday delivery is an option for your gift.

We will also be drawing our competition winner ASAP! Good luck!

The BG Team

Mother's Day Gift Baskets

2011-03-24T16:13:00.005Z

I actually can't believe it is almost Mother's Day, as that means it is the end of March already! This year Mothers Day in the UK & Ireland is in April (Sunday 3rd), as it falls on the 4th Sunday of Lent. Other countries around the world celebrate Mothers Day on various different dates. The 2nd Sunday in May is one of the most popular days for Mother's Day celebrations.

We have so many new gift baskets on offer and many are just perfect for mums, so why not check out our Mother's Day gift range, as well as all the other girly gift baskets. Whether your mum is a chocoholic or a cheese & biscuits girl, someone who likes to be pampered or a traditional flowers or fruit lover, we like to think we have a little something for everyone!

We have also launched a competition on Facebook for a lucky mum to win a gorgeous gift basket, chosen especially for her. All you have to do is 'like' us on Facebook & then post a comment on our wall telling us why your mum deserves to win. Also include a link to the gift basket you would like to win for her. Easy! A winner will be announced early next week.

Mother's Day deliveries will be taking place on Thursday 31st March and Friday 1st April (April Fools!), as couriers do not deliver on Sundays. One of our couriers is Parcel Force & their drivers are allowed to leave the parcel with a neighbour or drop it at a local post office for collection if no-one is home to sign for the package. Please let us know if you would like your gift sent on this option, but allow 48 hours for the delivery. If you need the gift to arrive overnight, that is also no problem as we offer this service via DHL for the UK & Nightline for Irish deliveries.

So celebrate mums everywhere and send her that perfect pressie to make her day!

The BG Team

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T12:25:00.002Z

Happy St Patrick's Day everybody! We hope all you lucky people with the day off work are enjoying yourselves. Great to see the sun shining, spring is here!

The 17th March is a public holiday in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Newfoundland and Labrador & in Montserrat to celebrate Saint Patrick (c. AD 387–461), the most commonly recognised of the Patron Saints of Ireland. St Patricks Day is also celebrated all over the world, including countries such as Great Britain, Canada, the United States, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea & Japan as there are many Irish immigrants & descendants there.

Typical celebrations include parades, parties & services around the world. We love how in Chicago the river is dyed green & the north White House fountain was also dyed green in 2009 & 2010. It is also a day of sporting activities with important rubgy, football, gaelic football & hurling matches taking place in Ireland. We love the idea of people dressed in green, eating, drinking and being merry! Apparently the original colour associated with Saint Patrick was blue! Over the years the colour green gradually grew in assocation and green ribbons and shamrocks were worn in celebration of St Patrick's Day as early as the 17th century. (Wikipedia)

At BasketsGalore we have a wide range of St Patrick's Day gift baskets, as many of the items we stock are produced in Ireland by local artisan manufacturers.

We hope you enjoy celebrating today & tonight! We are certainly looking forward to having a celebratory Guinness later! Sláinte!

The BG Team

Gift Baskets For Children

2011-03-02T10:57:00.017Z

As well as new baby gift baskets we have always carried a range of gift baskets for children. Last month we had fun designing a whole new range of kids gifts. There are many more to choose from now, for many more ages ranges.

Gifts For Toddlers (1-3 years)

Toddlers gift baskets are those in the 1-3 years age range. Kids obviously want a present to be fun, but we also include educational, sensory items for them to enjoy. Toddlers gifts tend to include a soft toy such as a teddy bear, chunky 2-3 piece jigsaws, colouring sets, colouring books, colourful flashcards or build & play toys. Chocolate buttons or milky bars add a little sweet treat and a choice of helium character balloons complete the gift.

The products included are all leading brands like Peppa Pig, Meccano Kids, Winnie The Pooh & Buttons produced by companies such as Ravensburger, Orchard Toys, Russ Berrie & Cadburys.

Gifts For Pre-Schoolers (3-5 years)

Gifts for Pre-Schoolers are for those in the 3-5 years age bracket. This range includes some of the same items in the toddlers gifts, but at a more advanced level. Reading books, activity/sticker books and memory/card games. Brands here include Bob The Builder, Dora The Explorer and Charlie & Lola.

School Age (5-8 years)

This range of gift baskets include more advanced Penguin reading novels, by authors such as Jacqueline Wilson & Roald Dahl. Board games and more complex jigsaws, kits & models to build and popular DVD's.

Our new range of fun childrens gifts start from only £30 and are popular as childrens birthday gifts for girls & birthday gifts for boys. Another popular reason to send a gift basket to a child is for sicks kids in hospital. Loving grandparents, aunt & uncles etc often wish to send a gift if they live abroad & so can't visit. The work colleagues of parents often club together to send a little something too, to show they are thinking of them.

Whatever the occasion, we like to think we have all bases covered & offer something a little different in the way of gifts for kids.

There is a section on our "Create Your Own Gift Basket" website featuring individual childrens gift items. You can pick from the many games, puzzles & toys and also the sweeties/chocolates for kids. So why not create your very own childrens gift basket. Available for delivery all over, Ireland, the UK & Europe.

Check back soon for details on our gift for teenagers and gift baskets for students!

The 'Big Kids' at BG

Valentine’s Day Gifts 2011

2011-02-08T17:23:00.004Z

Less than a week to go until Valentine’s Day! Yes it has snuck right up on us & is next Monday, 14th February!!

We know many blokes (and ladies – let’s not generalise here) out there may be a little last minute when it comes to organising a present, but fear not, you still have plenty of time to order from BasketsGalore.

We will be dispatching all your Valentines Gifts on Thursday 10th & Friday 11th February, as the courier companies do not deliver at the weekends. (Well unless you pay a nice big fat surcharge!) So long as you get your order in by 3pm this Thursday 10th February, we will post your gift off on the next (working) day service for delivery on Monday. So long as they don’t live in the Highlands, Islands or further afield like Europe, as delivery to these areas takes a little longer.

And who said Valentine’s Day was just for girls? I always get my boyfriend a little something so he doesn’t feel left out! He annoyingly has his birthday a week later & so I have to think of 2 presents in a short space of time!

So what do you get the man in your life? Socks, a computer game or some new gadget?
Well, they do say the way to a mans heart is through his stomach & that is why we think a Valentine’s gift basket is such a good idea.

You can pick from our many creations of chocolates gifts or cheese, fruit & snack gift baskets. You can even create your very own gift basket, if you want to put some extra thought into it! As well as food items we offer some fun & pamper items for him and her.

We will decorate your Valentine's gift in appropriate loved-up colours. Oh and
don’t forget to include that soppy gift card message & we will make sure it accompanies your chosen gift basket. So get ordering now & you are sure to be in your partners good books come Valentine's Day!

Mwah!

The BG Team

Chocoholic Gift Baskets

2011-02-04T14:39:00.002Z

Calling all chocolate lovers!

Over the past couple of weeks we have been beating the winter blues by treating ourselves to some delicious chocolate goodies. Of course it is all in the name of research… as we only want to include the BEST chocolate treats in our new chocolate themed gift baskets!

Our ‘Christmas Chocolate Celebration’ basket was a big hit in December, so we thought we would update our all year round chocolate gift range & also offer you some new choices.

New products include a range called Sugar n’ Spice from Ashbourne Foods. They had lots of yummy items to choose from, but after some careful taste testing we have picked out Belgian Chocolate Shortbread Biscuit Bites, Intensely Chocolate Flapjack & the Seriously Fruity Flapjack.

Asher’s Baking Co. produce the delicious, freshly baked chocolate chip cake we include and the luxurious caramel shortbread biscuits. My mouth is watering typing this! Ballyshiel’s Exquisite Chocolate Sauce & Chocolate Spreads add even more sparkle to an already luxurious chocolate gift.

We didn’t forget good old-fashioned chocolates; there are plenty to choose from! I have named just a few below:

Lindt Lindor Chocolate Truffles
Lily O’Brien Caramels & Toffees
Butlers Chocolate Bars in mixed flavours
Melting Pot Fudge
House of Dorchester Chunky Chocolates
Skellig’s Handmade Chocolate Truffles
James’ Novelty Chocolates – piglets & bunnies etc
Forest Feast Chocolate Raisins

Of course all this chocolate is bound to make you thirsty so we have included something delicious to wash it all down with. Either organic fruity lemonade or freshly pressed apple & raspberry juice, or in some chocolate gift baskets - both!

A chocolate gift basket is suitable for so many occasions, be it a thank you gift, a birthday gift or congratulations gift. Of course there is one very special occasion coming up on the 14th February… St Valentine’s Day! Our chocolate Valentine’s Day gifts are the perfect way to show that special someone how much you love them. When they receive one of these Valentines Day gift baskets they will feel truly spoilt & you will definitely be in their good books! Of course, if chocolate is not their favourite thing, then our cheese, salmon or fruit baskets will also impress. Or should your girlfriend, boyfriend, wife, husband, partner or friend be in need of a little pampering on Valentine’s Day then choose from our great range of pampering gift baskets for him or pampering gifts for her.

The BG Team

Beat the January Blues

2011-01-27T16:27:00.005Z

January really isn’t the best of months for a lot of people. After the Christmas & New Year festivities have finished it is back to the daily grindstone, with what seems like nothing to look forward to. I've recently noticed a lot of friends & colleagues starting to book holidays or trips away. This winter also lead to a lot of flu going around. Almost everyone seemed to be inflicted with some strain of sickness or the cold. Pay Day has also been a long time coming, but we are almost there now! At least the snow & ice have stayed away for a while.

January is so bad in fact that ‘Blue Monday’ occurs! Blue Monday is meant to be the most depressing day of the year according to psychologists. This date allegedly falls on the Monday of the last full week of January. So it was the 19th January in 2000 & the 18th January in 2010. There has been some confusion over the date in 2011 with some claiming it was on 17th January 2011, while others say Blue Monday was on 24th January 2011.

According to Cliff Arnall (former University tutor) the date was calculated by using many factors, including: weather conditions, debt level, time since Christmas, time since failing our new year’s resolutions, low motivational levels and feeling of a need to take action. (Wikipedia)

According to a press release by a mental health charity, the formula is:

Here weather=W, debt=d, time since Christmas=T, time since failing our new year’s resolutions=Q, low motivational levels=M and the feeling of a need to take action=Na. 'D' is not defined in the release, nor are units.

So what can we do to cheer someone up who might have the January blues? Well everyone loves a little pampering & chocolate! Our pamper gift baskets could be just the thing to bring a little cheer to a friend, family member of colleague.

Our pamper gifts are not just a few lotions & potions though; they have real thought behind them & are full of things a person would really want. Sure there are some smellies included, such as creamy body butter, moisturising bath milk & hand creams. These products are from expert producers such as Scottish Fine Soaps who describe themselves as ‘luxury bath & body specialists’. To compliment these pamper products we like to include something a little different. A choice of popular magazines and reading novels has been a big hit, as have chick flick DVD’s & puzzle books. Hot chocolates & marshmallows (we even include a hand-painted gift boxed mug in some!), chocolates truffles, cupcakes & fruity tea are also popular inclusions. Fun items such as candles, pedicure sets, facemasks, reflexology socks and cuddly teddy bears also add a little more personality to the gift.

Not to forget the boys with man-flu out there, we thought they might prefer comfort food & just a little pampering! Healthy (and not-so-healthy) snacks such as fruit, nuts & cheese, men’s lifestyle magazines & novels, games & puzzles and some soothing body wash.

We also have a brilliant range of get will gifts for children & teenagers, containing products. Get Well & Character balloons decorated the colourful gift bags and boxes full of toys, books, board games, sweeties & teddies especially for sick kids.

And remember if you don’t see a get-well gift basket that is quite right, you can create your very own on www.createyourowngiftbasket.co.uk

The BG Team

Happy 2011!

2011-01-18T13:28:00.003Z

Happy 2011 & a big thank you to all our customers for shopping with BasketsGalore last year & throughout the years!

Christmas 2010 was certainly a challenge as we experienced some of the most extreme weather conditions ever faced across the UK & Ireland. The snow, ice & sub-zero temperatures experienced throughout December grounded flights, closed rail links and left traffic at a standstill. Read more here.

At BasketsGalore we managed to keep dispatching all your Christmas gifts, despite nearly getting snowed in on a couple of occasions. A Thunder-Snow storm hit (a thunder & lightning storm with snow rather than rain – a rare phenomenon apparently) & we had to dig our cars out to get home (pictures to follow soon!) Some of our suppliers couldn’t reach our premises to deliver new stock, so we had to greet them at the top of the road & carry boxes through the snow.

Obviously after we dispatch our gift baskets, they need to be delivered to the end recipient by courier. Unfortunately the unusual circumstances meant deliveries were sometimes delayed by a few days due to the difficulties faced by the courier drivers. Scottish delivery depots were amongst the most badly affected. Some courier companies even had to stop accepting deliveries to Scotland 2 weeks before Christmas.

We have had reports of depots being forced to close for up to 4 days due to vans sliding off roads, employees being snowed in & drivers having to sleep in their vans!
At BasketsGalore we have been working hard to fix any delivery problems, so please do get in touch if you need help tracking a delivery.

Obviously with some depots being forced to shut or unable to carry out deliveries, a huge backlog of parcels built up which they worked around the clock to get delivered in time for Christmas. Parcels being dispatched in the week leading up to Christmas could no longer be guaranteed to arrive by the 24th, but many still did get there. We have had lots of lovely comments about happy recipients being surprised the gift basket even managed to reach them! The couriers then re-opened on 29th December to clear any further backlogs.

Some courier companies were still struggling with backlogs in certain regions for the first couple of weeks in January, but we have been upgrading all orders to an Express delivery service & monitoring these dispatches. We are pleased to confirm that all UK & Ireland consignments are being delivered the following day. Unless of course the recipient wasn’t at home or they live in a remote/extended area. So it seems that things are back to the normal, speedy service.

We wish to thank you all again for your continued support & your understanding about the difficult conditions this December. If we can be of any assistance then simply drop us an email & our customer service team will be happy to help.

All the best for 2011 & we hope to help you with any get well, birthday or new baby gifts you might need!

The BG Team

Christmas Delivery 22nd December Update

2010-12-22T01:27:00.003Z

Hello to all our customers,

Earlier today all Gift Baskets and Hampers were dispatched on an Express Delivery Service to give them the best possible chance of arrival before Christmas.
Whilst the major carriers are reporting some delays in making delivery due to the extreme weather conditions, they are working hard to clear their depots before Christmas.

Here at Basketsgalore we have been greatly inconvenienced by the snowy weather. At the weekend an electrical snow storm meant that we had to evacuate our warehouse at 9pm and make good our escape home in a mini. However we have completely cleared all orders received by 1pm on Tuesday by 6pm the same day. The pallet trucks cannot be used as the snow is 8-10 inches deep. During the day staff are called away to push vans and lorries out of the snow laden with Christmas Gift Baskets. Yet they are all getting away.

It is now 1.30am GMT on Wednesday and we will be dispatching any late orders later today at 5pm availing once again of the Express delivery service. The cut off point will be approximately 2pm GMT and we are still able to offer a comprehensive range of hampers to choose from. Once again we reiterate that Pre Christmas delivery cannot be guaranteed.

The courier companies that we are using will re-open on 29th and 30th of December should pre Christmas delivery prove beyond them. Weather conditions as I write are approximately (-12 degrees) Freezing Cold temperatures are expected too persist through to the new year, so as you can imagine there is little problem concerning perishability. All our fresh salmon and ham hampers are enclosed in cold packages and boxes with ice gel packs, which will stay solid due to the low temperatures whilst in transit. Shelf life of salmon being dispatched this week is 13th January, so there is nothing to worry about it arriving past its sell by date.

We hope you enjoy your gift basket this Christmas time. We thank you for your custom and we will continue to be here right up until Christmas Eve.

Sincerely,

BG

Christmas Delivery & The Weather

2010-12-15T18:27:00.002Z

Hello Gift Basketeers,

As you all know the weather is set to take a turn for the worse on Thursday so thought we would share the latest data available to us.

Basketsgalore operates with road and air freight services across the UK, Europe and Ireland. Here are things as they stand as of 18:35 Wednesday 15th December. We are experiencing no delays whatsoever in order processing and dispatch with excellent availability across the range.

Europe: Road Service with a guide of 2-3 working days is no longer likely to mean pre- Christmas Delivery. Consequently we recommend that if your hamper is time sensitive, we recommend you use the Express Air Service.

UK: Basketsgalore operates with a 8am and 5pm collection schedule. Consequently all orders received by 19.00 tonight will be dispatched in the morning. They will be in the UK's central depot later that day and will be out for delivery on Friday. The couriers will be working at the weekend to clear the anticipated volume of orders.
Orders received between 19.00 and 15.00 Thursday 16th December will be airfreighted overnight and will still be out for delivery on Friday 17th December (according to the advice provided to me by the courier liason officers)

If you have stated that you want delivery to be made next week, we are sorry to inform you that due to the highly inclement weather conditions anticipated, we do not recommend you take the chance. The information we are receiving is that the couriers are still clearing the backlog of orders from the last cold period.

For all orders received after 15.00 on Thursday, you next date of dispatch is Monday 20th December. However, we may attempt to dispatch a few consignments on Friday. Whilst dispatch on this day in the past few years has been sufficient time for delivery to take place, the weather this year means that it cannot be 100% guaranteed as it has been in the past. It is highly likely that with 5 delivery days, your hamper will be delivered before Christmas day, but certain parts of the country may be under snow by Monday. We will keep our customers posted on a daily basis.

For Ireland, all orders go by road and there will be some delays. We will be working through tonight to send all orders tomorrow morning around 10am, which will allow delivery attempts on Friday and/or weekend.

All major online retailers have been advised that pre Christmas delivery is not guaranteed for consignments received after this Friday. Hopefully the weather will not be as severe as what is predicted and the disruption will be kept to a minimum.

A further update will be available on Christmas Hamper Delivery around the same time tomorrow.

Basketsgalore