Remembering Our Military During the Holidays

I recently polled a group of soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines in Baghdad, Iraq regarding some great last minute gifts to send overseas and the results were somewhat surprising. It is the holiday time here in the United States and while the Armed Forces will be working, a lot of them will still celebrate Christmas when they can. Unfortunately, there is no where for the troops to purchase the common Christmas items you and I enjoy like decorations, music, and even Christmas cookies. Little Christmas decorations to put up in an office/bunk were one of the most requested items. While CDs in general are always good gifts for the troops, CDs playing Christmas music were also requested. Along the same theme, Christmas Cookies, Chocolate covered pretzels, and chocolate in general surfaced as great gifts. The summer time is difficult to send anything that will melt; however, I was assured this time of year is safe for chocolate. Some other great gift ideas that surfaced can be found on the current survey, “What should I send the service men and women overseas?” I was surprised at how little things can make a big impact, there are a lot of great gift ideas for under $5.

Grocery stores (Industry Index of Public Companies) could have some potential gain and positive marketing from the results of this survey. Whenever I check out at the grocery store, there is a basket of small items from $1-$5 available for purchase at the end of the checkout. I'm asked if I want to purchase the item of the week at the end of the checkout line, just like I'm asked if I want to super size my meal after ordering fast food. I am not sure what the close rate is on the item of the week; however, if they switched it up for the final weeks of Christmas with items from the survey to be sent to the troops “Any Soldier” box, I would imagine the close rate would soar, much like their close rate when soliciting donations at the beginning of breast cancer awareness month. The final step to the process would be a delivery to USPS at the end of the week and building a small additional margin into each product sold to cover the new flat rate costs for overseas shipping. Everyone wins in this scenario; 1) The Consumer gets a very easy way to donate 2) The Service Men and Women get items they want 3) The Store makes a marginal profit of all the items sold.

WhatisAverage.com is donating 100% of the proceeds of this survey to the Fisher House, an organization that provides free or low cost lodging to veterans and military families receiving treatment at military medical centers. I choose Fisher House because the same group of soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines recommended them based on a survey of their fellow officers and enlisted. Regardless if you send an item that you purchase through the survey to a soldier overseas, the proceeds that WhatisAverage.com collects will go to Fisher House.  This means if you want to purchase items like Chocolate Pretzels, Christmas Decorations, Christmas CDs, or any item listed on the survey, you could purchase them through the "What should I send the Service Men and Women overseas?” survey and still contribute to a worthy cause.