Until now, the business of gift giving has been virtually ignored from a research perspective, yet its impact on the national economy, on retailers and consumer goods manufacturers is tremendous. The last quarter of year, the ‘gift-giving shopping season’ accounts for nearly one-fourth of total annual sales among the class of retailers, which includes home furnishings and appliance retailers, clothing and accessories, sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores, general merchandisers, and other miscellaneous retailers such as office supply, stationers, florists, and gift stores.

And that doesn’t even include the regular, routine gift-giving that occurs throughout the year for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, housewarmings and holiday occasions, such as Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Valentine’s Day etc.

Because people always have and surely always will give gifts, the industry has simply taken gift giving for granted and built a 5000 cr. industry on this assumption. But giftware companies and retailers are discovering that the consumer market is shifting. While gift companies and gift stores focus on finding and selling the next big gift item, consumers are choosing different kinds of gifts that they find in different kinds of stores.

Today, our society is incredibly affluent with most consumers having all the material goods they could possibly need. As a result, when shoppers go to the store, they rarely are driven by a need to buy anything, rather their purchases are based upon a desire to achieve an experience or a feeling.

The road to business success in the gift industry today is all about the consumer, anticipating their needs, satisfying their desires, fulfilling their dreams. Today, the products we sell are but a means to an end, and that end is a heightened experience…a good feeling …a positive emotion that connects the gift giver and the gift recipient.

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Everyone seems to be talking about corporate gifts, from economic times to Live mint, corporate gifting seems to be the flavor of the season.

The economic times had a special supplement about the ART OF GIFTING, this time around live mint has come out with a extra supplement which has given their perspective of corporate gifting.

Live mint talks about 111 gift ideas.. wow that’s really something. Click here to have a look at what they are offering. They are also holding (very similar to the one we had held).

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Selecting an usable, acceptable and yet, exclusive gift need not be an expensive exercise. Practical considerations do demand an economic caste system, and gifts of different value and design are slotted for different levels and for different target markets, say dealers, or multinationals.

Even at junior levels and in the less sophisticated markets however, customers prefer exclusivity and novelty. They are more likely to appreciate a box of dates with almonds ensconced within than chocolate barfi, or a Rs30/- Chinese clock instead of a classic leather covered address book. As a result, old, traditional items like diaries and table top items have gone on the hit list.

‘How many paper weights and diaries is someone going to use anyway?’ asks Sethi,(Giftex) relating an anecdote of a pharmaceutical company which presented a doctor with a diary. The doctor told the representative to keep it for himself.

While choosing the right gift is important, how you give it is a vital aspect, because gifting is not just about brand recall, it’s about people (probably why corporate, specially BPO’s, are going in for internal gifting in a big way)

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Corporate Gifting as a social responsibility: Charity begins at home

Corporate houses have realized that the society requires business houses to steer unprivileged individuals with better education and healthy living conditions. As a social responsibility, corporate houses are beginning to create gardens, make road repairs, build schools, build colleges and connect to the social citizen directly. This helps in branding the corporate identity and helps improve the social conditions universally.

Corporate gifting helps a society ‘evolve’ comprehensively by building a strong community of volunteers that take care of the urgent needs of society.

Especially during conditions when a person requires monetary help for medical operations and surgery, online corporate giants such as MSN, yahoo, and others such as IBM gift people with the necessary financial and emotional support.

Corporate gifting to society helps multiply the benefits and can also be marked as a fruitful investment that will benefit the corporate houses themselves over a long period of time.

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Corporate gifting, especially to achieve a company’s relationship building objectives, has taken a new dimension.

Clients are always special and they always deserve a special gift.

There can be nothing more special than gifting a premium wine bottle that adds value to making a business deal within corporate circles.

Since the number of wine lovers is growing at a tremendous rate, wine is leading the list of corporate gifts. Corporate gifting has taken a new leap and is used as a means of branding a company’s image.

Many corporates when gifting a wine bottle add the company logo tag with a personalized message that ensures that the company receives due credit for the same. Along with gifting a wine bottle, many corporates add crystal-ware, gourmet foods and other wine accessories to the gift basket.

Nitin Goel, Sales Director, Tribalware says:

“Nothing beats a good wine bottle, wrapped in hand-made paper and packed in a bamboo basket with a couple of neatly-packed wine glasses as a corporate gift.” (Source: Economic Times).

“Besides providing the perfect blend of informality even amidst ceremonial relationships, a gift of wine symbolizes a celebration of sorts too… which most other gifts can’t match” he concludes.

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