Sweets, dry fruits, cakes, champagne, candles and diyas are pass?. Give way for sleek, lustrous and exotic IPods, digital cameras, MP3 players, DVDs, mobile phones, LCD TVs, spa packages, silverware, swarovski, gold-plated items and fine stainless steel products. The concept of corporate gifting during festive season in India is changing. Call it MNC culture or the corporate houses? bid to leave an ever-lasting impact on their clients, companies today go for luxury shopping and don?t mind shelling out huge amount.
According to a recent Assocham estimate, sectors which will take the lead in this regard and have budgeted their expenditure for Diwali gifts distribution well in advance include pharmaceutical, IT & BPO, FMCG, real estate, tourism & aviation, retail, among others. The chambers? rough estimates show, pharmaceuticals, real estate, FMCG and civil aviation, all put together, are likely to distribute gifts worth Rs 160 crore. The corporate gift market size is likely to be around Rs 2,000 crore, up from 1,350 crore last Diwali, the study says.
Says Sundeep Malhotra, CEO of homeshop18.com, a shopping portal, ?IPods have been the most popular taste this year. Keeping this in mind, we have launched special electronic packages, including various gadgets like LCD, mobiles or IPods?.
And how can one forget innovative gifts. Says excitinglives.com CEO Rohit Saxena, ?For high-end gifting, exclusive luxury spas priced at Rs 1,800-Rs 6,000 or a hot air balloon experience are the popular choice amongst the companies.?
Manufacturers have also come up with new products and packages. Says LG Electronics director (sales & marketing) V Ramachandran, ?For higher-end gifting we have launched new LCD models and Champagne Home Theatre Systems. DVDs, microwave and vacuum cleaners are also in demand. We have also received few orders from companies for full home-range products. We are expecting 40-45% growth during October-November?.
And then there are companies that prefer to say ?Happy Diwali? in a different way. Deep Kalra, founder & CEO, makemytrip.com, says, ?This year we are gifting vouchers to our clients of GiveIndia.org under which NGOs are listed and the receiver can decide to which NGO he would like to present it further.?