Online gifts sites are popular among Internet users, enabling them to keep in touch with their near and dear ones who live far away
Gifts were among the first products to be offered
online by shopping sites. It's a category particularly suited to
the Internet. Says Anurag Gaur, Group Manager, Shaadi Times and Ad
Sales: "Online gifting has become a popular phenomenon because it's
so convenient. For example, an NRI can send a gift to a loved one
in India with the click of a mouse, a busy executive can send flowers
to a loved one, or people can buy from their homes or offices, avoiding
getting caught in traffic jams or standing in long lines."
Adds Siddhaarth Jalan, Business Head, Ecommerce
of Indiatimes.com: "The world is turning into one big global village.
People are moving away from their hometowns to cities. The Internet
offers a convenient way to send gifts. As a medium, it is transparent,
automated and credible."
According to a survey by the Internet & Online Association of India
(IOAI) of online shoppers, most of those who bought/ sent gifts online
came from the 18-35 age group (77%). This comes as no surprise, since
younger people tend to do a lot of gifting. The Valentine's Day phenomenon
witnessed in the bigger cities demonstrates the kind of potential
that exists in this segment.
Gifts are a hit among the young
Of course, it isn't just the young and romantically inclined who're going in for online gifts - 47% of those who purchased gifts online were in the `Married with kids' category. Online gift sites provide an excellent opportunity for people to send gifts to family members living away from home - especially abroad. In fact, more and more people are using online shopping sites to send `desi' gifts like mithai, food, ethnic wear, religious artifacts etc to their NRI relatives. Online shopping sites dealing with such `desi' items have mushroomed in countries like the UK and the USA.
The festival season is when the action gets really
going on online gift sites. Says Gaur: "At the Shaadi shop, the gift
season starts with Raksha Bandhan and lasts till the New Year. All
major festivals take place during this period, and that's when people
feel the need to send gifts to their loved ones."
So how can gift marketers make the best of this online selling opportunity? Jalan offers a few tips:
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Think of unique products/ offers for consumers. Remember, the customer is not buying a product, he's buying a fantasy. |
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Do `honest-to-goodness' pricing so that the customer gets value for money. |
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Ensure prompt delivery to complete the cycle of customer delight. This will lead to strong word-of-mouth publicity. |
For gift retailers, online sites offer an excellent
cross-selling opportunity. Jalan feels it could be something like
a Ferns & Petals alliance with Archies to sell a combination of flowers and soft toys. "Gift sites use technology to suggest additional products that were purchased by others, plus product bundling. This offers both value to the customer as well increases the order value for the gift shop," says
Gaur. This kind of intelligence and personalization is not possible
in any other media, he adds.
Metros like Mumbai and Delhi account for 44% of gift purchases, followed by Bangalore (8%), Chennai (7%) and Kolkata (4%). But gifts know no boundaries and the 27% of online shoppers who come from `other cities and towns' are an opportunity for gift marketers to spread their net wider. |
