NEW DELHI, Oct 27: Gift cards have caught the fancy of customers and the segment is expected to clock sales of over 10 million such cards this festive season, says a survey.
According to gift card technology and end-to-end prepaid solutions company Qwikcilver, the gift card segment is likely to see a growth of 400 per cent over the last festive season.
The survey that covered 4 lakh consumers, 400 brands, retailers and corporates in 500 towns and cities in 25 consumption segments, showed that 73 per cent of Indians have stated that they would prefer to gift their friends and family such cards instead of cash.
Around 70 per cent of the corporate employees across enterprises and SMEs have expressed a preference to receive their corporate gifts for the festive season in the form of personalised gift cards.
Some corporates (45 per cent) have worked on developing unique gift card centric engagement programs for their key partners, channel partners and customers for this season – rather than standard products or merchandise.
“The festive season is an important period in India’s gifting calendar year. This season has seen the launch of many new brands’ Gift Card Programs to tap into this shopping occasion across cities and towns – spanning tier 1,2,3,4 markets,” Qwikcilver co-founder and CMO Pratap TP said.
Department stores, electronics, travel and hospitality, fashion, home furnishings category gift cards are most popular among Indian consumers in this festive season.
The survey further noted that sales of gift cards increased almost 20 times in financial year 2015-16 compared to fiscal 2012-13. Over the last four years, the average gift card value has risen from Rs 850 in 2012 to Rs 3,400 in 2016.
“Popular shopping destination brands and single brand retailers have launched novel innovations with their Gift Card Programs for their consumer base – including promotional gift cards, bonus gift cards, additional top-up incentives for gift cards,” Pratap said. (PTI)
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