A newly wedded millennial couple was perplexed looking at the redundant gifts received that included five pressure cookers, four crockery sets, four mixer grinders, and so many wall clocks. The couple who was to shift abroad, found the gifts irrelevant as the cookers were not induction cooktop friendly and the fragile crockery sets cannot be carried. These repeated wedding gifts will face the same fate as the Soanpapdi box received during Diwali, ready to repack and gift and the saga continues.

Unlike other generations the millennials are believers in living a sustainable life and are drawn towards philanthropist activities such as donating to charitable organisations, contributing to community welfare, etc. The same behaviour is exhibited in millennial weddings as well, where the newly married couples have donated the gift money received from guests to charity.

The millennial couples of today would like to receive gifts that will have high memory value and can cherish such experiences for a lifetime.

This changing millennial mindset soon became an opportunity for Kanika Subbaih, who founded India’s first gift registry platform- Wedding Wishlist. Weddings in India are a big affair, where people spend a third of their savings in creating king-size celebrations, out of which 15 percent is spent on gifts alone. The gift registry platforms with their origin in western countries, helps families avoid waste also helping the couple start their new life with all the essential things they require.

 The Wedding Wishlist – What is it?

Wedding Wishlist is an online gift registry platform that offers free service to couples. The wedding website allows the couple to create a portal for free, where they can fill in the function details, their story, gift preferences and RSVPs. The couple creates a Wishlist of items that they require. If a couple is planning to shift to a new city or shifting abroad their gift requirement will comprise of home décor items, appliances. The couple chooses brands from which it wants to be gifted. The platform has brands of luggage backpacks, grooming products, jewellery, crockery, beauty and spa, adventure getaways, holiday packages, etc. Wedding Wishlist earns commission from the brands from which the guests make purchases.

If a couple wishes to donate to charitable organisations such as orphanages, handicapped individuals, old-age homes, or pet dogs they can enter the amount they wish to donate to the charitable organisation.

While reminiscing the good old days of the birthday celebrations of his college days, the friend sitting abroad surprises him with his favourite cake at midnight.  The distant friend that day thanked the existence of online gifting, for which he could send across the cake to his friend that too at midnight.

Online gifting has been on a growth trajectory in India after people enjoyed the convenience of gifting from a distant location to choose from multiple customisable gifting options for numerous occasions or sometimes it cannot be any occasion. After all, who needs an occasion to showcase love and affection.

According to a report from TechSci Research, the online gifting industry in India is projected to grow from $119 million in 2019 to $159 million by 2025. Over the years, the occurrence of gifting occasions has increased due to the rising influence of a western culture that has birthed new occasions such as sibling’s day, grandparent’s day, pet day, etc, which otherwise was limited to birthdays and marriage anniversaries.

The online gifting industry is divided into three gifting segments namely: festive, corporate, and personal. According to Technopak, the total size of the Indian corporate and personal gifting market combined is Rs 250,000 crore. Of this, the corporate gifting owns Rs 12000 crore and is estimated to grow over 200 percent per annum.

New trends in the Online Gifting industry

Corporate gifting into wellness and WFH products

Owing to the health crisis caused by Covid-19, the corporates are not just limiting themselves to appreciation letters and flexible working schedules for their employees. Companies are offering more wellness and work-from-home products ensuring the well-being and safety of employees. Wellness products like immunity-boosting teas, ayurvedic products, Vitamin C supplements, customised masks, hand sanitizers are some of the top gifting choices for corporates in gifting. This also bolsters corporate branding.

Green gifting

Most individuals are choosing to give meaningful gifts such as indoor plants over disposable gifts. The majority of the gift plants include bamboo, succulents, money plant, medicinal plants, and bonsai. These plants are associated with luck and promote healthy surroundings.

The pandemic effects

The preventive measures of the pandemic have taken away the shine from our celebrations since only a limited number of people can come over. People who are staying distant are showcasing their affection for friends and relatives by sending personalised gifts via online booking.

e-Gift cards

Gift givers sometimes offer e-gift cards to their loved ones. An e-gift card consists of a digital code that is emailed to the recipients. It is the most convenient gifting option for a wedding occasion or house warming ceremonies as several times the gifts are repeated. An e-gift card gives recipients the freedom to make purchases from retail, restaurants, furniture stores, etc. With a validity of over a year or 6 months, they can use it at their convenience.