The New Dawn in E-Commerce Gifting Industry for Entrepreneurs Retail e-commerce sales in India amounted to 2.3 trillion US dollars in 2017 and e-retail revenues are projected to grow to 4.88 trillion US dollars in 2021

The evolution of the Indian customer has played a key role in the growth of budding entrepreneurs in the E-commerce gifting sector. The new Indian customer base comprising majorly of Millennials and Gen Z has both the willingness and the ability to pay for innovative gifts and products. People are becoming more aspirational and leave no opportunity to celebrate every small occasion. Whether it is a monthly anniversary or just a gesture of love, friendship, or appreciation, the new financially-strong youth is spending lavishly in an extravagant way to make their moments memorable and express their heart out. This has led to a sharp spike in retail sales, especially on online platforms.

According to a recent survey by Statista, retail e-commerce sales in India amounted to 2.3 trillion US dollars in 2017 and e-retail revenues are projected to grow to 4.88 trillion US dollars in 2021. In the past decade, the Indian E-commerce gifting industry has evolved multi-fold and there are a number of influential factors that have led to the growth of budding entrepreneurs in the Indian E-Commerce Gifting sector.

Financially-strong Indian Youth as a Part of the New Global Family

Post economic liberalization the trade and trends resulting from the expansion of the internet have also contributed to the evolution of the online gifting sector by leaps and bounds. Also, as a result of the globalization, the amalgamation of cultures and traditions from around the world giving rise to new celebrations of all occasions of western and Indian culture. In recent years, gifting has actually grown past occasions. The new generation uses gifting as a means to express their feelings and emotions.

Affluent lifestyle and recent buying needs of the aspirants have resulted in a massive shift in consumer behaviour in recent years. The new financially strong consumers from the urban middle-class category with higher per capita income are moving from traditional gifting options like edibles and greeting cards towards unique and unconventional customized gifting ideas, which further transform a gift into a symbol or token of a personal bond. In fact, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of male customers on online gifting portals in recent time. This is signifying an emotional change in male behavior, where they are opening up and expressing their feelings with gifts.

The Rising Trend of Customized Gifting

The idea of personalized gifting has gained great prominence in recent years, especially over online retail sites. People are keen on adding messages to gifts for their loved ones and portraying their emotions and feelings through personalized gifts. In fact, the number of people looking for customized gifts with personalized messages has almost tripled in the last 3 years.

In the modern era of cutthroat competition, most of the brands are striving hard to gain a recall value of their target customers. They constantly plan and strategize to come up with interesting and engaging concepts of customized and personalized gifts for customers along with exciting deals and offers. The role of social media has also evolved in this context by facilitating as a platform to showcase their innovative approach in customized gifting segment.

Gifting as a Round-the-Year phenomenon

This is one of the most significant factors contributing to the growth of personalized gifting market in India. Bigger players of the market and MNCs have brought in the concept of corporate gifting for their employees during festivals like Diwali, Christmas,& New Year. Further topical events like Mother's Day, Father's Day, Thanksgiving Day, and others have given an enormous boom to the overall personalized gifting market in India. Today, customers are open to wide options of gifting ideas both through online and offline retail which delivers great value capturing eternal bond and moments through a customized gift token.

Increasing Trend of Online Gifting in Tier II Cities

The advent of digitalization, deeper internet penetration, and efficient & smooth functioning of logistics has contributed to the growth of the e-commerce industry in India. Today, customers are open to broader options online, even customers from Tier II & Tier III cities are contributing to the overall growth. E-commerce offers great value to its customers in a time efficient way at the best price. Although the base number is smaller than the tier I cities yet the faster growth of aspirational factor in tier II and tier III cities the "Post-Jio' era has greatly contributed to the growth of online gifting industry.

The future of personalized gifting market in India is bright and will expect an upward swing as India is among the top emerging nations contributing to the growth of global gifting market space. This, indeed, is a golden opportunity for budding entrepreneurs to venture into the online gifting segment, where they can grow and create new success stories.