Sweets, dry fruits passe; e-coupons, apps in vogue this Diwali

New Delhi, Nov 8: As Diwali approaches, gifting has got an e-overhaul, with online coupons and mobile apps for choosing gifts of one's own choice becoming popular in place of stereotype gifts like sweets and dry fruit boxes.

The digital gifting solutions are not only confined to startups or new-age companies, but big conglomerates are also preferring this mode for their corporate gifts. [Awesome Gift Ideas For Diwali]

These apps and coupons can be accessed and utilised on any digital platform, such as computers or mobiles, and are becoming popular across all kinds of organisations -- startups or the established players -- this festival season.

Payment solutions provider Pine Labs, e-gifting platform QwikCilver, online gifting platform Giftxoxo and office supply e-commerce portal Zoffio, believe that this trend is here to stay and many corporates are likely to adopt this mode in the coming years.

"The instant gift delivery without any logistics cost coupled with the delight of receiving 'Gift of Choice' is what gives an edge to PineGift over traditional gifts.

Corporates get easy, simple, one step medium to cater to the diverse expectations of the entire spectrum of recipients," Pine Labs CEO Lokvir Kapoor said.

Kapoor noted that "digital gifting solutions are not confined to startups or new-age companies, rather big conglomerates like Samsung, Max Bupa, Master Card, British Airways, Airtel, Universal Sompo etc are realising the value that PineGift digital gift platform imparts".

In case of Pine Labs, the gift recipients using the digital medium of the web or a mobile app, get to choose their gift vouchers from 100 plus leading brands like Big Bazaar, Croma, Cinepolis, Kaya, Planet M, Spice Hotspot, Godrej Natures Basket, Mainland China, Pizza Hut etc and online stores like Flipkart, Amazon, Jabong, Makemytrip, Myntra etc.

"Digital Gift cards are the fastest growing mode of Gifting with Qwikcilver. The e-gift cards bring together freedom of choice and convenience in gifting and offer the recipient the freedom to choose what he wants.

"The e-gift cards can be customised with personalised images and greeting messages and can be given to the employees and clients," Qwikcilver Founder & CEO Kumar Sudarshan said.

By digital gifting, the entire logistics overhead is taken away, infinite personalisation is possible and there is a significant saving in the operational costs, he added.

"Today, not only startups but also other big corporates are catching up with the trend of coming up with innovative gifting ideas.

"For instance, an online gift voucher makes an employee more happy than a gift chosen by a company as they are given the liberty to choose what they want without even stepping out. The trend is to flaunt ideas and all new age companies understand this," Zoffio Founder & CEO Abhishek Kamani said.

Digital gifting solutions have solved all the problems associated with traditional gifting like delivery, choice. Moreover, the receiver gets the gift over an e-mail/mobile and can choose the gift of his/her choice.

"This is a trend which is catching up across small and large companies. Except for some traditional manufacturing or factory set-ups where a large number of employees or stakeholders are not that digital savvy yet, the adoption of digital gifting solutions has been really very high," Giftxoxo co-founder Manoj said, adding that over last three years, they have sold digital gifting solutions to over 200 clients.

PTI