Considering that many people are utilising the option of shopping on the web, it comes as no surprise that in the rapid growing gifting industry in the country estimated at $30 billion dollars, $400 million is accounted by the online segment. This is despite the fact that in India this mode of sending across presents is considered devoid of emotions, thought and impersonal while on the other hand the U.S. is one of the leading countries in the online gifting industry.
The reason for increasing usage of online channel for sending or buying presents is not difficult to fathom. Consider a scenario when you have forgotten to buy a present for the loved ones due to hectic work schedule or sheer forgetfulness and have neither the time nor the inclination to rush to the market hunting for an apt gift. Help is on hand with several online gift portals offering a wide variety of options –– from flowers, cakes, mangoes, mugs, frames to wall clocks, pens, perfumes, watches, wallets, bags and many more –– and ensuring that it reaches your loves ones on time without any extra effort whatsoever.
The various online marts like Indian Gift Portal and Batman Delivery Service run with the objective of being an online super mart available 24x7. The portals cater to a wide range of needs of consumers including gifts, personalised, personality, lifestyle, flowers and food, beverages, essentials, desserts, OTC drugs, contraceptives. Not confined to goods the site as provides services like those of electrician, driver at night among others.
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Indian Gifts Portal (IGP) focuses on three gifting categories, that is, public occasions, personal occasions and corporate gifts. The first includes occasions like Rakhi, Diwali, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and so on.
The festival gifting segment is also highly curation driven with very high customer retention rates. We get most of our orders from old customers and we deliver high quality products which are cheaper than others,” says Rahul Garg, Chief Executive Officer, IGP.
On their part the companies associated with this business faced a number of challenges like safety and security of monetary transaction besides lack of knowledge on the part of many potential consumers acts as a barrier to the growth of the industry. In India the usage of plastic money, credit and debit cards and net banking system, too is not prevalent among the people curtailing the growth of e-commerce. In fact studies have shown that more than 60 per cent of the customers do not know what to gift and are averse to chose standards items.
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Our need to love and more importantly express it makes us human and no celebration is complete without presents. The availability of the online options helps us in the midst of the busy life which has become a part and parcel of life.