Forget knick-knacks as rewards, corporates prefer gift cards
As companies focus on reinventing gifting in their organisations, employees no longer prefer cash or the usual gifts like pen sets and chocolates.
Published: 25th March 2019 08:36 AM | Last Updated: 25th March 2019 08:36 AM | A+A A-
Over 46 per cent workers prefer online gift card from employers, compared to chocolates, dry fruits
BENGALURU: As companies focus on reinventing gifting in their organisations, employees no longer prefer cash or the usual gifts like pen sets and chocolates. With the appraisal season approaching, corporates are said to be looking into innovative ways of gifting.
A few trends seen are gifting travel accessories, spa coupons, gadgets such as Bluetooth speakers and earphones, and gift cards. The corporate gifting market in India is estimated to be worth Rs 12,000 crore, and is rapidly growing at over 200 per cent per annum, says leading management consultant, Technopark.
A survey by Zeta, a fintech startup that digitises enterprise solutions for employee gifting and tax benefits, found that over 46 per cent workers prefer an online gift card from their employers, compared to chocolates and dry fruits.
Similarly, Bengaluru-based Qwikcilver Solutions, a gift card platform, also noticed that 70 per cent of corporate employees have chosen rewards in the form of personalised gift cards. Bengaluru is the number one city in India when it comes to awareness, adoption and usage of gift cards as rewards by corporates, the study says.
Further, employees across over 150 corporates and enterprises in the city have said in the study that they prefer to receive gift cards as their ‘most preferred gift’ choice. Corporates have adopted digital gift cards for their requirements – with more than 200 per cent Y-o-Y growth in adoption and usage.
Ticket sizes of gift cards are `2,500 in Bengaluru – which is 25 per cent higher than other metros. These are most preferred on specific occasions like spot awards, service tenure awards, performance incentive awards and customer gratifications.
Pratap T P, co-founder and director, Qwikcilver, says, “Gift cards enable corporates to have savings of between 10-40 per cent on their traditional modes of gifting of products and merchandise via a safe, secure and transparent manner of rewards management.”
The gift card market in India is expected to grow more than threefold in the next four years from about Rs 10,000 crore a year.
