These startups can help you perfect your gifting game

Be it for birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Diwali, Christmas or no occasion at all – gifting is often described as an art form that can make (or even break) a relationship. While nothing beats handing a gift in person, busy lifestyles and distances make it difficult.The answer then? Seek help, and turn to the experts.

While many still click on the ‘gift-wrap’ button on Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal to send a gift, there are others who are using alternative ideas to make gifting ‘personal’.

Gift card producer Qwikcilver reports that India’s gifting industry is worth $65 million and is growing 3X annually. By 2024, it is expected to stand at $84 billion.

YourStory lists some Indian startups to turn to when you want to make an impression.

BIGSMALL

BigSmall was founded by brothers Yatin and Aman Hans in April 2016 as a passion project to explore the online shopping space. The Delhi-based bootstrapped niche gifting company has an 11-member team and lists up to 300 products on its website.

Products are sourced from across India, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the US and the UK. As of February2018, the company claimed to have clocked 30,000 orders in six months of operations.Over the next 18months, the company claims to have seen an organic growth of 150 percent month-on-month, and a repeat customer rate of around 40 percent.

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PAMPER HAMPER

Amravati-based online portal Pamper Hamper crafts exclusive gifts for expectant mothers and newborns. Co-founded by Saloni Daga Parekh and Tushar Laddha, the company aims to keep mums-to-be happy through their pregnancy.

The startup has a subscription model so you can send expectant mothers customised hampers during each trimester, and also for the baby. Products range from engraved spoons, cushions with doodles, t-shirts, and portable diaper changing stations.

Pamper Hamper has tied up with gynecologists and nurses to promote their products. The company claims to have around 5,000 customers across India and most of their orders come from metro cities. The company,endorsed by actors Soha Ali Khan and Esha Deol,is now looking to raise funds to ramp up its branding and marketing initiatives and to reach global markets.

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WEDTREE

Where there is a wedding, there are gifts; where there are gifts, there are return gifts. Chennai-based Wedtree helps send return gifts after weddings, as well for festivals. Founded in 2014 by Anand Krishnamoorthy and Brindha Padmanaabhan, Wedtree began as an online platform, but now has a store in Chennai and Hyderabad.

Wedtree works with handicraft artisans to ensure a high quality for its products, which range from Rs 20 to Rs 1,000. The founders claim the website sees average traffic of over 13,500 visitors each day, which spikes between August and February, and its conversion rate is 0.6 percent. Bootstrapped Wedtree is likely to have touched Rs 12 crore in revenue in FY 2017-18, twice what it earned in the previous financial year.

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Indigifts (Indibni)

Jaipur-based Indibni started its signature gifting brand Indigifts in 2014. The website lists more than 15,000 items, including cushions, coffee mugs, fridge magnets, clocks, t-shirts, key chains, badges, and notebooks among other things.

Founders Nithin Jain, Ankit Jain and Khushbu Mathur claim they offer something for everyone in the family and use ‘Hinglish’ and oft-used dialogues on their products. The company signed up as a seller on Amazon.in in 2014 with only 500 products, and scored 20 to 40 orders a month. Currently receiving upto 18,000 orders a month, Indigifts claims that 90 percent of Indibni’s revenue is generated through online sales.

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India Santa

Mumbai-based India Santa is a gift registry and experiential gifting platform. Founded by Meenu Singhal, this e-commerce portal helps customers create memories through specially curated experiences like team outings, rewards and recognition programmes, and also has multiple gifting options.

Currently bootstrapped, the company claims to have curated over 1,000 experiences and is adding more regularly. These curated experiences range from skydiving, health and wellness treatments, camping, desert adventures, city walks, musical nights and holidays.

Customers can also select experience boxes as gifts that can range between Rs 1,500 and Rs 7,000.

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