Narrate the story behind the brand: Gifts World Expo highlights shifting customer expectations
In this photo essay, we showcase more highlights from a leading gifting platform at Palace Grounds, Bengaluru.
Launched in 2014, PhotoSparks is a weekly feature from YourStory, with photographs that celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation. In the earlier 1,010 posts, we featured an art festival, cartoon gallery. world music festival, telecom expo, millets fair, climate change expo, wildlife conference, startup festival, Diwali rangoli, and jazz festival.
Organised by MEX Exhibitions and Messe Frankfurt India, Bengaluru’s Palace Grounds was host this month to the Gifts World Expo. The three-day exhibition and conference brought together an estimated 250 exhibitors, 1,000 brands and 8,000 products.
The exhibitor lineup, some of whom are featured in this photo essay, includes Ambrozia, Bangalore Box Company, Buaai, DCC Delicious, EcoCarry, Ecoline Clothing, eHa, House of Gulab, Krungchillo, Perch, Raag as Gift, Seed Paper India, Shubhamm, Sidapur Coffee, and Udvan.
In this photo essay, a range of exhibitors also offer insights into their exhibition experience and their future plans. They collectively affirm the importance of narrating the story behind the brand in order to meet customer expectations of authenticity and emotional engagement.
“The exhibiting experience was very encouraging. It gave us an opportunity to interact directly with corporates, gifting companies, event agencies, and international buyers, and understand what they are looking for beyond conventional merchandise,” Roshan Ray, Founder of Seed Paper India, tells YourStory.
The eco-friendly enterprise, based in Bengaluru, creates biodegradable paper products that can sprout into plants. “One clear takeaway from the exhibition was that buyers are moving towards gifts that have a story, purpose and sustainability built into them,” he affirms.
“For us, exhibitions are not only about immediate orders. They are an excellent way to understand changing customer expectations and build relationships that can convert into business over the following months,” he adds.
His company received enquiries for customised seed-paper products, plantable stationery, event gifting, and sustainable corporate merchandise. “Our vision is to make Seed Paper India a much larger sustainable gifting and plantable-product platform, rather than being known only for seed paper,” Ray says.
Consumer electronics firm XECH also connected well with corporate buyers and resellers at the expo. “We could better understand evolving gifting needs. We generated promising leads and saw strong demand for premium, useful and technology-led gifting,” explains Ravi Lalwani, Head of Corporate Communications, XECH.
Its product lineup includes the Atmos portable air purifier, Hydroboil GO rechargeable portable kettle, and Hotbox 2 fast-heating electric lunchbox. Its Vino Lamp is a distinctive bottle-inspired decorative LED lamp, and the Marina Light is inspired by the graceful form of a jellyfish.
“Commitment towards environment and long-term sustainability is increasing in the gifting space. So is usage of technology like AI and AR to create unique buying experiences,” observes Gautam Mukhopadhyay, Co-founder of Wander Weaves, an eco-conscious sustainable fashion and lifestyle brand based in Kolkata.
Over the coming years, Wander Weaves plans to positively contribute towards the UN's Sustainable Development Goals such as responsible production and consumption. “We will also innovate more in terms of substituting plastics, polythene and polyurethane with jute fibre, which is reusable, recyclable and biodegradable,” he says.
“As a first-time exhibitor at GiftsWorld Expo Bengaluru, our experience was wonderful. As a D2C brand, it was lovely meeting our existing customers, corporate clients and gifting partners, some of whom we have had relations with for the last five years,” recalls Kanika Agarwal, Co-founder of Gulaab Jaipur – House of Gulab.
The expo helped the company understand better the ever-evolving gifting landscape. “Even more important were new alliances we made with NGOs and partners sourcing for handmade and sustainable gifting products. We were also able to finalise a few inclusions and innovations around our existing products range,” she adds.
“The expo helped us start new corporate relations, establish deeper presence in the gifting partners ecosystem, and better visibility overall. We received many large orders for the upcoming Diwali and festive gifting season,” she enthuses.
She observes that gifting is being elevated from a material product to creation of a meaningful and sensory delight for the recipient. “The story behind the product is becoming increasingly important,” Agarwal affirms.
“Our range of handmade and sustainable products showcases centuries-old craftsmanship, be it hand-block printing, kantha stitching or blue pottery. We have collaborated with Govt. of India’s One District One Product (ODOP) initiative, and have a customised range of GI-tagged products,” she adds.
The company plans to open flagship experience stores at Jaipur and Bengaluru. “After our collaboration last year with Miss India Universe 2025 as luxury gifting partner, we shall continue to participate in similar events which help us showcase India’s rich cultural heritage to the world,” she says.
“This was our first expo, so everything was a data point,” recalls Dhruv Natani, Founder, RAAAG. His startup has developed a song gifting platform that creates customised songs for gifting.
Wedding planners are increasingly building “content stacks” for couples, he observes. “This includes photography, videography, décor, and now personalised music. That is a genuinely new category emerging,” he says.
His startup plans to expand across more Indian cultures and languages. “We will also serve the Indian diaspora, where personalised gifts for family have huge emotional weight,” he adds.
“The most important thing I have learned running RAAAG is that Indian buyers are ready to pay for meaningful gifts. The old assumption that ‘Indians only buy on discount’ does not hold when the gift creates real emotional impact," he explains.
"There is a large, underserved market for gifting that actually matters,” Natani signs off.
Now what have you done today to pause in your busy schedule and harness your creative side for a better world?
(All photographs taken by Madanmohan Rao on location at Gifts World Expo.)