The Festive Shift: How Indian Companies Are Turning to Tech-Enabled, Eco-Friendly Gifting Options.

With the advent and widespread adoption of technology, the corporate gifting landscape has undergone a silent transformation. New-age gifting, loyalty, and prepaid solutions have arrived in the market. They leverage innovative ideas, environmental concern, and digital flexibility to ensure a personalized and convenient gifting experience, whether it is for an individual or a corporation. With a digital foundation, this phenomenon is location-agnostic, and players in this space are also able to cater to every corner of the country in a matter of minutes.

The gifting sector is one of the most rapidly expanding spaces in the country. According to a recent study by IMARC Group, India’s gifting industry was valued at nearly USD 800 million in 2024. Moreover, the overall gifting market, including personal and corporate, amounts to close to USD 90 billion. It is a significant contributor to the nation’s growth while enabling a transformation simultaneously. Adopting this method of personalizing gifting, large corporations exercise a transparent and tangible route to track redemptions, manage budgets, and align gifting initiatives with ESG mandates.

Shortcomings of the Traditional Gifting Industry

As the festive season approaches, age-old practices of forwarding gifts to loved ones, family members, and colleagues at the workplace come alive. This is a generic method of gifting that has existed for decades. Apart from the lack of customization, it involves deeper sustainability issues, which is a huge challenge in today’s world as countries try to reduce their carbon footprint to meet ambitious climate goals. These include aspects like plastic packaging, emissions from logistics and transportation, and not to mention, wastage due to the lack of need for that product at the receiver’s end.

Tech-Savvy Solutions

All these instances led to the inception of eco-friendly and tech-enabled gifting solutions. The companies’ meetings these days discuss smart gifting solutions. These should align with the existing times and lifestyles of individuals, with a sense of responsibility towards sustainability and the world we live in. Digital gift cards and e-vouchers can be redeemed at hundreds of stores and brands. More importantly, the receivers possess the freedom to utilize these according to their requirements.

In turn, these ensure profound and practical ways to celebrate without sacrificing convenience, inclusivity, transparency, and conscious living. At the same time, these firms are able to join the wider sustainability targets of the country by offering such eco-friendly and environmentally sound measures. On the flipside, the hardworking and diligent employees of the companies acquire their rewards directly, giving them the choice to redeem these e-cards in accordance with their needs.

Looking Forward

The 2025 festive season is on the anvil, and it won’t be wrong to assume that the gifts won’t arrive wrapped in large boxes. Rather, digital deliveries, regardless of one’s location, will be the new norm. Even though the very nature of gifting is unique and unorthodox, the emotions and sentiments behind the practice still remain intact. It is time to demonstrate and normalize tech-enabled methods of living without burdening the environment. At the same time, gifting someone redeemable digital cards and coupons is like giving them the tools to enhance their lifestyles. This certainly doesn’t look like a passing trend but rather something that is here to stay and thrive.

(This article is authored by Sonia Asher, Co-founder, Paramotor Digital Technology)