Get ready for a custom-made success

We all get puzzled when it comes to presenting a gift to a special person or building a new relationship with associates or motivating the employees. Now your search for scouting a perfect avenue for buying a gift of your choice is over as flock of brick and mortar stores and online portals are all set to fulfill yours needs under one rooftop or just with a single click. India’s personalised and corporate gifting industry is steadily spreading like a wildfire as brands across online and brick & mortar formats are burgeoning in every nook and cranny of the country.

The concept of personalised and corporate gifting is steadily catching up in India. The trend is witnessing an upsurge owing to the major drivers that catapulted the industry’s growth are – the shifting customer buying behaviour from traditional gifting to personalised gifting, awareness influenced by presence of online players and increasing disposable income of middle class.

Franchising: a preferred business option

In the personalised and corporate gifting segment, the brands that are offering the exciting business proposition to the interested investors are mainly the Presto Personalised Wonders, Printland.in, Zoomin Studio, Gift Mugs- an online portal, Print Venue and many others are offering an exciting business proposition to the interested franchise investors who are looking to cash in on gifting industry.  

Franchising is turning out to be the best business investment for franchise investors. Even the online players are hopping on the franchise brandwagon for tapping the huge market. Talking about the market’s size, Anurag Poddar, Director, Mohan Impressions Pvt Ltd, “The current market size of personalised gifting is around Rs 100 crore annually, and is growing at upwards of 50% per year.” The major reason for this growing trend towards personalization is that the product offering is getting more matured as customers have also started seeking personalised gifts rather than just gifts. Also, the corporate sector is piggy backing the personalised gifts as they offer the best recall value to the customers. And lastly, personalised gifts break the monotony of traditional gifts by offering the customers a personal touch.

To the interested franchisees, Presto ensures a total handholding to the franchisee, from the concept to commissioning and continuous ongoing support. The company offers five days if training at corporate headquarters in Kolkata and four days of training at the franchisee’s site. In the personalised gifting space, Presto Personalised wonders is already operating 135 retail outlets and has a target of adding another 20 stores to its network by end of this fiscal year. For investing in Presto’s franchise, the franchisee will have to invest from Rs 6 lakh – Rs 15 lakh. The space ranges from 40 to 400 sq.ft for opening a franchise outlet.  Presto’s franchisee breakevens within four months and can achieve a return-on-investment of 70-100%.

Another online portal – Gift Mugs is also venturing into offline arena for retailing their personalised gifts. Talking about beating the competition, Vivekanandhan M of Gift Mugs, says: “We purely believe that only by online marketing we can top the industry in one stretch.” Coming over to the sales they generated via online space, Gift Mugs generates 20 lakh annually and more than half come from online sources.”  During this fiscal year, they will be opening 10 outlets. Gift Mugs franchise will require an investment of Rs 2 lakh and 150 sq.ft area.

On the other side, Anurag Poddar, says: “We believe in this fact that the product quality and good services are  most important things for the customer. We put lots of thrust in the R & D to bring best products to the customer at a right price. We rely upon the franchise route, which ensures faster growth of the brand. Besides that, we have a very creative and popular website which has been very critical for our brand building.”  Not only personalised gifting but corporate gifting industry is also brimming with opportunities as the trend has witnessed an upsurge in the last few years owing to the strategy that companies follow for maintaining good relations with clients and associates and motivating employees alongside. The industry is still blooming and is expected to grow at a double-digit growth rate as demand for personalised and corporate gifts is certainly going to rise.

Every industry goes through its own set of challenges. To fight the challenges, Anurag Poddar, says: “We try to source the material in bulk and at times we absorb the incremental cost to maintain the price stability over a period of time until there is a big fluctuation in the currency rate. At the same time, we always maintain the superior product quality coupled to create a visible niche.”  In terms of selecting the franchisees, Presto looks out for post graduates who have a flair for customer service, good interpersonal skills and knack for creativity.

The industry’s scope seems quite fruitful in the next coming years as pool of young franchisees are ready to indulge in niche businesses that requires low investment yet high returns.