Start a Gifting store this festive season

Starting a gifting store via franchise route is one of the best business options nowadays. With festive season approaching, the prospects get even brighter. Many young entrepreneurs prefer to take franchise rights of a gifting brand as the returns are great and investment is comparatively less too. Lets us tell you how you can start a gifting business.

The gifting industry in India has grown enormously over the past decade. With rising awareness and will to spend more on gifting, this industry is bound to swell more in the coming future. Apart from physical gifting, the trend of experience gifting is also growing now. Brands like Presto, Ferns N Petals, Archies are few well known names in the sector. Gifting has been a tradition since olden days. Earlier it used to be box of sweets and now it is much more than that. Even a brand like Cadbury started selling its exclusive range of chocolate gifting apart from just retailing chocolates on special occasions. So, this surely proves that the gifting industry is there to survive and grow more.

Experience boxes on the rise
Seed funded by the Mahindra Group, Xoxoday, formerly known as Giftxoxo & Frogo, is a 5 year old company which started in 2012. Xoxoday is a brand that deals in gifting experiences. It has built a platform that enables Hosting of experiences and makes them available for Guests and Enterprises to explore and Book on the go. On the growing gifting industry, Kushal Agarwal, Co-Founder of the brand says: ‘Gifting is surely a profitable proposition as the margins are higher and now apart from just physical gifting, people are also demanding experience gifting. This is very common now days in the corporate world where experiences are given to the employees.’

Xoxoday has started keeping its parenthood experience boxes at Firstcry stores which is also a Mahindra Funded company. Soon, the brand plans to give admin rights to travel agents who will book experiences for the clients.

Luxury brands like Truefitt & Hill have also entered the gifting arena with their range of gift sets for varied grooming requirements as the perfect gifting option. The brand believes that with the Next Gen gentlemen taking their grooming quiet seriously these gift sets become the ideal companion for the men of today. What’s even better is these sets come in a handy size to be their perfect travel companion too.

Tips to get started

• Research: The competition in the gifting sector is also very high now. So, you need to be perfect with the market research. Talk to some franchisees too. Do a market analysis on competitors too. Also, check if there are large brands in the nearby area. The loyal buyers may prefer to go to those shops first.
• Take franchisors advice: In case of any confusions regarding the trade, be sure to consult your franchisor first. The being an expert can guide you the best. Starting a small shop can be a great idea if you have little investment. Gradually as per the responses, you can plan and grow bigger.
• Products: Decide if you want to keep just those products that the franchisor offers or other than that too. Speak to the franchisor in this case. He might or might not agree with the idea of keeping other brand products. For example- if you are opening a florist shop, you can also keep gift boxes etc or some handmade designer things by artists. But here also both partners must agree.

Due to the rising income levels, the gifting industry in India has registered a strong growth over the past decade. The gifting market’s size is estimated at USD 40-42 billion, with many players reporting annual growth in the range of 20-40%. It comprises corporate gifting and personal gifting, with the former making up a significant share. Franchising being a fit model for expansion, entrepreneurs are ready to get into this exciting world of gifting.