Gift Focus - Jul/Aug 2019 (Issue 114)

126 Great Britain’s booming industry Gifting was once reserved for special occasions such as birthdays and Christmas, but recently it seems that Britain’s gifting industry is booming! We are gifting more things more often, and brands have taken this trend to new heights by offering a range of innovative products designed exclusively to cater to the gifting-crazed nation. With the ever-growing focus on health, wellness gifting is a sector that has blossomed. We are no longer just gifting flowers and chocolate to cheer someone up or wish them well. Selection boxes and care packages are becoming the gift of choice, particularly from the online retailers that are offering more choice than ever before, with functional teas and craft coffee blends now making regular appearances. According to ResearchandMarkets.com, the global gift retailing market is on track to make $77billion by 2022. The sky is the limit for brands releasing the most innovative and consumer-friendly products into the market. At English Tea Shop, we have witnessed first-hand this increase in demand for products tailored to gifting, as our sales in this area have more than doubled in the past year alone. To explore the reasons behind this growth, we have put together a list of key trends that are transforming the face of gifting: • Aesthetics on social media: More visually led platforms, such as Instagram, have a profound influence on a consumer’s decision-making. Products that are aesthetically pleasing perform well, as consumers are increasingly buying products that are Instagrammable. We’ve seen a major shift in the design and features of products to keep the Instagram appeal. • The rise of the influencer: The recent boom in Instagram-based advertising Suranga Herath, CEO of the English Tea Shop, writes about the increased profitability of the gifting sector and how brands and retailers alike can understand and capture the trends “The sky is the limit for brands releasing the most innovative and consumer-friend ly pr oducts into the market. At English Tea Shop, we have witnessed f irst-hand this increase in demand for pr oducts tailored to gifting, as our sales in this area have more than doubled in the past year alone.”