e-Bandhan

Geetu Vaid

Advertisement

The enticing sale ads of designer-wear and jewellery shops, and markets loaded with colourful rakhis and sweet shops brimming with mithais and chocolate hampers, no longer lure 20-year-old Aashna Sachdeva, as she “gears up” to shop for the festival of Raksha bandhan this year.

She is among the growing population of sisters and brothers in the city who are treading the online path to send rakhis as well as gifts with a click of a key. “e-gifting is easy and less time-consuming as instead of scouting different crowded markets all over the city, I can surf the packages on offer by a number of e-gifting sites, and select and send in one go”, chirps Aashna.

“The trepidation over the couriers not getting delivered in time and the barrage of calls confirming the delivery of the packages are all taken care of by using this option”, says Diksha Gandhi, who is working in a media organisation in the city.

One-stop shop

This digital pathway is also highly efficient if all brothers want to send gifts to their sisters together and vice-versa. One can set up a group gift, invite siblings to chip in and offer a whole range of options to their sibling/s. It also saves a lot of money. Vouchagram offers group gifting with a simple and easy three-step process.

Online gift portals have become a kind of one-stop shop to find gifts of all kinds. Moreover, such portals are quite flexible with their delivery mechanisms. A sleek package with a sophisticated gift delivered on time helps the sender assert his/her own style-conscious, yet affable personality and this is precisely why online gifting platforms are fast becoming a way of life.

According to Vivek Gupta, CEO and Founder of Storecheq, “Indian e-gifting market is worth $40 billion, growing at the rate of 20-40 per cent annually; 90 per cent of this market is captured by personal gifting and 10 per cent is corporate gifting. Gift cards, flowers, cakes and chocolates are popular in this category, besides currency”.

Online currency gifting is a big hit this year as a number of e-gifting portals are offering digital currency. Monetary value in gifting gives the recipient liberty to choose from myriad of options. The e-gifting start up Storecheq is offering digital gifting currency where the co-branded gift cards can be redeemed at multiple retailers, restaurants etc. Bank gift cards offered by banks in collaboration with payment processors give the added advantage to the recipients of checking their balance at any bank’s ATM or online. GiftcardIndia.com, HDFC, ICCI, SBI are such online platforms that offer gift cards, co-branded with multiple banks. The co-branded gift cards can be redeemed at multiple retailers, restaurants etc.

Traditional flavour

Despite all this, nothing can beat the personal touch as for many youngsters this festival is the time to strengthen the bond with siblings. For Ashish Palta (22), a BTech student, “e-gifting may be the latest trend, but it does reek of formality.” In a similar vein, a city-based professional, Sudhanshu Shukla, says, “For the past seven years both of my sisters have been staying away from me. But rakhi is the time which brings all three of us together.”

So, while the digital winds blow in the festive zone, there is nothing to stop you from adding that personal touch!

No dearth of options

There is plenty on the platter with each of sites like indiangiftsportal.com, giveter.com, storecheq.com, giftcardindia.com, excitinglives.com, vouchagram.com, xoxoday.com and apps Woohoo, having around 50,000 options available to suit different pockets and occasions. While the mind-boggling range and choice was raison d’être for a first-timer like Diksha, for Vibha Singh (24) the ease of sending gifts and rakhis to her brothers abroad led to the switchover to e-rakhis. 

The Chandigarh-based event manager, who already has received her e-gift for rakhi, says, “This is the best way for me to stay in touch with my siblings living abroad and it saves on the shipping cost too”. Quikcilver is one such option which offers international gifting through its app — Woohoo.

What a gift!

Experiential gifting is also a big hit this rakhi, as curated experiences like trips to exotic destinations, helicopter rides, horse-riding, scuba-diving to spa treatments to fine dining are being offered to sisters by doting brothers. “These experiences are something, which are much more emotional and has a great recall value,” says Sujata Chandran, a Panchkula-based housewife, who is excited over a trip to Thailand ‘gifted’ to her by her two brothers settled in Chennai.

Xoxoday has compiled a great series of experiences like helicopter joyride, photo-shoots, wine tours, dining in a yacht, pub crawls et al. “Anyone can buy these experience gifts from Xoxoday.com and delight their brothers and sisters,” says Kushal Aggarwal, Co-Founder of Xoxoday.

(With inputs from Sherry Bhullar)