Are Digital Gift Cards Replacing the Traditional Gifts?


Are Digital Gift Cards Replacing the Traditional Gifts?

Pine Labs' digital gift card firm, Qwikcilver ventures into a strategic partnership with Amazon Pay, to promote the e-gift cards in tier-2 and tier-3 cities in India. Qwikcilver had lately wrapped up 'The Gifting Carnival,' which had gathered about 200 brands under 20 categories, with presences in more than 2000 cities. The carnival was conducted with the intention to encourage shoppers to buy more from a wide range of brands and thus, enhance the sales of the retailers and online commerce companies.

"We have seen great traction for Diwali gifting by consumers and corporates. India's fastest gifting platform, Woohoo, has clocked nine times growth with gift cards of over 120 brands being actively gifted. We are delighted to partner with Amazon Pay for scaling this across the corporate segments too by positioning Gift cards as a preferred gifting option for customers across diverse age groups, irrespective of their location," says Kumar Sudarsan, CEO, Qwikcilver & President, Gift and Stored Value, Pine Labs.

The Gift Cards are witnessing rapid growth in India, as these cards bring the concept of gifting the 'power of choice' to the beloved ones, and this idea is resonating well among people across different age groups. The company's internal research points out that the customers from more than 1300 cities and towns across the country are presenting gift cards this festive season.

With the editions of 'The Gifting Carnival' around Raksha Bandhan & Diwali, various categories have observed a spike in gift cards transaction. The categories include e-commerce, large format stores, travel & hospitality, specialized retail, fashion & apparel, entertainment and food & beverages, alongside, the major brands like Amazon, Big Bazaar, BigBasket, Lifestyle, Max, BookMyShow, Taj Hotels, MakeMyTrip, Raymond, Myntra, Zee5, Jockey, Home Centre, Zivame, and PC Jewellers has also witnessed the same.

The gift cards have also received a warm welcome from the corporates, where the large companies, as well as the SMBs, prefer to present gift cards to their employees considering the 'power to choose' feature, which gives the receiver the freedom to choose the gift they want.

"Companies are looking beyond cash and physical goods as festive gifts for their employees. Ease of availability, customizability, and wider choice for employees have led to the growing popularity of digital gift cards. Contrary to the popular belief of slow down, Amazon Pay gift cards have witnessed acceleration this festive season. We have grown 100 percent year-on-year. The growth has surpassed our internal projections as well, with clients spread across more than 100 cities. We have seen tremendous growth from small and medium enterprises. One of the key reasons for corporates preferring Amazon Pay gift cards is the fact that employees can redeem these gift cards across 17crore+ products on Amazon.in and on 80,000+ merchants across popular travel, entertainment and food delivery apps," states Vikas Bansal, Director, Amazon Pay.