In order to recover from the Covid-19 impact, small, medium, and large businesses are scrambling for functional business solutions and reworking their Diwali gifting budgets.
Though the wallet size has shrunk, the spirit remains intact – (also quite literally, since booze prices remain unchanged).
A major factor affecting corporate gifting is 20 per cent rise in dry fruits costs compared to 2019. So, most companies have either reduced the quantity of dry fruit Diwali packages or are moving to assorted options like bakery products, namkeen, farsan and homemade chocolates to name a few.
Analytix Solutions, an Ahmedabad-based IT company, has changed its gifting style – from sweets and dry fruits, it has switched over to assorted packages of reusable healthcare products and chocolates etc.
Sandeep Mudaliar, Vice President and HR Head of Analytix Solutions, said, “We have reduced our Diwali gifting budget by around 20 per cent this year. However, there is no compromise on the quality of gifts for our 600 employees comprising mostly millennials.”
He added, “This time we wanted to give something more valuable and usable within a reasonable budget instead of sweets and dry fruits. They appreciated the out-of-the-box idea since the gifts can also be used by their family members too.”
Dry fruit wholesalers in Ahmedabad complain there is 50% less purchase of dry fruits by the corporates.
Vandan Shah, owner of Nipa Trading, said, “We have 50% fewer orders of dry fruits from all kinds of companies this Diwali. Instead, they have turned towards assortments of namkeens, chocolates and sweets.”
He added, “Since there is a 20 per cent increase in cost of dry fruits compared to 2019, companies that are ordering it for corporate gifting have either reduced the number of dry fruit items or the overall weight.”
There are also companies that are trying to support local businesses by placing orders with them for corporate gifting.
Meena Kavya, director of Ayma Creations Pvt Ltd said, “This time, instead of dry fruits or sweets we have ordered namkeen, farsan, bakery items and homemade chocolates from local women entrepreneurs.”
Kavya, who is also President of COWE (Confederation of Women Entrepreneurs), Gujarat Chapter added, “There are many companies like us that are following this model for two reasons: it is more cost effective and it also helps local businesses. We must support local entrepreneurs.”
Bankim Patel, Partner, KP Enterprise, said, “Since we are FMCG stockists and distributors, we get many orders for Diwali gifting from corporates who are choosing assorted packages comprising branded local namkeen, bakery products and a small portion of dry fruits to rationalise their budget.”
