Rich Pusateri
Content Marketing Manager
Every professional should care about corporate B2B gifting.
It’s a massive opportunity and revenue channel that many companies are simply missing out on. Similar to what marketing automation helped companies achieve throughout the early 2000s, Offline Marketing Automation now enables even deeper personalization at the same scale. Check this out:
Percent of companies using marketing automation: 51%
Percent of companies using corporate gifting: 38.5%
Size of marketing automation market at the end of 2021: $322B
Size of corporate gifting market at the end of 2021: $242B
Despite the marketing automation industry containing giants such as HubSpot and Salesforce, the corporate gifting industry is still 75% as large and growing faster than ever before. A Coresight Research report indicated that in light of the pandemic and the shift to remote work, the gift industry market size in the US surpassed $242B at the end of 2021 and is continuing to grow at a rate that may surpass $300B by the end of 2024.
As many organizations now have to manage virtual workforces, corporate gifting spend has skyrocketed. Employees and champion clients alike need more than a coffee gift card to capture their attention—the largest percentile of gifts from this report cited an average cost between $75 and $100 per item.
Worldwide, the global corporate gifting market size is similarly expanding. Despite the logistical hassle of sending gifts worldwide, it still was valued at nearly $620B in 2019 and is estimated to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.2% by 2027 (Allied Market Research). More corporate gifting companies are expanding their offerings and international warehousing capabilities to allow senders to create meaningful connections with target contacts overseas.
In this article, I’m covering all the corporate gifting statistics that you should know and understand while building out your go-to-market strategy.
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Corporate gifting market size and expected growth
The Coresight Research report cites that the corporate gifting market size in the United States will continue growing at 8.1% CAGR throughout 2024. In comparison, during that time frame personal gifting is only expected to rise at a 6% rate. The heightened need for organizations to maintain productivity across remote work forces likely accounts for this contrast. In the corporate gifting survey, 35% of respondents cited gifting more than usual since working remotely.
While the corporate gifting market seems like it’s larger and growing faster than the personal gifting market, it’s actually dwarfed in size—corporate gifting only accounts for 17% of the total US gifting market, putting the personal gifting market well over $1T in total value. The main takeaway: the corporate gifting market is expected to grow faster than the personal gifting market, yet the personal gifting market will likely maintain the lead in total size over the next decade.
Despite all the players in the market, the top corporate gifting companies share attributes such as the ability to integrate with CRMs or marketing automation software to help businesses send at scale. This has been an emerging differentiator that is setting certain companies ahead of the pack. However, vendors who offer curated gifts and Offline Marketing Automation platforms such as Postal alike are reaping the benefits of this growth in the corporate gifting market.
Statistics from gifting industry reports
According to a Loop Commerce gifting industry report, 54% of companies plan to increase their investment in corporate gift giving over the next two years. Offline marketing is seeing a similar adoption curve to what led up to the explosion of marketing automation. Until recently, there hasn’t been a centralized platform to manage the sending of assets such as corporate gift boxes within sales cycles.
Given the indicator of the gift market size growing similarly to the marketing automation industry, it’s obvious that this will be a huge area of differentiation for B2B and B2C companies alike over the coming years. Here are a few gift industry statistics and trends we’ve identified over the past years.
Gift Industry Trends 2020
2020 was a year that forever changed the way that organizations do business. Workforces pivoted to remote and sales teams had to navigate the world of virtual selling. With an increased reliance on digital channels to connect with prospects, customers, and employees, corporate gifting and offline experiences began flourishing as a channel to help create more authentic connections at scale. Below are a few more gifting trends we identified from 2020 (statistics cited from Packed with Purpose).
- Most popular business gift-giving occasions: 51% holiday, 34% customer appreciation, 27% employee recruiting, appreciation, or milestone
- The average professional received 5 gifts from businesses, 2 of which were gift boxes or baskets
- Gift cards were the most commonly sent gift in 2020 followed by gift baskets
- Twice as many people found gift boxes or baskets memorable compared to a charitable donation
- Personalization was the leading component of success in a gifting strategy, as the majority of people wanted to receive a gift that aligned with their values
- Gifts that gave back to the community or the environment were popular options among senders
- Gifts that promoted use or spurred family time resonated with the recipient and were deemed as more memorable
- Virtual gift offerings and eGifting became more popular given the shift to remote work
Gift Industry Trends 2021
Following the year of the pandemic, it was clear that many companies weren’t going back into the office. In fact, just over 25% of the American workforce had the option to go virtual in 2021. The corporate gift industry trends in 2021 continued to adapt more to the hybrid work model; below are the trends we saw.
- With more distributed teams and hybrid workforces, the demand for branded gift boxes, custom corporate gifts and swag packs increased greatly
- Eco-friendly packaging and products continued to serve as one of the top choices among senders
- Locally made products and supporting small businesses who’s initiatives aim to make a difference in society
- Empowering the recipient with a choice from a collection of items helped improve the corporate gifting experience and laid the foundation for future best practices
- Increased focus on kits and gifts supporting virtual events—when a physical item is required for a virtual event or meeting, attendance rate and engagement increases drastically
- Consumer and corporate food gift sales reached $33 billion—one of they key gift basket industry statistics from 2021 that indicates future adoption of prepackaged food gifts being sent from B2B organizations
Corporate gifting trends in 2022 and beyond
The future of corporate gifting and offline experiences is built off the shift to virtual workforces. Branded corporate gifts and swag is the minimum organizations should be doing to scale their offline strategy and differentiate from competitors.
As far as luxury corporate gifts and unique, high end corporate gifts go, revenue teams should be thinking about how to integrate these personalized items into their go-to-market strategy—as ABM strategies become more widespread, businesses will have to think about how the offline channel plays into their digital approach. Below are a few gift industry trends that we’ve identified in 2022 and beyond.
Gift Industry Trends 2022
- Personalized gift industry statistics such as the market growing 400% over the last five years and the total revenue of the industry hitting $77B by 2022 indicate that corporate gifts curated to the interests of the recipient will become increasingly popular
- Sustainable gifting will continue to be prioritized among senders and recipients
- WFH care packages and self care gifts were among the top corporate gift ideas for employees aside from gift cards and company swag
- Tech products such as bluetooth speakers, wireless headphones, and Ohom Ui Mugs are a corporate gifting trend in 2022 and beyond as they spur use which leads to increased recall of the sender
- Curated gift boxes and branded items are amongst the popular corporate gift ideas for clients, whether to re-engage those who have gone dark, welcome new business, or simply enhance relationships.
Read our blog, 11 Client Gifting Use Cases to Elevate the Customer Experience, to get inspired by more ideas. If you’re also looking for the latest holiday gifting trends discover our article on the topic.
Statistics from corporate gifting reports
Knack Shops put together a comprehensive corporate gifting report that does an excellent job outlining how the offline channel boosts the ROI of an ABM strategy. With the marketing budgets shrinking at many organizations, revenue teams must be strategic in how they are getting the most out of their dollars. Below are a few of the major takeaways that stuck with us.
- 94% believe personal relationships are critical to success
- 89% believe that business gifts bring people closer together
- 83% believe that business gifts generate measurable, positive ROI
- C-suites are more satisfied with corporate gifts than any other demographic
- Gift cards, wine, food, spa, and co-branded items are amongst the most popular categories of corporate gifts that recipients prefer
- $50-150 is the most acceptable price range of what to spend on corporate gifts
- 45% of millennials like to share their gift on social media, twice as many as boomers
Corporate gifting companies and other Postal Marketplace vendors such as Knack Shops have done an exceptional job of using their internal corporate gifting industry statistics to guide their selection of curated items. In order to choose the best corporate gifts for employees or clients, these trends and data serve as a great starting point to guide your evaluation.
The benefits of luxury corporate gifting companies
Luxury corporate gifting companies who offer unique executive gifts and high end corporate swag give organizations an opportunity to curate an assortment of products that are tailored to the interests of the recipient. Personalized items such as handwritten notes and branded swag using the logo of the recipient’s brand will always catch more attention than generic VIP corporate gifts.
As we’re all trying to get the most out of our marketing dollars, it’s critical to personalize at every available opportunity when we’re spending between $50 and $150 per item. The same concept goes for corporate gifts for employees—with Offline Engagement platforms such as Postal, vendors who offer personalization into their assortment of luxury, executive or ceo gifts can be used at scale to support growing remote workforces.
Whether go-to-market teams want to diversify their ABM strategy to differentiate and drive more revenue, or HR teams want to recognize virtual employees to reward their efforts, the selection of items offered by most luxury corporate gifting companies will cater to these goals.
When it comes to boosting morale and fostering a strong connection with your remote workforce, explore thoughtful gifts for remote employees that can make them feel appreciated and valued.
How revenue teams can integrate a corporate gifting strategy
One of the most common misconceptions about corporate gifting strategies is that they are intended to replace digital channels—that is entirely false. At Postal, we use the verbiage, Offline Marketing Automation, to describe the technology behind the management of this channel, which goes far beyond the realm of gifts. This is a technology to manage offline experiences at scale, integrated with a digital ABM strategy.
Most corporate gifting platforms are point solutions that offer the capability to send to one-off contacts, essentially saving you trips to the post office, which is nice. Offline Marketing Automation platforms such as Postal go multiple layers deeper and enable companies to use the offline channel within their trusted marketing automation tools: our integrations include HubSpot, Salesforce, Marketo, Salesloft, Outreach, Eloqua, and many others.
Revenue and go-to-market teams must understand that corporate gifting strategy isn’t about the stuff you’re sending; it’s more so about making the when and why of sending items within sales cycles logical and streamlined. For example, one classic gift marketing strategy is rewarding an action taken by a lead or prospect—imagine the conversion rate if you rewarded every person who signed up for a demo or free trial with a box of cookies. Automating this delivery is the next layer that Offline Marketing Automation fulfills to help teams avoid having to do this manually.
To experience benefits such as lower cost per lead, increased ROI, and higher conversion rates, request a demo of Postal and see how easy it is to integrate the offline channel into your approach.
