There are many factors that go into a great employee experience: top-notch leadership, unparalleled transparency, opportunities for learning and development…and company swag!
Corporate gifting offers great value to companies, employees, partners, clients, and other key stakeholders. From building strong and strategic relationships to enhancing brand image, from marketing to celebrating milestones, corporate gifting is essential for business success.
The US gifting market is valued at $1000 billion, with the B2B gifting market pegged at $250-300 billion. India’s gifting market is pegged at Rs 240,000 crore, while the corporate gifting market is valued at Rs 20,000 crore. There is tremendous potential for corporate gifting in India. However, the Indian market has challenges, including price sensitivity, the lack of awareness around gifting as a strategic employee engagement initiative and managing gift inventory for bulk orders.
However, power lies in the possibilities. Swageazy saw the possibility of assisting enterprises and modern workplaces in their efforts to build great experiences for their employees, customers, and prospects.
Bringing swag to corporate corridors
HR, sales, and marketing teams often struggle while searching for the right options, coordinating with vendors, and managing the entire project on offline channels.
Sameer Wahie and Sneh Setu, ex-Uber employees, recognised the potential and growing scale of company swag in the Indian market. They also recognised the struggles companies go through putting together “swag packs” for teams and employees. In March, 2021, they founded Swageazy with the aim of making corporate gifting seamless and memorable by using technology. A year later, in 2022, Swageazy raised Rs 7 crore in a seed funding round led by InfoEdge Ventures, Anicut Capital, and Huddle. Swageazy focused the investment on bringing together the scale and efficiency of the digital era, with the age-old practice of gifting.
As India’s first platform to automate gifting for customers, employees, and prospects globally, Swageazy differentiates itself from the competition through:
- Automated process-order to delivery
- Personalised dashboard
- Inventory on cloud
- HRMS and CRM integration
- Automated address collection
- Custom brand stores
Sameer shared how many US companies with offices and workforces in India prefer ordering swag from US-based gifting companies before shipping it to India, incurring customs costs that inflate the price to five times the original cost.
“Ironically, most of these products are manufactured in India or the APAC region before being shipped to the US. Therefore, we are leveraging India’s manufacturing and technological prowess to build for the world from India,” he said.
Swageazy sprung from the founders’ vision of simplifying corporate gifting. The duo wanted to make gift giving “as easy as a push notification”. They adopted a tech-forward approach for this: clients simply have to go on the platform, curate a gift pack of their choice, and let Swageazy handle the rest.
With seamless ordering, bulk storage, reliable delivery, and customer support, Swageazy aims to make corporate gifting a cakewalk.
In the last three years, the company has delivered over 100,000 gift packs across 50+ countries. It has partnered with over 400 clients, including corporate giants such as Google, Coursera, Amazon, LinkedIn, Airtel, Jubilant, PhonePe and more.
Partnerships for corporate gifts
Swageazy helps companies automate their employee engagement initiatives from the moment a new hire walks through the door. HR departments can rest easy, knowing that the company is taking care of gifting throughout the employee lifecycle – from onboarding kits, birthday gift packs, festival gifts, milestone celebrations to farewell hampers, all occasions are handled seamlessly by the platform.
Swageazy also works with sales and marketing teams to provide customised gifts at events, and account-based marketing initiatives for clients, customers and prospects.
Making gifting seamless
What makes Swageazy different from competitors?
“Multiple players have entered the corporate gifting industry recently due to low barriers to entry. Most operate offline, focusing only on adding a wide range of products. Offering a variety of products is a good thing, but not at the expense of operational muscle to ensure correct and on-time deliveries.
At Swageazy, we not only use technology to automate the entire gifting process but also have in place a robust network of logistics and operations. This ensures that we deliver our gifts at just the right time and in just the right shape.” Sneh says.
Swageazy’s tech-focused approach ensures that customers can enjoy a seamless gifting experience. The platform offers a variety of unique features, including:
- Customisable gifts: Personalisation is all the rage when it comes to employee experience. Swageazy offers a wide range of 100% customisable gift options for a variety of occasions.
- Customisable kits: There is no one-size-fits-all approach to gifting at Swageazy. The company offers customisable kits, with themes like eco-friendly to rejuvenation, gratitude to new year.
- Transparent pricing: Prices are listed on the platform, making every transaction upfront – there are no hidden fees. Additionally, the company offers competitive pricing and attractive discounts for bulk orders.
- Seamless ordering: A user-friendly platform, streamlined ordering, and tracking and delivery updates always keep clients in the loop.
- Bulk Storage: Ordering in bulk means storing in bulk. However, many companies do not have the space. Swageazy can store bulk orders until clients are ready to receive them.
- Quick delivery: The platform takes care of the entire delivery process through a strong logistics network that enables quick and quality delivery across India.
Gift of choice: when swag is made special
The mark of a great gift is the effort and personal touch that goes into it. Swageazy’s new Gift of Choice feature aims to make corporate gifting even more personalised.
Companies often turn to gift cards to add a touch of personalisation and flexibility to their corporate gifting strategy. However, most recipients tend not to place much value in them and often fail to redeem them. Research has shown that 20-40% of the gift cards remain unclaimed. Companies also struggle to track which vouchers were claimed, and those that weren’t. A large chunk of the company’s budget goes to waste due to expired vouchers.
The GOC feature retains the flexibility of a voucher and, at the same time, gives the recipient the option to choose their gift. This ensures that each gift is special and tangible (unlike a voucher), maximising the value of a company’s investment and saving them from significant loss. The personalised nature of the gift also yields a higher claim rate, and has saved companies the time and effort of finding one gift that is universally loved by all.
Swageazy’s easy to use platform also enables senders to budget, send and track their gifting efforts. Address collection is made easier than ever, as recipients can now share their addresses on Swageazy’s platform when claiming their gifts. Additionally, companies can complete bulk orders with a single click on the platform, and collect feedback on the gifting endeavour through recipients ‘thank you’ notes. The GOC feature allows companies to run multiple gifting campaigns, offers transparent pricing, adheres to the company’s gifting budget and frees up HR or marketing teams to focus on other deliverables.
Diwali gifting done right
India’s gifting festival – Diwali – is just around the corner! Swageazy’s Diwali collection has always been a delight for customers. This year, the company is planning to amplify its festive range, offering products across various categories and price points.
Swageazy’s Diwali collection features a variety of products across different price points. Diwali – the busiest gifting season in India and the highest revenue generating periods for gifting companies – will be the perfect time for companies to bring the dazzle and shine of India’s brightest festival to their corporate swag.
With customisation, seamless order and delivery, and new initiatives and features, Swageazy makes corporate gifting a delightful experience! The company is on a mission to streamline corporate gifting and become the global gifting platform of choice, building for the world, from India.
