Top retailers set to roll out festive gift-basket campaigns
Modern retailers are ready to kick off their gift-basket campaigns to celebrate the coming Christmas and New Year festive season and to drive sales during the final quarter of this year.
Salinla Seehaphan, corporate affairs director at Tesco Lotus, said that this year New Year gift baskets would come in a special “5 Elements” theme to bring luck that matches each person who receives one.
There are 31 designs with prices starting from slightly over Bt200, making them affordable for most people. There are also special discounts and gift vouchers for customers who purchase specified amounts, with a total discount and gift-voucher value of 30 per cent, which is higher than last year.
Customers can buy gift baskets from all Tesco Lotus store formats including online. The retail giant expects online sales of the baskets to jump, as it is very convenient to order online and have the baskets delivered to doorsteps.
Gift baskets will be available in stores from next week onwards.
Big C will also launch hamper campaigns with a wide selection to welcome the upcoming festive season.
“On November 13, Big C is launching its New Year Hamper campaign, with 42 different types of hamper formats and more than 1,000 items available,” said Kudatara Nagaviroj, executive adviser for corporate affairs at Big C Supercenter.
“The key features of Big C’s hampers are good quality, reasonable price and varieties to satisfy both givers and recipients. Big C provides hampers including the Royal product hamper, Premium hamper, Organic hamper, and Healthy hamper, appealing to the ever-increasing number of health-conscious customers.”
There are 42 hamper formats, costing from Bt299 to Bt5,399. Purchases of more than Bt3,000 will qualify for free gift vouchers valued at up to Bt116,000 or 29 per cent of sales volume.
Customers who purchase hampers valued at a total of Bt400,000 can also receive up to 10 per cent cash back.
Hampers and vouchers
Apart from the gift hampers, Big C gift vouchers are available. These vouchers have become more popular each year since their launch, a trend that looks like continuing.
“We estimate that Big C sales of all hampers this season will be 20 per cent higher than last year,” Kudatara said.
Supawut Chaiprasitkul, general manager for supermarket procurement at The Mall Group, said hampers were popular gifts during the holiday season. Gourmet Market and Home Fresh Mart have created concepts for the hampers to create a personal touch for the recipient.
This year, food specialist Laurent Pousse has selected items for and organised the hampers.
This year’s “Blissful Hampers 2015” concept is “A Taste of Extraordinary”. The Mall has budgeted Bt20 million for this campaign, which will run from next Thursday to January 15 at Gourmet Markets at The Emporium, Paragon, Terminal 21, Promenade and a new location, Crystal SB Ratchapruek, and Home Fresh Marts at every branch of The Mall.
For customers who seek a personal touch, there is a gift-wrap service by hamper experts who are available for professional consultation regarding items and presentation.
Supawut said prices ranged from Bt400 to Bt4,000 for standard hampers, Bt4,000 to Bt10,000 for premium hampers, and Bt10,000 to Bt34,345 for luxury hampers.
There are promotions with savings of up to 37 per cent from participating credit cards.
Customers can order online at www.Mglobemall.com and receive a Bt100 discount and savings of up to 12 per cent.
“During the holiday season, there is strong competition in the hampers category,” Supawut said. “The economy during the first half of 2014 was slow, but picked up by the third quarter. Generally, there is a spike by year-end due to the holiday, which evens out the year.
“Hampers are best-sellers, and we expect higher sales than previous years. Sales of hampers at Gourmet Market and Home Fresh Mart are expected to reach Bt220 million, a 10-per-cent increase from 2013. Sales from corporate customers are generally higher than from other customer groups,” he added.
