Personalized Vs. Traditional Gifts: What’s Best For The Holidays?

The holiday season is knocking at the door, and people start rushing to the stores to send gifts to their loved ones. You wait for this time of year when sales are almost doubled. You offer various gifting options for the customer to choose from. But sometimes, you wonder, “Should I sell a custom gift or a traditional gift?”

Shoppers face an important decision when choosing a holiday gift. Now, there is a variety of personalized gifts available based on the interest of the person they are ordering a gift for. However, few people, on the other hand, choose toys, fashionable clothing, gadgets, and even gift sets. Both options have pros and cons, making it important to know which of these categories best makes sense for your buyers.

This article will discuss the debate between personalized and traditional gifts to help you determine which approach will be best for your online store during the holiday season.

What Are Personalized Gifts?

Personalized gifts are those that can be made with a specific name, model, shape, size, design, or any other feature to suit the particular buyer or consumer. They can be personalized products such as clothes, customized cups, rings, photo prints, and anything that allows the buyer to make additions to that product. Such a gift requires attention and often additional time so it can become something personal and beautiful.

Examples Of Personalized Gifts:

• Custom Jewelry: Accessories like rings, bracelets, etc., can be customized with names or initials.
• Customized Artwork: Portraits of the family or star maps with names or significant dates.
• Personalized Accessories: Bags, towels, or robes.
• Customized Home Decor: Name-engraved doormats, pillows, or blankets.
• Personalized Gadgets: Phones, electronic gadgets, and other devices etched with names or messages.
• Custom Gift Hamper: Customers can get a box customized to contain many items in a single gift box.

Personalization tends to infuse an element of emotion, thus giving a person or gift all the importance it deserves. Personalized gifts are trendy during holidays, especially for Christmas, birthdays, or anniversaries.

Benefits Of Personalized Gifts:

• Emotional appeal: A personalized gift shows that you have considered making a meaningful choice, creating a solid emotional connection.
• Unique: Because these gifts are customized to the recipient’s wishes or identity, they are often more distinctive than the other offerings.
• Memories: People make personalized gifts because such products create a feeling that the end receiver will see them occasionally as a memory.
• Increased perceived value: Personalized gifts are very special to the recipients and usually items they would not buy for themselves because they are so special to the giver.

Challenges Of Personalized Gifts:

• Longer Production Times: Customizing a product takes time. If your store doesn’t have a streamlined system for personalization, it could delay fulfilment and delivery.
• High Cost: As more labour is added and more time is incorporated, people generally pay a higher price for personalized items, which may deter specific buyers.
• Less Universal Appeal: Not everybody wants personal items, especially if he or she is trying to decide what to choose or wants to avoid waiting for custom work.

What Are Traditional Gifts?

Traditional gifts are items that are commonly loved and not necessarily personalized. These gifts include clothing, technical gadgets, books, home appliances, toys, or cosmetics. These gifts are often bought off the shelf without any customization.

Traditional gifts can be convenient because they are usually easy to find and do not involve a personalization process. They suit last-minute shoppers or those who like something practical or popular.

Benefits Of Traditional Gifts:

• Convenience: When your customer knows the gift recipient’s choice, Traditional gifts are simple to shop for. Little to no lead time is required for these gifts.
• Affordability: Several traditional gifts have wide price ranges, making them suitable for customers in varying budget categories.
• Broad Appeal: Items such as toys, books, gadgets, or clothing appeal to a large demographic. These are general-safe choices, and you can easily believe that the recipient will find something to appreciate about the gesture.
• Quicker Shipping: Because you don’t have to create a custom order, you can fulfil it and send it out faster than with personalized items.

Challenges Of Traditional Gifts:

• Lacks Emotionality: Traditional gifts tend to be enjoyed but are generally not used as personal mementoes. A generic store-bought product, especially if it is widespread, loses the unique touch that defines that gift.
• Overcrowded Market: Traditional gifts always arrive in huge volumes, making the market highly competitive. A gift can quickly be overshadowed by the multitude of similar products.
• Limited Uniqueness: Because these gifts are not customized, they tend to feel less unique to the recipient, especially if they get several gifts similar to this over the holidays.

A Balanced Approach: Why Not Both?

As the holiday shopping season sets in, offer a mix of personal and regular gifts in your store. This way, you can accommodate every shopper’s preference and maximize your potential sales.

• Add a ‘personalize’ section: In an eCommerce portal, create a category offering customizable items for those who want one-of-a-kind gifts.
• Bundle products: Create bundles that include a traditional gift and a personalized gift, thus offering customers a little of both worlds.
• Promotions and discounts: Use time-sensitive promotions for your traditional gifts and special offers for personalized ones.

Conclusion:

While consumer preferences change, interesting trends shape personalization and traditional gift popularity. Personalized gifts are increasingly becoming popular because customers prefer giving a custom hamper or customized gift. In addition, the demand for digital personalization is being led by new custom virtual experiences and customized digital art. Others embracing convenience and technology are accepting smart gadgets, subscription boxes, or instant delivery on the part of more gift-givers. Keep abreast of such trends to better position your products and services in harmony with the most popular items with your holiday shoppers during the holiday season.

The festive season is all about giving joy, and you, too, can add personalized and traditional gifts to your inventory for your customers, making it easier for them to shop. Make your online store the preferred shop for all your customers’ holiday shopping needs.

About the Author:

Sagar Khandekar is an SEO Manager at MageDelight with over 9 years of experience in digital marketing. His core expertise lies in organic search, content marketing, and technical SEO. He has a keen interest in eCommerce, Magento, and the latest trends, strategies, and tools. Outside of work, he enjoys playing FIFA and watching different regional movies.

Find Me On LinkedIn