Corporate gifting has gained in popularity since the pandemic limited in-person contact. Local entrepreneurs are getting in on the trend.

Coresight Research conducted a survey with GiftNow in 2021. After surveying 300 corporate gift buyers in the US, it found that nearly 50% of businesses intend to increase the frequency of gift-giving post Covid-19.

The corporate gifting industry is expected to grow by $64 billion over the next few years, reaching $306 billion by 2024.

The survey found that corporate gifting is happening year-round — not just holidays. Gift givers perceive that relationship building is the most important benefit to corporate gifting.

 

Kaysha Rajani of Fresno recently tapped into the gift-giving business.

Rajani, founder and owner of Curated Giftables, started her business in January, going full time with it in March.

Rajani said her 15-year background in marketing has prepared her to launch a business. She was used to packaging party favors for corporate events but wondered why there wasn’t a gifting service to outsource to.

“I’m always looking for gifts that are modern and things that people are going to use — not just the usual cellophane-wrapped baskets,” Rajani said.

Through her gifting business, she desires to bring awareness to local businesses and brands.

Through Fresno Pacific University, she took an entrepreneurship class called Launch Central Valley, a 10-week, micro-enterprise program that walks prospective entrepreneurs through the principles of starting, managing and growing a business.

The program is offered through the Center for Community Transformation. Each cohort lasts 10 weeks.

Registration for the next cohort is live on Eventbrite.com and will run from Aug. 16 to Oct. 18.

Rajani has benefited from the cohort as it provides opportunities to connect with fellow entrepreneurs.

“I immediately got plugged into a group of Realtors, and they were excited to have me create some closing gifts for them,” Rajani said.

A corporate gift usually includes items such as notebooks, pens, coffee pour-over sets, tea tins or gourmet cookies. Realtor gifts normally include home essentials such as luxury cleaning products, scented candles, tea towels and entertainment items like a cheese board and knives. Rajani said there are options for self-care gifts too.

Pre-curated gifts are made in small batches with short turnaround time so buyers have new gifting options to choose from.

“Gifting is just a great way to develop and maintain relationships with people,” she said. “With all of these things going on like the Great Resignation and the increase in employees that are working remotely, employers really need to look for a way to reconnect to their employees.”

In the time of flooded inboxes and endless virtual meetings, gifts are an easy way to get someone’s attention, she added.

“People are just running out of ways to kind of connect with others,” she said.

 

RSVP Style, a family-owned invitation service in Fresno, has been operating for nearly 20 years. It’s known for its custom invitations for special occasions, but it also sells curated gift baskets online and in store.

Sisters Gina Boyajian, creative director and chief operating officer, and Stephanie Bedrosian, buyer, visual director and CEO, both started the business with their mother, Sonya Jelladian-Gage.

The dynamic of their gifting services changed during the pandemic because people could no longer shop in store. In that time, RSVP leaned heavily on online gifting. Customers could see a larger selection of specialty curated gifts. They could ship locally or nationally.

This weekend it will launch a new collection of gift boxes. Rather than keeping all curated gifts in one place, it will offer multiple categories to make it easier for the shopper. RSVP offers both business and personal gifts — birthday, new baby, get well and thank-you boxes, to name a few.

Boyajian has seen a noticeable increase in corporate gifting since 2020.

“Especially during the pandemic — all of the employee appreciation events and client appreciation events — those things came to a screeching halt. As a result, they had to show their appreciation another type of way, and that was through gifting,” Boyajian said.

Fine wine, pasta, olive oil and balsamic vinegar are some of the gift items that can come in a set together in the Dolce & Gabbana Italian Picnic Box.

She said receiving a gift becomes an experience through its presentation and packaging.

“We’re able to get that ‘wow’ effect that people have been missing by not having that personal communication,” Boyajian said.