Buying gifts for colleagues, founders or clients becomes increasingly difficult as the number of recipients grows. Tracking addresses, preferences, budgets, deliveries and individual gifts can quickly become time-consuming. That’s where a corporate gifting platform comes into play.
When does corporate gifting become difficult to manage?
Sending a handful of gifts is relatively straightforward. Once the recipient list starts growing, however, things can get complicated. You may need to manage different gifts for different people, collect delivery addresses, keep track of budgets and make sure nothing gets missed.
This becomes even more challenging when employees or clients are based across different offices, cities or countries. Trying to manage multiple orders through separate suppliers can create a lot of unnecessary admin, particularly during busy periods such as Christmas.
What is a corporate gifting platform?
A corporate gifting platform brings different parts of the gifting process together in one place. Depending on the provider, this could include selecting gifts, setting budgets, uploading recipient lists, collecting addresses, personalising gifts and arranging deliveries.
For PAs and EAs, the biggest benefit can be having a central place to manage a campaign rather than relying on spreadsheets, emails and individual orders. Some platforms also allow recipients to choose their own gift from a pre-approved selection, which can make it easier to cater to different tastes and preferences.
If you’re looking for suppliers to help with your next gifting campaign, you can also browse the PA Life Recommended Supplier List for corporate gifting.
How can an employee gifting platform help?
An employee gifting platform can be particularly useful for businesses running regular recognition or reward programmes. Rather than only using platforms for Christmas gifts, businesses can use them for birthdays, work anniversaries, new starters, employee milestones or other occasions.
For PAs and EAs, this can take some of the ongoing administration out of employee gifting. Instead of organising every gift individually, you can establish budgets and preferences in advance and use the same system to manage future campaigns.
It’s also worth thinking beyond the individual recipient. As corporate gifting becomes more personal, gifts that can be enjoyed with partners or families may be a thoughtful alternative to something designed solely for the employee. Read more about the changing approach to corporate gifting and why families are increasingly part of the gesture.
What to look for when choosing a platform
Not all corporate gifting platforms offer the same features, so it’s worth considering what you actually need before signing up. Look for:
- Recipient management: Can you upload recipient details in bulk, or allow people to enter their own addresses?
- Gift choice: Can recipients choose from a selection, or can you send different gifts to different people?
- Budget control: Can you set spending limits for individuals, teams or campaigns?
- Personalisation: Can you add branded packaging, cards or personal messages?
- Delivery tracking: Can you see when individual gifts have been dispatched and delivered?
- International gifting: If you have overseas recipients, check which countries the platform supports and how it handles shipping, customs and taxes.
- Reporting: Can you track spending, orders and delivery status in one place?
Before choosing a gift itself, it’s also worth considering the recipient and the message you want it to convey. For more advice, take a look at PA Life’s four tips for choosing the perfect corporate gift.
Sending bulk corporate gifts: what to consider
Ordering bulk corporate gifts can make large campaigns easier to manage, but it still requires some forward planning. Confirm your recipient numbers as early as possible and check that the gifts you want are available in sufficient quantities.
Allow extra time for personalisation, address collection and delivery, particularly during busy periods. It’s also worth checking whether all gifts will arrive together or whether they will be sent individually to recipients.
Remember that bulk gifting doesn’t necessarily mean sending everyone the same thing. Some platforms allow businesses to run a single campaign while giving recipients a choice of gifts, which can make a large-scale programme feel more personal.
Questions to ask before choosing a gifting platform
Before committing to a platform, ask whether it can handle the number of recipients you have and whether it supports the locations you need to send to. Check whether you can set individual budgets, personalise gifts, track deliveries and collect recipient addresses through the platform.
It’s also worth finding out what happens if someone doesn’t respond, whether shipping costs are included and whether there are any additional fees for international deliveries or personalisation.
Making corporate gifting easier
The right platform won’t make every gifting decision for you, but it can remove much of the admin involved in managing a large campaign. For PAs and EAs juggling multiple recipients, budgets, locations and deadlines, bringing the process together in one place can make corporate gifting easier to organise, track and personalise – leaving more time to focus on the people behind the gifts, the theme and the actual gift giving.
