As your company grows in size, giving corporate gifts will likely become a part of your networking and business strategy. Gift-giving is a great way to build relationships and networks, and symbolizes prosperity and shows appreciation for the relationships that are helping you succeed.
Client and employee appreciation gifts are often handed out during the holidays at the end of the year, as well as other special occasions like a milestone commemorating a business anniversary. So it’s easy to plan ahead (in other words — try not to scramble at the last minute for the perfect gift).
Gift-giving trends change over time, so what kind of gifts should be on your radar for 2021? Think self-care items to be used at home, tech and electronics, and delicious indulgences. Corporate gifts like concert or sporting event tickets might not be a good idea until next year.
Stuck on ideas? Don’t worry. We’ve come up with:
2021 Popular Corporate Gift Ideas for Your Clients and Employees
1. Chocolate Towers
More than just a box of chocolates and better than traditional gift baskets, a chocolate tower combines the luxury of an array of delicious high-quality chocolates and treats and packages them beautifully in a tower of delicacies. The gift receiver will get to open box after box to see what’s waiting inside, discovering a new delicious treat with each layer.
Everyone can use a little indulgence these days, which makes the chocolate tower perfect. They are easy to transport and to share around the office, and something this lavish truly shows appreciation.
2. Month-of-the-[your choice] Membership
There are so many monthly club memberships to choose from! For your high-profile clients and the employees who deserve recognition, monthly club membership is a gift that keeps on giving. Literally! A new gift shows up every month in the mail for the recipient. (Just be sure to put a stop on payments after a year.)
Everything from olive oil, plants, facial grooming, wellness packages, recipes and ingredients, art supplies, wine — the list goes on and on. The great part of this unique client appreciation gift is that you can customize it according to their interests. There’s nothing that says Thank You quite like a gift that people actually want and use.
3. Headphones
Everyone needs a good pair of headphones these days, whether it’s to drown out noise or to have effective online meetings. Technology has ushered in a new era of high-quality headphones in an array of styles and at affordable prices.
Find out whether your clients or employees would prefer wireless or over-the-ear headphones and order ahead of time during a sale. It’s the kind of client appreciation gift that will be put to very good use.
4. Gift Card to Local Restaurants
Keeping it local shows that you care about the community your business is in. And local restaurants can use the extra support. Giving gift cards to local restaurants impacts the entire community and hopefully, the recipient will spend a little extra on top and tip well while they’re at it.
Whether it is a gift card to the hottest new spot or a mainstay in the neighbourhood, a gift card to a local restaurant spreads the joy around.
5. Organic Skin Care
We all need a little extra pampering these days, and there are plenty of products on the market that cater to home skincare routines. Exfoliators, rollers, masks, serums, moisturizers, and misters — you can create a custom skincare package.
This is the kind of gift that is worth spending the extra money on, and if you can find local producers, all the better. An at-home skincare regime is something that we all need but don’t always spend the money on, making it the perfect client appreciation gift for both men and women.
6. Customized Chocolate
Creating customized chocolate is one of the best client appreciation gifts out there. You can order different shapes and chocolate flavours, then have the creative visuals of your choice laser engraved directly onto the dark, milk or white chocolate.
You can either have the words Thank You emblazoned on the chocolate or something a little more personal — maybe a quote or a date that commemorates an event. You can also personalize the chocolate packaging so that the recipient is excited and intrigued by this unique appreciation gift. Personalized chocolate is getting more buzz these days because it’s the perfect gift — thoughtful, delicious, humorous, and exciting to receive.
7. Plants
Most people are spending more time at home these days, and discovering their green thumb while they’re at it. Replacing the more traditional gift of flowers, plants last longer and can really brighten up a living space or home office.
Some plants have auspicious meanings, too. Orchids are beautiful and delicate and symbolize prosperity; money trees are easier to keep alive and are thought to bestow good financial luck on the recipient; aloe plants are resilient and the gel inside is used to ease burns and cuts, making it useful, too. Plants can be seasonal and festive (poinsettias, for example) or short living but stunning and fragrant like hyacinth.
8. Home Office Essentials
One of the trends that will likely continue on through most of 2021 is working from home. So why not help your clients and employees have a comfortable, modern, effective home office space?
A gift card to a local home office supply shop is a great appreciation gift so they can buy the chair, lamp, or gadget of their choice, or surprise them with something like a home ergonomic assessment so they can have a healthy and sustainable set up at home.