Corporate Gift Boxes: Elevate Your Gifting Game

Corporate gift boxes are a go-to gift item during holidays and special company, client, or employee milestones. But how does corporate gifting work?

Whether you’re looking for ideas on what types of things to send in your gift boxes or looking to start your own corporate gifting program, you’ve come to the right place.

Gift boxes enable companies to aesthetically package a variety of items together, utilize brand colors, and offer a touch of personalization that makes the gift memorable for recipients. Custom gift boxes are one of the best ways to combine these principles into a gift people can’t wait to receive.

Companies want simple corporate gifting ideas that:

• Are memorable
• Tell a story
• Show their appreciation
• Reflect the values and style of the brand

Corporate gifts offer value for clients and employees and are a solid decision for any business looking to add a reliable, new revenue stream year-round.

Booming Market

Forbes reports that corporate gifting is a booming, $125 billion market that will continue to grow in the coming years. When corporate gift boxes are done well, they can translate into a wildly profitable choice for the businesses who’ve productized them.

Whether it’s through aesthetically packaged fresh-baked cookies or custom-branded socks, creating custom boxes to package products is a cost-effective way to add premium value, whether it’s for clients they’re serving or gifts for their own employees.

However, you can’t put just any old gift in your corporate gift box. Following the industry’s best practices for creating memorable, attractive boxes is essential to help the corporate gifting arm of your company flourish.

How to Create a Lucrative Revenue Stream for Your Business

“Gifts humanize business.”

It’s a simple truth that explains why corporate gift boxes are so popular. Companies that give back tend to:

• Experience better relationships with their clients and employees
• Incentivize employees to stay engaged
• Reduce turnover

Gift-giving helps humanize companies and sends a powerful message to gift recipients: “We care about you.” Many corporate businesses struggle with developing a strong human connection, so they turn to you for help.

This is the foundation that a profitable corporate gifting program is built on. The goal is to curate, package, and sell unique corporate gifts that help companies send thoughtful messages that deepen and strengthen their relationships.

Accomplishing this goal starts with building the base structure of your program and choosing the right gift box items to offer. From there, designing your packaging and sending your boxes off to their new homes is all that’s left.

It may seem complicated right now, but rest assured it’s a lot easier than it sounds.

Let’s start at the beginning.

Structuring Your Corporate Gifting Program

Determining the structure of your corporate gifting program is as important as the gifts themselves. If you’re offering corporate gift boxes as a product/service, think about the types of businesses you’re going to work with. Then, consider:

• The types of events and celebrations they’re going to have
• How much money they’re willing (and able) to invest
• The level of support they’re going to need throughout the process
• Different product personalization options they’ll appreciate (and use)
• How to streamline the process from start to finish

After thinking through those considerations, you’ll have a solid foundational structure for your new program. Let’s dive into each one a bit further.

Choosing Events and Milestones

Creating a year-round stream of revenue means going beyond annual holiday gifts. What other situations call for celebration, sympathy, or recognition within a company?

These events and milestones become foundations of the way you’ll structure and market your new corporate gifting program. You may want to think about:

• New employee kits
• Birthdays
• Anniversaries
• Retirement
• Promotions
• Winning new accounts
• Welcoming a new baby
• Weddings
• Saying thank you
• Accomplishing goals
• Project completion
• Apologies
• Sympathy

Decide which events you want to help with and start thinking about the types of gifts that are appropriate for each one.

Clearbanc uses its Founder’s Box as a way to personally thank founders of businesses for choosing Clearbanc with a handwritten note and a pair of branded socks.

Determining Your Price Points

Your corporate gifting program will appeal to a wider range of business clients when you offer a variety of items and box options at different price points. Consider what pricing levels you can realistically offer and think about how much the businesses you work with will be able to invest.

Consider the cost of each gift you’re going to include in every box. This will help you decide how much to charge for different options and create a tiered system with different price points.

Being strategic about your price points will help ensure your program actually turns a profit, which is key to a successful and long-term corporate gifting program.

Offering Bulk Order Discounts

Clients ordering a large number of gift boxes expect to receive a discount for bulk orders. Once you’ve selected your items and box options, calculate what kind of discount you can feasibly offer for bulk orders that meet certain thresholds.

This helps keep loyal customers happy and offers an incentive to order large quantities. But, it also helps you make sure you’re still turning a profit despite the bulk order discount.

Offering Customization and Personalization Options

Every business wants to give a gift that feels personalized. Otherwise, what’s the point?

Not every company will want to put their logo or brand colors on items or boxes. But, they’ll probably want the ability to choose:

• Their box colors and sizes
• What designs, illustrations, and messages are included
• Additional trimmings (ribbon, packaging materials in the box, etc.)
• Their presentation options

Determine the customization options you think your clients may desire and which ones you’ll offer as you build your program. Then, go back and make sure you have the level of customer support you need to streamline the customization process.

Interested in learning more about how to customize gift boxes? Don’t worry! We’ll chat more about the actual process in a moment.

Ideas for Corporate Gifting

Once you’ve determined how you’ll structure your program, you can start curating ideas for corporate gifting. You may already have some ideas, but this list will help get the wheels turning so you can offer an exclusive and well-curated box of goodies.

As you make your final decisions, go back to your chosen price points. Are you still going to profit from each pricing tier? Consider how much each item is going to cost and make sure you don’t blow your budget. If you do, raise your prices or reduce the number of items in the box.

Now… onto the goodies. If you’re not selling gift boxes containing products you make, these ideas for corporate gifting will help you get started curating the best corporate gift boxes!

Consumables (AKA… the Tasty Stuff)

From high-end, healthy snacks in pretty packaging to rich, sweet, or salty treats, consumables and beverages (with a good shelf life) are one of the most reliable ideas for corporate gifting items. They’re not the most personal choice, but they’re almost universally enjoyed.

Fans of The Office might remember how strongly Michael Scott felt about gift baskets filled with goodies: “…I think he’s forgetting about the original instant message: Letters attached to baskets of food.”

While his gift basket plan didn’t exactly work out, I think Michael was onto something. People love giving and receiving tasty treats! Other types of gifts can result in more clutter for the recipient once they’re brought home, but consumables don’t usually hang around for long.

They also allow for many moments of enjoyment (and sharing that enjoyment with others) for the recipient.

Tech Items

Who doesn’t love a good piece of tech? From small electronics like Bluetooth speakers and headphones to device docks and virtual assistants, this is a great way to show appreciation and wow recipients with something they can actually use.

The key is to avoid sending items the recipient might already have. A great way to personalize this type of gift and ensure it’s practical is to work directly with the company purchasing the box.

If it’s a gift for a new employee, they probably don’t have company-branded headphones or a wireless speaker yet. Working with the company to select the best tech item helps ensure they’re not spending money on items that won’t be used.

Another great idea for tech-based corporate gifting is offering clients custom, branded boxes filled with smaller accessories, like tech screen wipes, Bluetooth keyboards, a mobile device power bank, or other small, useful items.

Use Case: Thule

Thule (pronounced “Too-lee”) is an outdoor brand for adventurers on the go, offering products like roof racks, luggage, baby carriers, and more.

They offer employees and clients boxes filled with branded Thule gear for outdoor adventures, like their “Thule Commuter Gift Box.” These boxes typically contain items like stainless steel travel mugs, insulated water bottles, and other functional items with the Thule brand.

Functional Items

Who doesn’t need functional desk items for the office or home office? This category is another great way to send something useful and appreciated without adding clutter to the recipient’s life. Consider items like:

• Business card holders
• Notebooks
• Mugs
• Planners
• Desk organizers

With more people working from home than ever before, home office items are extremely practical and useful for many recipients. Branded items from a company’s HR department are usually greatly appreciated and are very practical.

Use Case: Constellation Brands

Constellation Brands, a beer, wine, and spirits company, offers corporate gifting boxes to celebrate its business achievements and milestones. They recently sent out a corporate gift box to mark their “100 Days of Impact” with their HR team.

Their box contained items like stainless steel straws, a reusable grocery tote, a branded notebook, a calendar, and a water bottle.

Experiences

A corporate gifting idea that will certainly stand out is the gift of an experience. You can give a physical gift card to recipients or help the company purchasing the boxes set up accounts for services like:

• Birchbox, or other subscription services
• Hulu, Netflix, Disney+, or other streaming services
• The city’s local theater, zoo, or museum
• A local meal delivery service
• A local gym or workout studio

The best part about the gift of an experience is that it leaves a lasting impression on recipients and encourages them to try something new.

Personalized Gifts

Adding a personal touch to the gifts included in corporate gift boxes is key. Not every company wants to put their brand on every single item in the box, but many will.

However, offering customization options means you can help businesses build a gift box with a personal touch that employees and clients will love. Think about offering personalized:

• Keychains
• Tote bags
• Hats
• Leather goods
• High-quality pens

Many people prefer practical, high-quality items. When you offer customization options, your corporate gifting program is more appealing to businesses that want to create thoughtful gifts for their employees and clients.

Use Case: SwagUp

SwagUp helps businesses create swag packs to make onboarding new employees easy and fun. They’re a great example of how custom gift boxes can be used to take employee onboarding to the next level.

Boxes from SwagUp typically include a combination of branded apparel, tech items, and functional desk items. These products reflect the company’s brand and values and are intended to help employees feel excited about joining their new team.

Designing Your Gift Packaging Boxes: First Impressions Matter

Designing your gift packaging boxes is one of the most important parts of the entire process. The aesthetic and presentation of the gift will have a lasting impact on the recipient. Choose gift boxes that are:

• Sturdy
• Reusable
• Attractive
• Cost-effective

Designing your gift packaging is a great way to show off your brand’s style and enhance the perceived value of the gift itself. Plus, it’s a way to have a little fun.

So, what do you need to consider when designing your boxes? Let’s take a look.

Pro-Tips for Researching Gift Packaging Suppliers

When searching for suppliers, these pro-tips will help you find the best one for your corporate gifting program:

• Make sure you can preview your boxes before purchasing
• Ask about how quickly your supplier can deliver the boxes
• Ask about order minimums
• Make sure you can read online reviews about the supplier before you buy
• Consider which other companies your supplier has worked with

While this may seem like an extensive list, these considerations will help you choose the right partner to deliver the perfect custom gift boxes for your corporate gifting program.

How to Ship Corporate Gift Boxes

Once your boxes are ready to go, it’s time to ship them out the door! Properly shipping your boxes ensures they’ll get to recipients promptly and in great condition.

Here are a few steps to keep in mind to ship corporate gift boxes:

• Determine your shipping rates. Depending on your shipping provider, shipping costs will vary.
• Choose your carrier. Each shipping carrier has its own strengths and weaknesses, and they’ll offer a variety of different shipping costs.
• Ensure your gift box is safely packaged. Properly packaging your gift boxes helps prevent damage during the shipping process.
• Follow up with customers to confirm their orders have been received and collect their feedback.

Once you’ve worked through these steps, you’re ready to hit the ground running with your new corporate gifting program.

Final Thoughts

Creating a successful corporate gifting program is a strategic move that can greatly enhance your business relationships and provide a new revenue stream. By thoughtfully curating memorable gifts, designing aesthetically pleasing packaging, and ensuring smooth delivery, you can offer a service that companies and their recipients will value deeply. Remember, the key to a successful corporate gifting program lies in personalization, quality, and attention to detail. By following the guidelines in this ultimate guide, you’re well on your way to building a program that not only delights recipients but also strengthens your brand’s reputation and boosts your bottom line. Happy gifting!