Giftcard firms aim to double or even triple their GMVs this fiscal

NEW DELHI: On the back of growing popularity of gift cards as a gifting option both by end consumers and corporates, startups offering gift card solutions via multiple platforms are aiming at doubling or tripling their GMVs this fiscal.

While Accel Partners and Amazon-backed Qwikcilver is on route to cross Rs 6,500 crore GMV up from Rs 2,500 crore achieved last year, Blume Ventures-backed Giftcards India is aiming to double its GMV figures for this fiscal. "When we started off, there was no market for giftcards in India and neither brands was offering them to consumers. Now it is about 2% of the Indian gifting market which is a $65billion opportunity," said Pratap TP, cofounder at Qwikcilver. "Still there is lot of headroom for growth if you compare with markets like the US wherein giftcards account for 20-30% of the gifting industry, especially during the holiday season."

Qwikcilver, which claims to command about 90% share of the gift-card market in India, attributes the growth of the industry to increasing exposure to consumers by adding more categories.

Some of the major reasons propelling the growth of gift cards is spike in adoption of gift cards in the digital format, increase in the value loaded on gift cards and aggressive plans to improve adoption.

"What has happened in the past one year is that there is huge demand and adoption of giftcards in the digital format with about 6365% of giftcard volumes moving to the digital form from the initial 2025% about a year back," said Firoz Khan, CEO, GiftcardsIndia.

Startup CEOs say the value of money loaded on giftcards has also seen an increase to about Rs 6,500-7,000 on the B2C side and an average of Rs 10,000 on the B2B side. Value loaded on giftcards in the travel and hospitality industry may range from Rs 50,000 to a lakh.