Research commissioned by packaging supplier Duo UK has found that despite the stereotype of men being bad at wrapping presents, they are just as likely as women to appreciate professionally gift wrapped goods. The same study revealed that men are also willing to pay more than women to achieve the desired effect.
Family-owned Duo, which counts a number of retailers with a high proportion of gifted purchases among its clients, surveyed 1,000 UK consumers to understand attitudes to gift and luxury packaging, particularly in the context of stretched household budgets.
It was found that 61 per cent of men and 63 per cent of women felt that receiving a professionally gift wrapped present made the item ‘extra special’. Among 18-24 year olds this figure rose to 72 per cent. Consumers also associated a number of positive halo effects with gift wrapped purchases including:
• An increased propensity to repeat order (35%)
• An improved perception of value for money (25%)
• Improved brand image (25%)
• More likely to recommend to a brand to a friend (20%)
• A belief that a brand invests more in customer service (20%).
When it came to the drawbacks of packaging, 8 per cent of consumers said they would potentially consider the brand un-environmentally friendly and 14 per cent said there would be more packaging to dispose of.
The managing director of Duo, which this year celebrates 25 years in the packaging business, David Brimelow commented: “Factors such as repeat ordering and increased word of mouth recommendations are just two customer behaviour traits that are essential for retailers. They also indicate that high quality packaging has a long-term impact on consumers and profoundly alters a customer’s perception of a brand.
“It would be naïve not to address the potentially negative environmental associations packaging may have and brands, particularly those with eco-conscious consumers, would be wise to take this into account. We work with many brands to help them address this issue; both by increasing recycled content of packaging and by ensuring packaging is recyclable and therefore easier to dispose of. ”
When it came to who consumers would be most likely to purchase gift wrapping for, men and women showed marked differences. Women were most likely to purchase gift wrapping for their mum (31 per cent), while just over half of men (51 per cent) said they’d be most likely to buy gift wrapping for
their partner. By contrast only a quarter (25 per cent) of women would pay for a gift to be wrapped for their partner.
Men were also shown to be willing to pay more for packaging than women – almost 40 per cent of men said they would spend over £2 on gift wrapping, compared to only 33 per cent of women. At the upper end of the scale, almost 10 per cent of men would spend more than £4, compared to only 6 per cent of women. Like men, younger consumers were also likely to pay more, with 13% of 18-24 year olds indicating they would spend over £4 for gift wrapping.
David commented: “These figures are equally applicable to online and high street retailers and shows that for certain brands packaging can be a real ‘pull’ factor for customers. In particular, retailers that sell products which younger men are likely to buy as gifts for their wives or partners would be well advised to give serious consideration to their gift wrap offering. Just one example of a company we have helped to develop this type of service is gift retailer Getting Personal , which now has a full range of branded bags, boxes, tissue and tape in order to offer to customers.”
John Smith, Founder of Getting Personal commented: “As a gift specific retailer, we choose to offer our customers the option to add gift wrapping as part of their purchase. The feedback from our customers shows just how much they appreciate an upmarket look when it comes to giving goods to friends and loved ones, so there’s certainly a real potential to offer this as an added service for customers who want it.”
Duo, which turns over £25m a year, manufactures and supplies bespoke packaging products for leading e-retail, retail, mail order and industrial brands with all aspects of the manufacturing process carried out in house.
1 thought on “Research highlights value of good gift wrapping”
Great article and very interesting for my business as we offer free gift wrapping as part of the service. We are always very concerned about the environmental impact of gift wrap and will take note of the fact that, according to this article, 8% of people may consider gift wrapping to be environmentally unfriendly! All very good info, thank you 🙂