A surprise you can sign up for

Paradoxical as it sounds, start-ups in the city are offering women ways of pampering themselves with a secret gift box. While the arrival of the box is certain, what it holds remains a mystery

Gifting has traditionally been an activity involving two people. Hence, brands have guilt-tripped husbands into buying jewellery for their wives, mothers into buying a coveted doll-house for their daughters, children into buying retirement-friendly indulgences for their parents etc. A new wave of start-ups is however, making the idea of traditional gifting obsolete because here, the gift-giver and gift receiver is the same person —and more often than not, a woman.

Instead of waiting for a gift-wrapped box to show up at their doorstep, they’re going online and placing an order for it. It’s not completely devoid of romance though because what comes packed in these boxes is still a surprise.

Economic indulgence Vineeta Singh, co-founder of Fab Bag attributes the shift to a generation of online female buyers that is unapologetically indulgent. “Our customers no more wait for an occasion or the holiday season to indulge themselves, the urban working women are finally taking it upon themselves — and they’re not sorry. Self-gifting is a new trend today and this phenomenon is only growing.” Vineeta’s service offers patrons a mixed bag of indigenous beauty products. For a monthly subscription of '600, the customers get a hamper with a mix of products that often cost no more than Rs 600 — a price brands are willing to pay to get directly in touch with a potential client in the long run.

Ask 37-year-old Lubna Rego. The PR executive is a subscriber who has no qualms in admitting that she likes indulging herself a little too often. She says, “I like the idea of treating myself to a surprise. It gives me something to look forward to. Besides, gifts these days are hardly personal or customised. These services give me value for money, let me discover new products in the market. This has nothing to do with vanity.”

Who doesn’t like surprises Aptly calling itself Mystery Box, this service ties up with premium lifestyle brands to bring to its customer a mix of products and experiences they didn’t know they’re signing up for — such as gourmet chocochip and cinnamon cookies, luggage tags, a manicure, a complimentary class at a yoga house, and a skin consultation at a city clinic. A similar service, Sugarbox has previously included “ordinary items with a bit of quirk”. So customers could find cookies, strawberry flavoured popsicle soap, cutting chai glasses, travel- friendly hair straighteners, handcrafted kettles etc. “It’s like Santa Claus giving you a box of presents every month. These subscription boxes give people something to look forward to in an otherwise mundane routine,” says founder Niharika Jhunjhunwala of Sugarbox.

Vineeta of Fab Bag, which is one of the earlier players in the market, says that the surprise element drives these sales. She adds, “There is still novelty in receiving gifts; and these mystery boxes multiply the experience because there is a surprise in it every month. The products are something specifically curated for customers. So, who wouldn’t like receiving these timely gifts ”

Small price to pay Snobbox, the latest entrant in the market, is a styling service and curates items of clothing and accessories to suit a particular customer. How it works is, the website has a quiz to gauge the customer’s taste. Later, the stylist gets in touch with the customer to know their style preferences. However, the final products aren’t shown before shipping them out. Compared to the other players, Snobbox is priced on a slightly higher side. The price for the basic box ranges from Rs 3,500 to Rs 4,000 and even goes up to Rs 10,000. They are yet to roll out their monthly subscription box. Harshal Shah, director of Snobbox, admits that he was a little apprehensive about the price range given the deep discounts that retail websites pamper customer with. But it wasn’t well founded. He says that his subscribers in Mumbai were happy to handout the cash. “I was a little apprehensive about the price points since it isn’t the regular discounted price you see on clothing websites.

But I realised that girls don’t have a problem with shelling out the money. They want to look confident every time they step out in the crowd.”

Win for all It’s not just customers and start up services who get a piece of the pie — brands benefit from getting direct access to their customers. Brands today do not flinch while spending some money on this kind of marketing strategy. The coupons, which are shared by brands such as Jean-Claude Biguine Salon and Spa, Heel & Buckle and Truefitt and Hill — are completely sponsored by the services themselves. The same goes for Fab Bag product samples, which is why the hamper costs much more than the subscription cost. Aditi Khandelwal of The Mystery Box states that this kind of offline marketing strategy helps brands in real time. She says, “Brands today realise that likes on Facebook and Instagram doesn’t guarantee a customer; it only creates awareness. An exercise like this ensures a physical interest that they could have only hoped for with social media.”

Sugarbox works with small startups and homegrown services, which in turn helps them reach out to their potential customers. Niharika adds, “With subscription services, customers are no longer shooting in the dark. With the feedback they receive, these brands further understand how to work on their product.”