Saying it with love the e-card way!

BANGALORE, INDIA: It's that time of the year when wishes and gifts pour in from your friends and dear ones. As the New Year ushers in with the hope of a joyful and successful year ahead, the spirits are generally high in the air. However, this year, the spirit of welcoming a New year is sombre with  people cutting down on extravagant spending on gifts, parties and New Year bashes. It's all prayers for a year that will help us tide over the impact of the global economic meltdown and the one that promises a bright future.

With cost cutting being the mantra world over, the impact of recession has cast its spell on spending on greeting cards and gifts this New Year. All those who were liberal in spending on gifts have tightened their purse string and are going in for e-cards and SMSes, which are cost effective. The number of messages that will be sent over Internet and mobile phones will surely go up in numbers this year.

Gift shops have seen a reduction in sale of greeting cards and gift items. Sale of corporate gifting  like diaries, planners and calendars too have come down by by 30 to 50 percent. V.S. Reddy of Sapna Book House says, “The business in very dull this year. We are seeing a dip in our greeting cards sales by 50 percent as against the previous year. While general gifts are doing fine so far, corporate gift sales have come down drastically.”

Even corporates have cut down on seasonal gifts this year. Gifting companies and printing presses have seen a major decline in orders this season which included calendars, diaries,  planners, pen stands, paper weights, clocks etc,. While some companies have completely refrained from the gifting culture, a majority of corporates have cut down on the numbers and have reduced the cost spent per gift.

“Every year, we used to gift calendars, diaries and a small memento with our company logo. This year, we have gone in only for diaries and have limited it to our select customers and senior management. When everyone is saving money, even we want to limit our expenditure. Gifts are just a way of extending your courtesy to a lasting relationship. I don't think it will affect the business if you don't give gifts,” says Vijay  Kumar of  TC Commercials, which is into electrical installations and cabling works.

“Earlier I used to spend a lot in buying good gifts and greeting cards for my relatives and close friends for New year. This year, I am not buying any gifts as I need to save money for future. You never know when you will lose your job in the present situation. Hence am sending e-cards and SMS messages to all my friends,” says M. Satish Kumar, a techie.

With the recession bug biting one and all in terms of  reducing costs, let's hail the Internet and cellular services for helping us spread the message of cheer among our dear ones.