Festive hamper market heats up as retailers vie for consumer spend

The festive hamper and gift market is witnessing a surge in competition, with major supermarket chains and beauty brands leveraging aggressive campaigns and attractive offers to boost consumer spending during the Christmas holiday season.

Following a full recovery from the pandemic’s impact on the retail sector, a substantial budget has been set aside this year to mark the inauguration of new stores and shops, with Central Westville, The Emsphere, and The Mall Lifestore Bangkapi among the notable openings.

Retail operators are enticing consumers with a slew of special offers including interest-free instalment payments over ten months, lucky draws with cars as prizes, discounts of up to 50%, giveaways, and cashback on credit card payments. Beginning in early October, the hamper campaign is slated to run until mid-January, with supermarket chains importing products globally, especially from Europe, to fill their hampers. These hampers can cost up to 20,000 baht.

Beyond supermarkets, health and beauty chains, electrical appliance retailers and other product categories have also joined the bandwagon, offering specially packaged products as gifts. The Mall Group’s Supawut Chaiprasitkul revealed that the company launched the Gourmet Market Blissful Hampers 2024 campaign in early October, three to four weeks earlier than last year.

The company also introduced a range of price tiers for hamper baskets, starting at 2,500 baht this year, down from last year’s 3,000 baht.

With support from the Italian embassy, The Mall imported products from Italy and expanded its selection with new items from the US, the UK, France, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea. The company also curated New Year’s baskets for foreign tourists, showcasing healthy and authentic Thai products.

Affordability

Supawut highlighted the affordability of Italian hamper baskets this year, hoping to encourage customers to buy in multiples.

“Prices of Italian hampers are very affordable this year because we want customers to repurchase them.”

The company expects its total hamper sales this season to match the level in 2019.

Pailin Umphuj from The Mall Group shared that the company launched Beauty Hall The Great Happy New Year 2023, running until January 8. More than 200 beauty brands have reintroduced New Year gift sets and collections, priced from 1,500 to 19,990 baht.

Big C Supercenter Plc launched Big C Moments of Happiness, offering a selection of 60 new year’s hampers, featuring 7,000 products including food and beverages for festive parties. Based on Big C Point data, 66% of customers purchasing hampers are women aged 35-50.

Meanwhile, Lotus’s has curated over 3,500 items, including consumer products, electrical appliances and home goods, available in various new year’s gift baskets during the festive season, featuring more than 400 exclusive items. At Makro cash and carry stores, the company offers gift baskets with prices ranging from 790 to 5,990 baht.