Go for personalised gifts this Valentine

KOLKATA: Valentine’s Day fever is hotting up, and everyone from greeting card and personalised gifting stores to florists, jewellery chains and retailers are looking to cash in on the frenzy. While old favourites like flowers, greeting cards, chocolates and stuffed toys continue to fly off the shelves; for the more adventurous, inn vative options like love newspapers, pe sonalised Jab We Met books, couple spas, serenading guitarists and even land on the moon are emerging as popular choices. And for those for whom budget is no constraint, there are even Rs 45,000 personalised dinners to splurge on with a loved one. With all this and more, Vale tine’s Day sales across companies are expected to register a growth of an where between 15-80% depending on the category. For some traditional gifts such as cards and flowers, growth could lower percentage point, while for new emering categories it would be steep.

Ruchi Chopra of Delhi-based Any Su prise Any Place says that for women, pe sonal boxer shorts with naughty me sages (Rs 1600) are doing very well as are personalised newspapers (Rs 1900), and chocolates boxes with ‘reasons why I love you’ on the wrapper (Rs 1400 onwards). “For men, popular picks include guitarists to sing a song, a rose petal path out-side the house and personalised wooden frames. There are also personal-ised dinners which come for anywhere between Rs 5,000-45,000 at a wine cellar or a farmhouse, complete with violinist for the high-end categories.” She’s expecting a 80%-plus growth in turnover.

With flowers being among the most po ular picks, one of India’s leading florists, Right Florist is expecting to clock around Rs 50 lakh in Valentine Day sales alone. “With over 6000 orders at an average bill size of Rs 825, we are expecting to regi ter a 33% growth over the same period last year,” said Right Florist CEO R.K. Rathi.