The Future of Gift-With-Purchase: An Open Window of Opportunity
45% of consumers would like to see more free-gifts when shopping in store. (GWI, 2024)
It is clear gift-with-purchase (GWP) a desirable offering from brands.
But more crucially than this, when those 45% were surveyed, they also placed it as a key engagement tool they want to see more of from shopper brands - on par with product selection (45%), and above better service (36%), and efficient checkout (27%).(GWI, 2024)
So what is the future of gift with purchase? And how can brands capture the full growth potential of this opportunity? This article explores the key factors brands should consider when implementing a GWP strategy to maximise this opportunity.
Personalization
Successful GWP is more than just a free product – it considers the purpose of the item. Gifts are emotional, so successful GWP needs to target consumers’ feelings and experiences. And one method of this is personalization.
A personal or individual touch has the power to reflect a brand’s emotional understanding of a consumer. Whether it’s a customised item or a tailored experience, brands should ask: what does this gift help the individual consumer feel, do, or connect with? Brands can take multiple routes to employ this strategy.
Customized merchandise turns a generic brand asset into a personal item; it builds an emotional tie increasing product satisfaction. Guinness’ free engraved glass turns another branded beer glass into a personal treasure. In increasing the likelihood of the consumer keeping and using the GWP, it strengthens brand visibility, and increases encounters with branding in customers' lives beyond the initial transaction.
Adding the element of choice with GWP lets consumers personalize their own brand interaction. Health brand Jimmy Joy lets customers choose the size of complementary protein shaker at checkout, to best suit their personal goals. Customer choice facilitates personalization without the need to for additional production.
Even if individual experiences cannot be created due to budget and logistical limitations, brands can still tap into personal emotion. Cadbury’s Tote Bags use messaging to trigger consumers to think about how brands fit into their own lives: ‘Hide an egg for someone you love’. They start to think about their own experience (how they will gift an egg, what they will choose etc), building mental availability with the brand. Personalized experiences do not always have to be brand-led, but can be created through directors of consumer behaviour.
Exclusivity
Scarcity increases desirability, especially in the social media age, where sharing is instant and wide-reaching. Evident from recent trending products such as LeBuBu and Dubai Chocolate, viral frenzy causes consumers to race to get their hands on items, often going to great lengths to do so, adding to scarcity and increasing desire to purchase.
And the limited-edition nature of GWP is perfect for this lucrative tactic, for both brand awareness and consumer loyalty. If brands can land successful merchandise that social media amplifies, it can offer huge wins.
Stella Artois’ GWP hat (produced by adm Group) for their Summer of Sport illustrates this in practice. The hat became so sought-after when a video of it in COOP stores went viral, that hats even appeared on resale website with marked-up value. Not only generating vast brand awareness, it highlights the lengths consumers will go to acquire brand associated items should they land successfully.
Exclusivity also takes power through increasing the speed of conversion. Brands can create ‘limited-time only’ GWP additions to their ranges, that trigger consumers to buy in the moment, for fear of missing out. The fast-track to success is to ensure the GWP adds or improves the consumer experience with the existing product they were contemplating purchasing. For example, Dyson created a version of their Air Wrap styler with a limited edition stand & brush head; another use case of the tool to further improve the buyer’s experience with the product.
Similarly, limited-edition Starbucks cups can tailor the consumer drinking experience to support seasonality – e.g. complementary reusable Christmas coffee cups increase consumers’ sentimental ties to the brand.
Limited-edition GWPs harness the power of scarcity to drive urgency, desirability, and social sharing - functional add-ons that boost both brand affection and sales.
The 360 Interaction
Good GWP improves the product experience – a beer glass to create a perfect serve, or a make-up bag to safely store cosmetics. But the most successful, memorable and effective, go beyond doing this in just a one-dimensional sense. They consider small but impactful details that mitigate obstacles to achieving the ideal brand experience, and improve memorability.
A bottle opener enables drinking a bottled beer, but a customer may not always remember it on-the-go. But put it on a keyring, this potential obstacle is considered (exemplified by brands such as Corona). Small details don’t have to be revolutionary to improve the marketing effectiveness of the GWP – just improve consumer interaction & engagement – and in term, make the collateral a stronger brand awareness driver.
A make-up bag may just blend into sea of others in a customer’s collection, but one with a specific purpose reminds them to use it. Sol de Janeiro didn’t just do another cosmetic bag GWP for the summer campaign of their body-care, but a trending beach tote-style bag, perfect for holiday season.
And the doesn’t always have to be physical. Staropramen ran a campaign that offered a free 1-month Paramount Plus film subscription - improving the movie night drinking experience.
The most effective gift-with-purchase activations aren’t just add-ons, but thoughtful extensions of the brand experience that seamlessly integrate into consumers’ lives and infiltrate into the complete memory.
Sustainable Thinking
Historically, GWP has faced criticism from being a wasteful practice, with single-use, meaningless items that just end up in landfill. But this need not be the case. The desire is there from consumers - its now up to brands to offer high-quality with use and purpose.
Effective item purpose has been discussed above, but alongside generate sustainability through purpose innovation, strategy and production, brands must consider sustainability within production.
From plant-based leather alternative Mirium (not only made of natural materials, but it can be ground up and returned to the earth at end of life), to R-PET, which uses less resources and energy than classic polyester (10% less CO2 and 70% less water), innovation in Sustainable materials is opportune for brands to employ. Decleor’s makeup bags (produced by adm Group) embodied the luxury identity of their skincare range yet considering environmental impact; made of R-PET for a high quality gift that doesn’t create waste.
Another less direct but equally impactful strategy is to consider packaging – not only in composition but in purpose. Lush have turned the packaging into the GWP itself, with Furoshiki (the Japanese art of wrapping goods and gifts using cloth and fabric instead of wrapping paper) -inspired illustrated scarf that package their bath bombs and soaps. As well as necessary packaging for the product, they act as an additional gift-with-purchase through a piece of art and clothing, that can be subsequently enjoyed in multiple ways.
Similarly, Hendricks have given their packaging an additional GWP use, transforming their limited-edition bottle into a watering can. Not only emblematic of their whimsical identity, it is a practical gift to support customers in growing their own – whether this be the cucumber garnish for their gin, or any other home-grown herbs and flowers.
Sustainability in GWP does not just mean the composition of the item, it factors in the whole lifecycle, both in production and purpose – in identifying environmental impact can have multiple direct and in-direct outputs.
The secret to success
As consumer expectations and behaviours continue to evolve, gift-with-purchase does too. The desire is there – but in order to ensure success, brands need to look to these new motivators to not only ensure gifts and merchandise resonate, but work harder to strengthen customer engagement.
By targeting personal experiences, a desire for exclusivity, meaningful and multi-purpose interactions, and sustainable thinking, brands can ensure GWP do not become throwaway items and wasted investment – but produce memorable interactions with real value that create loyal customers.
