Consumer celebration can be said to be always round the corner in Asia especially during Chinese New Year CNY. It provides scenarios to interact with clients and create the guanxi (relationship and contact). One of them includes the delivery of CNY goodies.
The Timing is Everything
The Chinese New Year or CNY is usually observed for fifteen days. These last for fifteen days starting from Chinese New Year’s eve up to the Lantern festival which is on the full moon. However, where exactly during the said period is the right time to send out your CNY gifts and hampers? Here are some recommendations:
1-2 weeks before CNY
This serves well early birds who wish to leave before the normal busy traffic flow time. But go too far ahead, and that gift might be right out of mind when the particular holiday is at hand.
2-3 days before CNY Eve
Ideally, your hampers should be delivered just when organisations start to close preparing for the long holidays. This creates the potential for maximum goodwill and buzz at exactly the time staff are thinking about CNY. They will also like not being expected to come back to the same place to pick their gifts during the festivities.
1st-3rd day of CNY
The other opportunity is for people who were not able to beat the pre CNY rush, to post gifts on the first three days of CNY when everyone is still at home celebrating.
After the 7th day of CNY
These are wait for workers to return and go back to their normal working activities. Still, people coming to these areas after CNY festivities peak let out positive vibes after early CNY gifts. Choose candies or small pieces of jujube or mandarin oranges instead of Christmas cookies or other sweets.
The pre-1 week CNY and the 1 week of CNY is the busiest, therefore, serve your biggest customers. It would be advisable to send small token gifts, especially to those contacts not considered important during the key periods.
The New Year has come and gone and for basketball enthusiasts it has brought solidification of the fact that athletic ability particularly in the form of physical gifts has not been removed from the sport as many have speculated but remains as dominant as ever.
As the world goes more digital, physical baskets prove the effort. The aspect of delivering by hand also works better as opposed to delivering from warehouses also.
Here are popular physical gifts to consider:
Hampers with CNY Staples
These should also include essential biscuits like barbecued meat biscuit or bak kwa, pineapple tarts, peanut cookies, mandarin oranges and candy chocolate or nuts. Take many rather than one to be able to cover different tastes. There is always room for luxury imported goods with local flavours depending on the client target group.
Dried Fruit and Nuts Baskets
better product options for gifts containing particularly fresh dried fruits, trail mixes and mouthwatering roasted nuts. These catering to more fitness and health executives, especially those who do not want to pack the ‘extra’ pounds over CNY.
Wine and Liquor Packs
Owning to the festivities, there is no better business and personal gifts than alcohol. Choose fine wines whether red or white, high-quality Chinese rice wines, brandy or whiskey. Make sure they are well packed and delivered with no shame of looking mortuary.
Basket of Spreads and Preserves
These carry locally made jams, compotes, kaya coconut spreads and honey to take during CNY breakfasts and gatherings. Nyonya chili, pandan, and other local=branding Local specific branding is evident local specific branding is evident.
CNY Sweet Snack Packs
Traditional Chinese New Year cookies, bak kwa, candy, nian gao sticky cakes and pineapple tarts. These demonstrate that you know about cultural practices. Premium European chocolate also demonstrates the willingness of people to spend an extra amount on recipients.
The Premium Touch
For VIP clients, go luxe with:
- Beauty and Wellness Care Packs: Treat your top contacts with anti aging creams, essential oils, traditional Chinese medicine supplements, bath salts or candles. Among them should be coupons for spas or beauty salons.
- Gourmet CNY Gift Sets: Celebrate company events like birthdays, festivals or anniversary by giving mementos which are gourmet abalone, superior Chinese tea, XO cognac, vinegar or fancy bird’s nest. Available in luxurious boxes, jars or baskets.
- Wishing Tree Display: Make miniature trees out of cherry blossoms and pack ang pow packets with money or vouchers to be redeemed by only senior management. Or create posh golden ingot shaped boxes full of corporate New Year gourmet snacks.
- Tech Accessories: Today’s managers value wireless phone chargers, Bluetooth speakers, power banks or fitness bands printed with appropriate CNY symbols.
- Corporate Gift Cards: For the so occupied C-suites with no time to indulge in real treats, there gift cards stating exclusive luxurious accommodation, fine dining or other unique experiences. Include e-ang pow with money attached to it.
How To Deliver CNY Gifts：
Hand Delivery
No other message is as clear as ‘you are special’ than having hired staff or uniformed personnel come around during holidays or festive seasons. This is because luxury CNY hamper delivery is the same to people as receiving a set of flowers. Stake yourgifters to deliver gifts physically to receptionists or secretaries and personal assistants.
During the delivery process, make sure your delivery team is clean-shaven, neat, polite and courteous. Teach them to greet all with prosperity phrases as gongxi facai. It also provides evidence incase of a shoot out for social media. Strategize setting although many with gifts for the CNY recipients to make several small deliveries than make large delivery on the same day.
Mail and Courier
Even if distances cannot accommodate hand delivery, great premium courier services make hilarious receptions. Time the arrival of fancy gift boxes smeared with logos just to ensure visibility to the fourth power. Ensure someone receives the communication by chasing PAs on Common Yr End Eves.
This is a special Chinese New Year corporate wish card with company/personnel name on it. What is more, the personal touch that comes with intending to buy substitutes this with quick online orders. Avoid using public post ail to send wine or liquor straight to the recipient. Same thing needed to be told to PAs first before some delicate stuff like glassware are sent through mail.
E-Gifts and E-Ang Pow
E-digital red pockets and online vouchers are among the best complements for tangible gifts. Select those monetary gifts that can be personalized by the recipients through the online platforms of shopping, leisure, food and beverage and travel.
That is why it is possible to continue e-ang pow blasts through messaging apps for CNY and have constant presence when workers are off-premises. It is possible for companies with good data connection to send electronic gift cards, and other incentives with traces to your brand.
E-CNY greetings also foster good relationship of business with companies in other parts of the world that do not necessarily embrace the real festive season. Forward words of prosperity, of luck, such as gong hei fat choy to them so they get the sentiment before off for longer stints across seas.
Actualizing Expectancy Management
Spread costs rightly over a full set of corporate clients. Large disparities in gift values spur jealousy between people who have not been gifted. Time to categorise your contributions based on hierarchy; providing more to the C-suites while creating less for entry levels. Even at the departmental level, it is recommended that values to be adopted should be standardized. Another method to do away with perceptions of bias is when accounting and HR have tastefully different gift baskets.
To manage expectations, the intended recipients of the newsletters should be told when to expect the newsletters and what types of content will be in them. Quench or divert any public frowns on gift giving. Last, share information about the completion of gift delivery to all concerned teams and suppliers and encourage them through thanking them.
The Bottom Line
If done professionally, the conveying of CNY goodies can lubricate business relations more than camps /events. In fitting ways of behaving (imaging) with respect for status, giving gifts that would suit the preferences and at the right time and arrivals when it is most necessary gains the client over to your side as well as booking their repeat business.