You’re a kind and thoughtful lot, aren’t you?
Even in the grip of a global pandemic, your thoughts turned towards family, friends, employees and colleagues. How can you make them smile when they’ve just lost their job? Make working from home during lockdown a little more exciting? Commiserate the cancelled wedding or business put on hold, or celebrate an isolation birthday?
Here are some of the gifting trends that we noticed as the COVID-19 lockdown started taking hold in March:
Losing a job or closing a business
One of the most devastating impacts of COVID-19 was the immediate impact to people’s livelihoods. Jobs were lost and businesses saw a huge drop in revenue seemingly overnight. Many of our orders acknowledged the disappointment and financial stress that people were suddenly facing. A key sentiment was along the lines of “So sorry to hear about what you’re going through. Hang in there, something amazing is right around the corner.”
Cancelled weddings
It was heartbreaking to hear about all the cancelled weddings due to the social distancing rules that were suddenly upon us. Months of planning and booking suppliers and venues had to be put on the backburner. Many people sent a thoughtful acknowledgement around the wedding date, with messages along the lines of “Break out the champagne because it’s worth acknowledging that this weekend you were set to have your dream wedding until COVID-19 said ‘Nup, sorry’. We look forward to celebrating with you next year instead.”
Or something from the bride to her bridesmaids: “You were going to be by my side this week, but we’ll have to postpone the celebrations until later in the year. Thank you for all your support.”
Isolation birthdays
Hands up who had an isolation birthday! We did! While for some people it was a nice break from the pressure of having to organise something, for others, not being able to see friends during their birthday only added to the loneliness and isolation of lockdown. Gifters really pulled out all the stops to make birthday girls and boys feel special. There were lots of lovely customised iso-birthday gifts sent around Australia: “Happy Iso-Birthday! We are thinking of you from afar.”
Work from home care packs
We got a little insight into some very lovely employers and colleagues who organised work from home care packs for their team. Products such as tea, nuts, chocolate and soap were popular, as was alcohol. As everyone got used to staying at home and only seeing their team during a weekly Zoom meeting, the messages were fairly consistent: “Thanks for being so resilient and accommodating. Here’s a little care package to brighten up your day.”
Celebrating the frontline workers
We love and celebrate all the people who continued to go to work to help others during what was a very stressful and frightening time for many. There were so many stories of people who really had to put themselves second during this period, and continue to work tirelessly. For nurses, doctors, teachers, supermarket and retail staff, delivery drivers, emergency workers and carers alike, self-care was a big theme for these gifts: “We are so proud of the work you are doing – make sure you take some time to relax and look after yourself too.”
While we thought we’d had our fair share of bad news with the bushfires and floods earlier this year, 2020 continued to live up to its name as “the worst year ever” with the global pandemic that no one saw coming.
For us at Gift Boss, though, it has been really heartwarming seeing the orders and messages that have come through during this period. Thoughtful gestures towards loved ones who have been having a tough time. Gifts which promoted self-care or aimed to inject a little bit of humour. Big birthday gift hampers to make someone feel cared for. These simple acts of kindness have really helped us all get through this very unusual time.