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Add The New York Post on Google Many consumers are becoming less reactive in their gift purchasing and more thoughtful in their buying behaviors. In fact, a market report from 2025 revealed that the act of giving appears to have become more mindful in recent years.
This shift away from fast, transactional purchases may coincide with a growing interest in more personalized customer experiences. Here’s why: Buying gifts intentionally requires that the customer have greater interaction with a brand and its products. And in today’s marketplace, that’s usually going to take place online. That’s why it may be increasingly important for e-commerce businesses to rethink the way they showcase and explain their merchandise.
In other words, describing an item’s basic features and benefits may not be enough to encourage a customer to click the “buy now” button. On the contrary, marketing teams may benefit from presenting content that helps customers envision the emotional impact a gift could have.
And the emotional reaction isn’t limited to the receiver. The giver should ideally feel like their purchase was personally meaningful. That way, both parties (e.g., the giver and receiver) will be more likely to remember the gift exchange on a positive note.
This begs a question, though: How exactly can a company appeal to the modern consumer’s desire to buy gifts that may leave a lasting emotional impact? One answer is to put storytelling into action.
Storytelling is one of humanity’s oldest and most common practices. People like sharing and hearing stories, especially stories that make them feel more connected.
In marketing, storytelling can be used to effectively illustrate to a potential gift-giver why a product would be likely to produce a certain effect on a receiver. For example, Spoonful of Comfort has made it clear that its care packages are positioned as more than a simple transaction. Throughout the site, the content and images have been worded to resonate with people who want to send hugs, support, love, and kindness in the form of homemade food and related gifts. Once purchased, each box is assembled with the goal of creating a personalized experience for the recipient.
Want another use case for storytelling? A gift store that sells customized items online offers a wide range of personalized gifts designed for both individuals and families. For instance, the store sells everything from customized key chains and mugs to mousepads and pet pillows. Though other sites certainly have similar products, this company aims to highlight the emotional value of its merchandise. In addition, many products are priced to be comparable with similar non-personalized items. As a result, some customers may see personalized gifts as a more thoughtful alternative to purchasing something “off the rack.”
Overall, weaving an element of storytelling into every aspect of a brand’s customer experience promise can help attract buyers who want to make their gifts count. And once the gift has been exchanged, the brand may get an added boost in the form of user-generated content (UGC) and reviews.
Positive user-generated content, or UGC, is often considered one of the most valuable forms of marketing. Whether it’s a video raving about a product on social media or a photo shared with followers, unsolicited and unscripted UGC can help bring attention to a brand and its products.
Of course, UGC can be hard to obtain since it’s usually produced at random. But it’s worth encouraging and tracking because nearly eight out of 10 consumers agree that UGC influences what they buy online. As an added advantage, UGC can help givers and receivers capture and preserve gifting moments. In time, those moments may surface within their feeds, allowing them to revisit meaningful gift-giving experiences.
Positive feedback can do likewise. Many brands forget that reviewers can see the reviews they’ve given. As they read past reviews, they may recall some of the emotions associated with giving or receiving. As a result, they may be more likely to recommend a brand or repurchase from a business that provided a memorable experience rather than a purely transactional one.
Certainly, it can take a little more work to appeal to consumers who want thoughtful gifting interactions with brands. However, refreshing a brand’s content and expanding personalization options may pay off over time through repeat business, ongoing UGC and positive feedback.
