6 Tips On How To Give The Perfect Gift This Christmas — Even For That Super Fussy Friend

Fancy giving someone an axe-throwing session? Sure beats a pair of socks, yet another wine opener or candles, right? Jesper Gustafsson, founder of local digital gifting platform Giftano, which lets you gift unique experiences such as a song recording in a professional studio, bungy jumping, a DJ course, meals at Michelin-starred restaurants, drives in Lamborghinis and Ferraris and more workshops than you can throw an axe at, has tips for 8days.sg readers how to make present-giving painless and fun for you, and totally amazing for the recipient of your gift.

1/6

1/6

#1: Don’t buy people things they need, but things they won’t buy for themselves.

“We try to always buy people things they need, and that’s really hard as most people already have most things they need,” says Jesper. “So if I can’t think of something the person really needs, I try to focus on buying things they would not normally buy for themselves, but would be really happy to receive.” Such as a day out on a yacht, maybe?
2/6

2/6

#2: For those who have everything, consider giving them experiences instead of physical presents.

Jesper tells us, “In developed markets like Singapore, many people have most of the physical things they need. Experiences are things you can never have enough of, so it’s a foolproof gift.” And for stressed out individuals with, ahem, an axe to grind, maybe an axe-throwing sesh at Axe Factor, an axe-throwing experience studio in Turf Club Road, is the perfect — and totally unusual — present?
3/6

3/6

#3: No, gift cards and vouchers aren’t cop-outs.

“I think giving gift cards could be considered a bit of a cop-out if it’s purchased without any thoughtfulness, just to give someone something, says Jesper. “However, if it’s purchased with a specific thing in mind and gifted with a personalised message, it can be as thoughtful as giving a physical gift. How could you, for example, ever buy a pair of running shoes for someone? They need to be tried on and tested to find the perfect size. So a gift card from Running Lab, for example, would be a perfect gift and still make the recipient feel that you have listened to them and cared for their needs.”
4/6

4/6

#4: It’s okay not to wrap a gift, but wrapping is still nicer.

“Nothing beats unwrapping a gift in my view, and that’s why there’s free gift wrapping on Giftano,” explains Jesper. During the festive season, our gift cards will come luxuriously wrapped in gold paper with a red ribbon (great for slipping under the Christmas tree for unwrapping on Christmas morning!). For recipients of our e-gifts, they will see an animation of a gift envelope opening up on the screen with a personalised message from the buyer.”
5/6

5/6

#5: Give a really fussy person a meal in a nice restaurant.

Says Jesper, “Gift the really fussy one with a wonderful meal in a really nice restaurant. I mean, who doesn’t love food? If you have a really fussy vegan, lactose-intolerant and gluten-allergic friend, you could always buy them a Giftano Card which they can use to buy any of the 1000+ gifts we have on the platform.”
6/6

6/6

#6: Still stuck? Here are some gifting trends and ideas.

“Experience gifts have continued to grow in popularity this year,” says Jesper. “Within the experience gift segment, we have seen a lot of gifting of workshops and sport-related gifts. I think the healthy lifestyle trend and the trend of spending time on non-digital things are behind this.”

Check out Giftano at https://giftano.com/.