NO MORE ‘BEAR HUG’ THIS VALENTINE'S DAY: GIFs in... soft toys, greeting cards out!

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Is love missing in the air? At least it seems so. This Valentine’s Week has not been a reason for gift shop owners to smile. Instead of the teddy bears, “lovers” are in for chocolates, flowers and innovative high-tech e-greetings cards.

“We have been in this business for the last 45 years and I took over from dad. We sell customized teddies. The sales are normal throughout the year, but during Valentine's week, there’s a boost in sales. However, this year, the script has gone awry,” said Ghanshyam Nagar, who owns a shop at Novelty.

Customized bouquet and celebration packs are now considered more premium than the cotton stuffed bunnies. The era where teddies were considered cute seem to be a bygone era. “We used to keep only teddies and stuffed toys in our shops, but due to the fall in business, we introduced artificial flower bouquets and other gift items to keep up with the changing trend in the city.” said Mahendra Soni, who owns a shop at Palasia.

Gifs eat into traditional greeting card biz

The trend of customised greeting cards has given way to the era of digital gifts. Gifs have taken over physical gifts and have largely impacted the sales of greeting cards. Handwritten letters and lovely quotes are replaced with text messages and graphically imprinted emoticons. “Cards are a total flop this year. We even introduced a better plan for our customers this year, yet nothing worked out,” said Rupesh Gopal, a shop owner at Geeta Bhawan.

Fall in sales, manufacturing takes a nosedive

Even as stuffed teddies and bunnies are not in vogue, manufacturing of the same has hit an all-time low.

Rupesh Gopal told Free Press that he used to own a manufacturing unit near Pithampur which particularly manufactured bunnies. However, sales during the financial year 2021-2022 declined so significantly that it was difficult to manage the expenses.”

(With inputs from Priya Rathore and Neha Ranshore)

Published on: Friday, February 10, 2023, 01:04 AM IST