Patterns across this season's Diwali gifting orders point to a few clear shifts from even two or three years ago. Dry fruit and sweet hampers, once the default, now make up a shrinking share of orders — most companies still include them, but rarely as the sole gift.
Smartwatches and TWS earbuds remain the single most-ordered category for the broad employee base, and this year kitchen appliances — mixer grinders, induction cooktops, and similar everyday items — have grown noticeably as a mid-tier alternative, likely because they read as genuinely useful rather than purely decorative.
At the premium end, gold and silver coins continue to be the default for leadership and top-client gifting, valued for their cultural resonance and the fact that their worth doesn't erode the way a gadget's perceived value can over a year or two.
One clear trend: companies are increasingly letting employees choose between two or three options at the same budget tier, rather than mandating a single SKU for everyone — a small operational complexity that consistently shows up as higher satisfaction in post-gifting feedback.