Practical and stylish: Gift packs under the Christmas tree

Unilever Magyarország Kft.’s brand manager Lili Kovács told our magazine that the most important decision-making factors for shoppers when buying a Christmas gift pack are a stylish look, the right product mix, price and the reliability of the brand.

Lili Kovács jr. brand manager Unilever Magyarország

She added that more and more shoppers are looking for eco-friendly products, vegan products and gift sets that contain less plastic. The brand manager is of the opinion that drugstores and hypermarkets will be the main places for buying these gift packs this season, but the role of e-commerce will strengthen further.

Fehér Nóra szortimentmenedzser dm

Nóra Fehér, assortment manager of dm Kft. shares the view that in most cases the buying decision is made in-store, so the gift set’s packaging needs to be spectacular. Hungarian shoppers also want these gift sets to come from well-known and reliable brands.

Price-value ratio matters very much

Bianka Tóth-Perge
trade marketing
manager
L’Oréal Magyarország

In 2019 L’Oréal Magyarország was present in the Christmas gift set market with the face care, hair care, makeup and deodorant product categories. Between October and December 2019 the company realised 9 percent of sales total by gift packs – reported trade marketing manager Bianka Tóth-Perge; yet, the majority of purchases are made in December in this category.

Klára Nagy
sales and marketing
director
Presto-Pilot

Klára Nagy, sales and marketing director or Presto-Pilot Kft. spoke about how shoppers are searching for new gift packs with a good price-value ratio. However, it is also true that added value influences their buying decisions. For instance shoppers like products with natural components – good examples of this are the company’s natural cosmetics product lines Dr Organic and Organic Shop.

Shoppers are attracted by added value

Rebeka Novák
brand & digital manager
Henkel Magyarország

In the period preceding last Christmas, Henkel Magyarország Kft. conducted a regional-level survey about shopper attitude towards Christmas cosmetics gift sets. We learned from brand and digital manager Rebeka Novák that some consumers buy these gift packs only for those who aren’t close to them, but others give them to family members too. Most shoppers select which gift pack to buy driven by brand loyalty, product loyalty or added value. L’Oréal Magyarország Kft.’s observation is that demand increases not only for seasonal gift sets in the Christmas period, but also for those sets that are available all your round or for duopacks – thanks to their favourable price.

Tradition, innovation and sustainability

Presto-Pilot Kft.’s sales and marketing director believes: one of the big advantages of this product category is that these sets are the perfect choice when someone must buy a gift in the last moment. This is especially true in the light of the fact that 83 percent of Hungarians purchase the gift packs 1-2 weeks before Christmas – as a nationwide representative survey by Nielsen has found. A large selection of Christmas gift packs is available in dm stores: traditional ones consist mainly of soap, shower gel and deodorant, while in innovative sets shopper find products that are line with the latest trends.

L’Oréal Magyarország Kft. puts all Christmas gift packs on the market in 100-percent recyclable packaging this year. They will be available in both the drugstore and the food channels. Unilever’s Dove brand has the PETA cruelty-free certification. Lili Kovács informed that from now on Dove product bottles are made of recycled plastic.

This Christmas Henkel Beauty Care is going to be present in every retail channel with a gift pack portfolio that suits the given channel the best. Ms Novák informed they are preparing with special-design boxes and toiletry bags. Dm will treat shoppers to more than 250 different gift sets this Christmas. Ms Fehér talked to our magazine about dm sets for women making up for more than 50 percent of gift packs, men’s sets have a 25-percent share and the rest of the Christmas sets target children. She revealed that the toiletry bag format is gaining ground to the detriment of box products. Presto-Pilot Kft. first came out with a Christmas gift pack last season, under the Organic Shop brand. //