The magic of the curated gift box experience

The avid gift giver is likely looking to outdo themselves at every opportunity they can, whether it’s with a custom gift box wrapped in especially decadent paper, or the gift box itself is full of little gifts that remind you of your loved one. When you think about it, most gifts are curated to a degree. 

If you’re looking for the perfect way to say I love you or happy birthday in a uniquely personal way, then a curated gift box with a subscription might be the way you outdo yourself this year. While a custom gift set can certainly be a nice idea on its own, a subscription gift box that the recipient receives over time is an experience that can be stretched out for months to come.

What exactly is a curated gift box?

A curated gift box is a gift box with a carefully selected assortment of products that normally follows a theme. These gift boxes have several benefits all around—for the gift giver it can be a way to invest in relationships with friends in a personal way, and for the recipient, it can be a way to try something new. 

For the merchant, it reduces the potential barriers to converting new clients, by allowing them to share their experiences with people that may not have been looking, while widening their brand’s reach. Furthermore, when you offer the gift box on a subscription basis, it turns the potential one-time client into a repeat customer. 

This is especially important as changes like inflation and the reduction of data availability make seeing a return on ad spend increasingly difficult. Being able to draw value from your existing customers and giving them the opportunity to gift the experiences they love, to somebody else, is another way to market your brand and products to new audiences. 

Different types of curated gift boxes for subscriptions

For the most part, these kinds of gift boxes contain items that are pre-selected by the merchant. On other occasions, the gift giver or receiver can opt to customize the box with the options that are available. This may not necessarily be different components in the gift box, but also components in an individual product–like a particular roast or grind size of coffee beans for gifts dedicated to coffee lovers.

Apart from that, a curated gift box will contain items that follow a theme. This can include:

• Usage, such as grouping products that are meant to be used together. This is often seen in food, beauty, skincare, and wellness. An example of this would be a gift box of loose-leaf teas that comes paired with tea sachets.  
• The occasion it’s meant to be gifted for, like holiday season-inspired products. An example could be hot chocolate mix with marshmallows that are peppermint flavoured for the holidays. 
• Or another external theme like a color or idea.This makes room for cleverly crafted concepts, like a wellness box filled with wine or chocolate that matches the season of the year.  

When you think about the vertical your business falls under, you’ll want to make sure that your gift box is aligned with your vision and branding. 

Occasions you can opt for a custom gift box

Like any other gift, curated gift boxes don’t necessarily need an occasion. But there are certain scenarios where a custom gift box may be especially sweet, like: 

• Birthdays and anniversaries
• Christmas and the holiday season
• Milestones 
• Corporate gifting 

 When you create a subscription gift box product you will often be catering it toward the recipient’s interests rather than the occasion itself, though there are certain exceptions. Some merchants opt to market a product for birthdays, for example, with special “birthday” themed products like birthday cake flavoured snacks or scented candles. 

The former is a more popular option for gift boxes because it allows for a wider range of occasions, and it doesn’t limit your product offerings by occasion.

Thoughtful gift ideas you can subscribe to

Of course, seeing some great examples of gift boxes is necessary to get inspired for the task. And for merchants, the idea of a gift box that you can subscribe to should create enough interest for the recipient that they want to continue subscribing over a period of time. 

Oh Baby Boxes for the mom-to-be

Milestones are great occasions for gifting, and expectant mothers are already going to be buying the essentials for themselves anyways. Having a regularly scheduled self-care kit mixed with fun luxury items is a lovely way to treat moms and moms-to-be during this stage of life. 

The Bokksu snack box for the lover of Japanese culture

Another great example of a merchant creating unique gift boxes is Bokksu. They offer a special gift option so that you can send a subscription to your family member, friend, or even client to try out things like special Japanese candy and fruit-flavoured snacks that you’ll likely only ever find on the shelves of a local Japanese shop. This would be perfect to delight somebody who would appreciate a variety of aspects: snacks, Japanese culture, and family-run small businesses where they source their goods. 

Cloth and Paper’s stationary set for the Monica Geller of your friend group

If you didn’t get the Monica reference, you need only watch a few episodes of the popular show Friends to see why Cloth and Paper would be the perfect gift. They offer several options for curated boxes with a collection of stationary and writing accessories to complement their selection of planners. This is perfect for corporate gifting but also for friends and family who have an affinity for writing and organization. 

Make it magical

Whatever the occasion, subscription gift boxes can create a unique gifting experience that stands out. It serves as a reminder of a fond memory over time, but also shows the thought and love that went into choosing exactly the right gift box to send, from exactly the right shop. So perhaps at the end of the day, the real magic is in the intermingling of thought and appreciation that goes into such a gift.