HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE
It’s that time of the year when the Yuletide season is upon us, with Christmas fast approaching. We’re popular all over the world for having one of the longest of Christmas celebrations - kicking the season off as early as a hundred days before Christmas. In the USA, their Christmas season only starts after Thanksgiving, in late November. And whether we like it or not, mingling with the festive air, Christmas decor, holiday promotions, gift fairs, and food products galore, we also have the snarl of traffic on major thoroughfares, the ‘packed like sardines’ malls during peak hours, and if you drive like I do, the hopeless search for parking slots. It’s enough to turn one into a mini-Scrooge, and dispense with how it’s better to give than receive!
As with most of you, when it’s time to think of what to gift a friend, relative, work colleague, godchild, or a special loved one, I do want to customize and make personal choices for those I’ll be gifting. It’s always nice to have the gift you selected be used and really appreciated by the recipient. But on top of the reality of how it is the worse time of the year to go shopping, there is the added truth that we may not really know what is that gift they’ve been yearning for, or will be really appreciated. If we don’t literally ask for their wish list, we can make educated guesses, but it’s still part of a guessing game.
When you add up all these factors, I’m really happy with the variety of options that the SM Store now offers. There’s the traditional SM Gift Pass that comes in paper form, then there’s the SM Gift Card, and the SM Gift Pass Choice. They’re all super easy to purchase at any SM Store, and they’re great as the easy, no-fail, choice. They’re ideal for last minute shopping, and will save us the hassle of going from one section to the next, plus lining up in front of different cashiers.
And let’s be honest, in this day and age, if you empower the gift recipients to get exactly what they were hoping for, that is one surefire way to have the gift appreciated. It’s their choice, their decision; and on top of being practical, how doesn’t that work?
These SM Gift options have no expiration date, no activation needed, and are offered in various denominations. The recipient has the luxury of choosing when to go get her or his gift, and they can conveniently wait for when the maddening Christmas rush has passed. They can max the use of the SM Gift, and top off with their own money - if the value of the something they really want exceeds the face value of the SM Gift.
The SM Gift Cards come in ₱2,000, ₱1,000 and ₱500 cards, while the paper Gift Pass are on ₱100 and P500 denominations. The Gift Pass Choice is the digital solution, as it can be gifted via SMS, via email or as a physical card. One can personalize and customize the denomination; so they’re perfect as corporate incentives, to be used in raffles, and as employee recognition rewards.
Their versatility can come as a godsend as one is deciding on corporate Christmas giveaways. Because, let’s be perfectly honest, not everyone loves fruit cake, or the token bottle of wine. There are those who are particular about the wine they drink, and while I have nothing against the wine merchants, I’m just stating an unassailable fact. And you do recall how we were looking for gifts that would be truly appreciated.
The SM Store selection of today is very diverse, the range of merchandise extensive. There are over 1,000 brands represented. And if you’re one of those who hasn’t stepped into a SM Store in your recent past, I can guarantee you that you will be pleasantly surprised. The displays have all been updated, conceptualized by consultants who are abreast with what’s happening globally in retail. And there’s the number of SM Malls all over the country!
The SM Store does not alienate it’s core shoppers, but they’ve spruced up their floor area to accomodate the more upscale shoppers. The price points are still attractive, and it allows for your peso to be stretched - which should be good news to those who received the SM gift passes or gift cards.
To learn more, and to discover the world of possibility with The SM Store and gift-giving, head to SMstore.com, and click on gift-cards. Lets face it, from this day on, the traffic will only get worse, so let’s accept that some particular quick-fix solutions are especially appealing.