Mastering the Art of Last-Minute Gift Shopping: Your Ultimate Guide
We've all been there – that moment when you suddenly realise an important occasion is just around the corner and you haven't yet bought the perfect gift. While it may seem like a daunting task to buy a thoughtful and meaningful present at the last minute, fear not! There are some amazing gifting options out there, which will allow you to deliver the perfect present experience in a matter of minutes. In this guide, we'll walk you through the steps to buy the perfect last-minute gift that will leave a lasting impression.
Step 1: Take a Deep Breath and Stay Calm
First things first, don't panic! These days it’s easier than ever to choose, buy and gift wrap a present and have it ready for next day delivery straight to your recipient's door or collected from the store that day. The experience of receiving your gift will be just as wonderful, even if you only ordered it the day before (and the best bit, it will look so wonderful, you’ll look like you had it in the bag yonks ago!)
Step 2: Shop Independent
What makes a truly special gift is the personal touch and you are much more likely to get that experience if you buy from an independent business. Small indie shops and online stores are far more likely to offer curated collections and gift wrapping than their larger competitors. One of the main reasons our customers love buying their presents from us is because our small team does everything by hand, from curating the perfect gift box, lovingly packing and wrapping each gift and hand-writing the gift messages. When your gift is received you can really see the love and attention to detail that has gone into every stage.
Step 3: Let The Experts Help
Another reason to shop small for gifts when you are in a rush is that they have done most of the work for you, which will save you a huge amount of time. Small indie gift shops spend months choosing and curating their collections so that you don’t have to. Shopping from a carefully edited collection whether online or in person will make it easy to choose the perfect gift in minutes.
Step 4: What’s even better than one gift?
Gift boxes and sets are hugely popular at the moment and there’s a good reason for this. Receiving a selection of gifts often brings a unique sense of delight and anticipation that one large gift might not capture. The process of unwrapping and discovering each individual present creates a series of joyful moments, extending the excitement and prolonging the experience of receiving. Each smaller gift carries its own element of surprise, thoughtfulness, and personal connection, showcasing a deeper understanding of the recipient's preferences and interests. It’s also a little easier to choose a collection of items, it means there’s less pressure on you to choose one perfectly suitable item - this is a real lifesaver when buying in a hurry.
In our experience the feedback that we get when customers receive one of our gift-edits, is one of pure joy and excitement. But it’s worth remembering that if your gift is made up of just one item, you can still make the opening experience a real treat, think about boxing it, wrapping it in ribbon, including a personal message, or take advantage of a gift-wrapping service to do this for you.
Step 5: How Well Do You Know Your Recipient?
Whether you know them inside out or hardly at all, it’s still possible to choose a thoughtful gift. Some gifts require you to know someone pretty well in order to choose for them, think jewellery, clothes, homeware, any products which your recipient might have really strong personal preferences about, but there are plenty of other options that would make wonderful presents even with very little knowledge. Think about what you do know about them, they might love being outdoors, or enjoy eating, or need a little wellbeing. They might like to live sustainably or be passionate about hand-made products. Whatever it may be that you know about them, that will be a great start to building a special gift.
Step 6: Keepsakes vs Consumables
Consumables, whether it is food and drink or skincare and wellbeing are a great choice and can often be easier to choose for someone. My advice is to combine consumables with pieces that will be kept, think candles and candle holders, coffee and mugs. That way the gift can be enjoyed straight out of the box, but they also have something to treasure for years to come. If you need advice, remember to either pop in or email the store you are buying from and they will happily talk you through suitable options.
Step 6: Express Shipping and Next-Day Delivery
If you're shopping online, almost all retailers will offer next-day delivery or same-day pick-up in store, so you really don't need to panic if you've left it to the last minute. If you’re shopping with a small brand, it’s always worth getting in touch if you need something faster than their website states. We are always happy to go the extra mile with last minute orders whenever our customers need us to.
Step 7: Present(ation) is Everything
I know we’ve already touched on gift-wrapping and I could write a whole post just about the joys of wrapping a gift well (I probably will). But this is where buying a last minute gift often falls short, people panic and skip this stage, which then really does make the gift look last minute and a little thoughtless. This is absolutely the time when you must take advantage of brands own gift-wrapping services, so often it is free (ours is) which in fact equates to a huge saving in terms of time and money (cards, gift boxes, wrapping paper and ribbons are expensive) this means that you will have more of your budget going on the actual gift or you can spend less. A well-presented gift can make even a simple gesture feel incredibly special and as we mentioned above, many smaller gift stores will do this all for you and still have your gift ready for collection or delivery that same day.
So sit-back and relax, make yourself a cup of tea and before you’ve even finished your cup your perfect gift can be chosen, bought and wrapped, ready to be sent that very same day. Happy gifting!
Gift Edit pictured is the Ness
