Gift items
In the broadest sense, gift items are all commercially traded items suitable as gifts . Nevertheless, books or CDs , for example, are not classified as gift items, although these items are often given away. In parlance, gift items are primarily associated with handicrafts , items for decorating the home, small everyday helpers, joke items and souvenirs . The German term for gift items for this product family is problematic as many of these items are also purchased for personal use. The English equivalent of fancy goods (distinctive, imaginative articles) outlines this group of goods more precisely.
Since the range of gift items is only vaguely defined, there is no conforming statistical market survey for Germany. The target persons for suppliers of gift items are young and middle-aged people. Upscale, exclusive gift items are also bought by older, lifestyle-oriented customers.
Gift items are usually used by private individuals to maintain relationships. Companies usually use promotional items with company contact details to look after customers or business partners .
In addition to fancy goods, the term gadget has also established itself in the context of Anglicisation . Originally used as a collective term for technical gadgets for technology lovers, gadget is now used for all items that are actually superfluous but still popular. Exactly the same applies to gifts, beautiful and useful things that one would like to have.
In the B2B area, the term promotional items, advertising material or "give-away" is used, as the actual purpose of the gift is more clearly expressed here. Promotional products dealers in Germany are organized in associations. In 2011, around 3.46 billion euros were turned over in the promotional products industry. According to a representative survey by the GWW (General Association of the Promotional Products Industry), 58 percent of the companies surveyed use promotional products as a marketing measure.