Gifting an experience poses new dilemma during pandemic
Businesses offering more flexibility and virtual options
Finding the perfect gift is always hard. This holiday season poses a whole new set of dilemmas for people whoprefer to give memorable experiences rather than stuff.
Will that spring concert happen, and if it does, will the recipient feel comfortable going? Is a “date night” gift of dinner and a show still exciting if that means a Netflix subscription and
DoorDash gift card?
Should you just give up andwrap up anothersweater?
Humboldt Park resident Deirdre Crimmins is among this year’s gift-givers who’s decided to play it safe. The 39- year- old typically prefers to give and receive experience-based gifts, like the time her parents gave her a weekend getaway at a bed and breakfast, or the tickets to a Pee-wee Herman show this spring she gave her boyfriend. The show was canceled because of the pandemic, and even though she got her money back, she doesn’t plan to give anything similar this year.
“The future is so uncertain for me right now. You don’t necessarily want to invest in that, whether it be emotionally or financially,” Crimmins said.
Spikes in COVID-19 cases have led to new restrictions that make dining indoors at a restaurant, or visiting a museum or theater, off-limits across Illinois until further notice. It’s already been a difficult year for companies that rely on in-person experiences. To salvage the season, some
businesses are offering shoppers more flexibility, whether that means letting recipients wait longer to redeem gifts or adding virtual options they can use now.
The Museum of Science and Industry is allowing people who receive oneyear gift memberships to choose when to start the clock. So is Shedd Aquarium, which also is promoting new virtual encounters with penguins, sea lions and otters as gifts.
Steppenwolf Theatre Company is selling new virtual memberships that let members watch performances online. In past years, it has promotedpackages of tickets for future live shows as gifts.
“We didn’t think people would be that gung-ho to give something you can’t use right now,” saidmarketingmanager Javier Dubon.
While sales of ticket packages have been much lower than normal, 1,600 people have purchased virtual memberships.
It’s still early in the season for sales of gift certificates for experiences, whichareusually aprocrastinator-friendly option, but some say uncertainty has left sales slower than usual.
“We have not had anywhere near the number of gift certificate sales we had last year,” said Maren Rosenberg, owner of Escape Artistry in theWicker Park neighborhood.
Escape rooms normally put participants in a room where they have one hour to find clues, solve puzzles and escape. Escape Artistry is just starting to host virtual events, starting with a mystery theater experience where participants can question suspects and look for clues to solve amurder.
The Chopping Block cooking school sold less than $500 in gift cards during a Cyber Monday promotion. Last year, the same deal brought in $16,000 in gift card sales, said marketing manager
AndreaMiller.
“People need to understand this is how you support local businesses, because it’s cash in our pocket we can use for other things,” she said.
The Chopping Block is offering online classes where participants can choose whether they want to cook along and get live feedback from the instructor or justwatch, for a lower price. Miller thought most people who have gift cards were waiting to use them for classes at The Chopping Block’s schools in Lincoln Square and RiverNorth.
At The Kids’ Table, a family- oriented cooking school in Wicker Park, on the other hand, gift card sales rose 30% during November, said owner Elena Marre.
Marre thinks families are looking for gifts that don’t require waiting until inperson activities can resume.
“I don’t think anyone I knowis looking to give a gift to be used post-COVID-19. People need some joy now,” she said.
About half of consumers plan to purchase intangible items or experiences, whichcan include gift cards and subscription services, this season, according to market research firm The NPD Group. Those gifts will likely focus on things people can enjoy at home, said NPD Group retail analystMarshal Cohen.
Elizabeth Dinevski, 25, of the South Loop, usually prefers giving friends and family memorable experiences, like the time she gave
her brother, an IndyCar fan, tickets to a race.
This year, she is hesitant to give gifts tied to events unless it is easy to reschedule or cancel. She is thinking about giving friends and family gift cards to their favorite restaurants or boutiques, even though the cards “can seem like a cop-out.”
“It supports local businesses, and sometimes the best gifts are everyday things, rather than big grand things,” she said.
Reports on gift card sales at restaurants have been mixed.
Overall, gift card sales at 175 restaurant brands fell 30.1% on Black Friday weekend compared with last year, with upscale restaurants hardest hit, according to Paytronix, a company that makes software for restaurants and convenience stores. Quickservice restaurants’ gift card sales declined just 3.6%, and some chains saw higher- than- usual sales thanks to bonus offers.
Virtue, a Southern American restaurant in the HydePark neighborhood, is offering an extra $25 with any $200 gift card purchase. General manager Jesus Garcia estimated gift card sales are downroughly 30%.
R.J. Melman, president of Chicago-based Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, said gift card sales were “probably a little slower” despite a similar bonus offer, though it’s early in the holiday season.
Gift cards can be used for takeout, and both companies are selling other items that don’t require dining in person, including hoodies and T-shirts at Virtue and a range of meal and cocktail kits at Lettuce Entertain You.
Gift cards carry the risk that businesses may close before the recipients can enjoy the present, especially if they wait until they can do so in person.
About half of U.S. adults have unredeemed gift cards, store credit or airline vouchers, with a total estimated average value of $167 per person, according to a January survey by Bankrate.com.
Things are tougher for businesses whose services can’t be moved online or, like meal delivery, repurposed to enjoy at home.
At Allyu Spa, which provides massages, facials, manicures and other services in Goose Island, gift card sales are roughly 80% below normal, said owner Tamara Wills, who hopes sales will increase closer to the holidays.
Personal care service providers can be open at a reduced capacity under Illinois’ current guidelines, though facials are not permitted. Some people still call first to make sure gift cards don’t expire, Wills said. She thought about offering virtual consultations but decided against it.
“The fact is, we touch people,” she said. “That’s whatwe do.”
Live music events, meanwhile, have seen “small but measurable” sales, said Jake Samuels, a talent buyer at music venues Thalia Hall, in Pilsen, and Space, in Evanston. The independent concert venues he knows gave refunds to people who wanted them when shows were canceled or postponed earlier this year.
“I think that has gone a long way to give audiences confidence that we’re operating ingoodfaithandnot looking to sell them a ticket for a show that won’t happen and then disappear with their money,” Samuels said.