Employee Holiday Gift Guide

98% of employees say a gift they love makes them feel more positive about their employer. 97% say it increases their likelihood of staying. And 58% would rather choose their own gift from a curated selection than receive the same item as everyone else.

The data on employee holiday gifting is clear: it matters, it impacts retention, and most companies are getting the execution wrong. A CustomInk survey of over 1,000 employees and gift buyers found that 93% of buyers feel confident in their gift choices, but only 35% base those decisions on actual employee insight. The result: just 40% of gifts received are in regular use. The rest sit unused, get regifted, or end up in the bin.

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What’s inside

The 2026 Employee Gift Guide covers six categories of trending gifts this holiday season, each one framed for a workplace context with the business case built in. Every product featured is available via gift cards from retailers in the Totally catalogue.

Tech and entertainment. The most popular gift category at 53% regular use, and the one employees find most exciting. Only 30% of companies have gifted tech, making it the category with the most untapped potential.

Wellness and self-care. When a company invests in an employee’s wellbeing, the message carries measurable weight. The O.C. Tanner 2027 Global Culture Report found that organisations building cultures of care see 87% lower burnout and 11x higher retention.

Food and drink. The second most purchased gift category by employers at 52%. Premium food gifts create social connection, which matters particularly for distributed teams where shared experiences are rare.

Experiences. The fastest-growing gifting category overall. A cooking class, a spa day, a weekend away. The employee creates a positive memory directly associated with their employer, and that association compounds over time.

Fashion and accessories. 95% of employees value a gift more when it comes from a brand they know and trust. The most wanted brands include Nike (51%), The North Face (44%), Adidas (41%), and Under Armour (37%).

Home, lifestyle and everyday essentials. The gifts that enter someone’s home and stay there. For hybrid and remote teams, a gift that improves someone’s living space has more impact than one that sits on an office desk they visit three days a week.

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Download the guide

Whether you’re building this year’s programme from scratch or refining what you did last year, the 2026 Employee Gift Guide gives you the data, the product recommendations, and the categories to make the case internally and get it right.

How Totally makes holiday gifting easy

3,000+ gift card brands across 50+ countries and currencies. No platform fees, no setup costs, no minimum orders. You set the budget, upload your list, and we handle everything else.

Visit our Christmas gifting page | Book a 15-minute call with the team

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