Imagine your office has a shared playlist. Someone adds a holiday classic, someone else adds the album they've had on repeat since summer, a new hire drops in a favorite band from back home, and the team lead sneaks in a song from their first concert. By December, it has a little of everyone in it, and that's exactly what makes it worth pressing play.
Holiday gifting at work is starting to look a lot like that playlist, thanks to a few corporate Christmas gifting trends for 2026. The biggest is choice, with more companies letting employees and clients pick their own gift. Many are also putting more thought into where their gifts come from. With people working from so many different places, gift links they can redeem from anywhere have become the easy default. Below, we walk through each trend and how to build it into your holiday plan.
What's Driving the Change in Corporate Christmas Gifting
A few years ago, holiday gifting meant one big order and everyone on the team getting the same gift. Then the way we work changed, and how we recognize our people changed right along with it.
Distributed and Global Workforces
Teams and companies today can include people at headquarters, remote teams and people based around the world. Holiday recognition programs cover every one of them, so HR teams can plan rewards that each person can redeem wherever they're based.
Rising Expectations Around Personalization and Inclusion
Everybody celebrates the holidays a little differently, so a subtly festive gift is a great way to include the whole team. Cozy picks and hosting essentials, or a curated gift selection so each person chooses what fits them best..
Sustainability Moving From Nice-to-Have to Expected
Sustainability is a priority for a lot of companies, and holiday gifting is an easy place to show it. Choosing eco-friendly gifts keeps your holiday program in line with the green goals your company already works toward all year.
Better Gifting Technology
Gifting platforms have made big holiday sends simple. You can set a budget, schedule the send and gift your whole company in a few clicks. And with Gifted, everyone's able to see the gift value in their own currency, which makes it feel more personal.
The Biggest Corporate Christmas Gifting Trends for 2026
In recent surveys, employees and consumers point to three big holiday gifting trends for 2026: choice, trusted brands and eco-friendly materials. Each one looks a little different for your team and your clients. Let's break them down.
| Trend | For your employees | For your clients |
|---|---|---|
| Choice and personalization | 52% would rather choose from several gift options, and 82% value a personalized gift more | Clients pick what suits them, from gift cards to physical gifts |
| Trusted brands and lasting quality | 77% value a gift more when it comes from a trusted or premium brand | 65% of people are very likely to keep a branded product for six months or longer |
| Eco-friendly materials | 68% of people name recycled or reusable materials as their top sustainability preference | 49% say a brand's eco commitment affects how much they trust it |
Sources: Custom Ink Employee Holiday Gift Survey, 2025 (1,051 US employees, conducted by Qualtrics); PPAI Product Power 2026 (5,000+ US consumers).
Golden tip: With Gifted, recipients can split their gift across any type of gift they like, from gift cards to physical gifts and swag. So when you're planning christmas gifts for clients, and employees, just remember that it's easy to combine all the trends and put them to good use.
Choice and eco-friendly gifts get a closer look below, along with the digital tools that help you send them anywhere."The Shift Toward Choice and Personalization
The biggest trend of 2026 is to move away from one-size-fits-all gifts. It improves the experience for recipients and makes holiday planning simpler for HR teams, too.
From One Gift to Recipient Choice
When you're planning employee gifts for christmas, the simplest way to please the whole team is to let everyone pick what they want. With a gift card, everyone gets to choose, and it's one of the most popular gifts of the season. Deloitte's 2025 holiday retail survey found gift cards tied with clothing and accessories as the top gift categories among U.S. consumers.
Personalization That Respects Individual Tastes
Maybe someone on your team is into coffee and someone else loves gaming, so it helps to have options for everyone. Great Place to Work found that 37% of respondents said more personal recognition would encourage them to produce better work more often.It's worth keeping in mind past the holidays, too.
An Eco-Friendly Side Effect
Choice and digital gift sends go hand in hand. It's still personal, but there's no paper, no leftover swag or gifts that get thrown in a storage room, and it lines up nicely with your company's sustainability initiatives.
Clients Appreciate It Too
From a startup founder to a procurement lead at a large retailer, every client can pick a gift that makes sense for them. Put choice at the top of your list for corporate christmas gift ideas for clients .
Sustainability and Values-Led Gifting
Values-led gifting simply means choosing holiday gifts that match what your company stands for. Below are a few easy ways to bring it into your plan.
Eco-Conscious and Ethically Sourced
Sustainable gifts carry real weight with shoppers. Deloitte's 2024 research 36% of consumers in the UK alone were willing to pay more for sustainable products and services.
Locally Made and Locally Available
If a small business or local brand matters to someone, that's what they'll pick. With Gifted, every recipient sees a catalog of what's available in their own region, automatically making the experience more personal.
Gifts That Give Back
Some brands donate a pair of shoes or a pack of socks for every one bought, and others plant a tree for every order. When the cause matches something your company already supports, you thank your team and back that cause in one go.
In 2026, the smartest holiday gift is the one you didn't choose, they did.
The Gifted Team
Digital, Global, and Automated Gifting
Hybrid and global workforces have made digital, cross-border and automated gifting the practical default rather than a novelty.
Digital Gifts and Reward Links
A reward link reaches anyone, anywhere, without packing or shipping. Recipients can choose digital gift cards or have a physical gift delivered, adding their own shipping details when they redeem. Nobody has to collect a single home address.
Cross-Border Delivery Without the Headaches
Global teams need gifts that work locally. Since recipients see the gift value in their own currency and only brands available in their region, the process stays simple. It removes customs forms and shipping delays from your recognition program entirely.
Automation for On-Time Sends
With automation, everyone on the list gets their gift at the time you set if they're in Sydney, San Diego or Seoul. It takes just a few minutes to set up, and runs quietly in the background.
What These Trends Mean for Your 2026 Gifting Plan
This is the part worth keeping open while you plan. Run through this checklist, and your team and clients are covered for the holidays.
- Set the amount. Pick a per-person budget of $50 to $150 for each group before you start looking at gifts.
- Check the list. Count everyone who joined this year, plus the clients and partners you want to thank.
- Set the dates. Decide when each group gets their gift, including teams whose offices close early.
- Look past December. Set up birthdays and work anniversary gifts while you're at it, so the year is planned in one go.
Full Circle, From Playlist to Gift List
Like that playlist, the best holiday gifting has a bit of everyone in it. Your team and your clients pick what suits them, and you get a season that runs without the guesswork.
Gifted helps companies run holiday gifting like this every season, for teams of any size and clients anywhere. If you're starting from scratch, or you'd like help shaping this year's plan around these trends, our team is ready when you are.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the biggest corporate gifting trends for 2026?
Recipient choice and personalization, sustainability and values-led gifts, and digital, global and automated delivery. Together they mark a shift from volume and branding toward thought.
Are branded corporate gifts going out of style?
Heavy branding on generic items is fading. Subtle, useful branded swag still works, especially when recipients choose sizes and styles themselves.
Is it acceptable to give gift cards as corporate Christmas gifts?
Yes. Gift cards remain among the most popular gifts, and pairing them with a wide choice and a personal message makes them feel considered.
How can corporate gifting be more sustainable?
Let recipients choose so gifts get used, favor local availability to cut shipping, and choose brands with responsible sourcing and less packaging.
How do we send Christmas gifts to a global team in 2026?
Use digital gifts or reward links. Recipients choose in their own currency from what's available in their region, with no cross-border shipping for you to manage.
When should we start planning 2026 holiday gifts?
September or early October. Starting early leaves room for choice, messages, approvals and delivery ahead of carrier cutoffs.
Do these trends apply to client gifts too?
Yes. Choice, personal messages and values-aligned gifts work for clients as well, as long as gifts stay within their gift policies.
gifted.co/blog/corporate-christmas-gifting-trends-2026
From the Gifted team
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