Gift Cards for India: Options & Tips for Indian Incentive Programs

TL;DR Digital gift cards are usually the best option for incentive programs with recipients in India, especially if you're looking at large scale distribution. The most effective programs include gift cards from beloved Indian brands, alongside global powerhouses. 

When you're trying to reward, incentivize, and otherwise engage an audience in India, choosing digital rewards that they really want is critical. In many modern incentive programs today, that means offering digital gift cards from national favorites such as AJIO and Absolute Barbecues.

Gift cards to global brands can also work well, assuming they're actually accessible. After all, a gift card from an international store is pointless if there's no local outlet to use it, or if there's restrictions on its use. 

Ultimately, you want your reward catalog to boast a strong array of eGift cards from leading Indian brands and renowned global names like Levi's and KFC. And you'll want an easy way to send those rewards to everyone on your list, whether that's via a simple sign-in web platform or through your own app or software. 

Thankfully, you can get all these features from a reliable and global gift card aggregator. 

👉 Thinking about using gift cards to engage and incentivize audiences in India? Here’s what you need to know.

Engage an audience in India 🇮🇳

Using digital incentives in India offers plenty of strategic advantages. 

People in India appreciate quick, modern solutions. Including international eGift cards in your reward offerings can therefore strengthen loyalty and bolster your brand's presence in this dynamic market.

Opting for digital rewards that align with popular local brands further builds trust with Indian customers and aids in forming valuable partnerships.

And then a broad selection of popular and international brands further sweetens the deal.

👉  In short, incorporating Indian gift cards in your reward strategy can broaden your reach and fortify your brand's presence globally.

Some of the Indian gift cards currently in the catalog include:

Absolute Barbecues
AJIO
Allen Solly
American Eagle
Barbeque Nation
Bigbasket
Bluestone Diamond
BookMyShow
Café Coffee Day
Costa Coffee
Decathlon
EPIC ON
Fastrack
JACK & JONES
KFC
Levi's
Mainland China
ONLY
PUMA
PVR Cinemas
Ratnadeep
Shoppers Stop
Westside
Wildcraft
Yatra
Zomato

Spotlight on local Indian brands

The right brands can greatly improve engagement with Indian audiences.

When choosing what gift cards to use for your program, it often makes sense to consider including brands that are both widely recognized and based in India. 

Here are some standouts.

Zomato 🍽 

• A leading Indian food delivery, restaurant aggregator, and dining platform. Founded in India, it has had a massive impact on how urban India orders food and discovers restaurants. 

  Use it to: offer recipients flexible meal rewards that fit busy lifestyles, perfect for both work-from-home employees and field teams.

Bigbasket 🛒

• India’s largest online grocery delivery service, offering extensive options for daily needs, fresh produce, and household items. Popular in metro areas and rapidly expanding.

  Use it to: provide practical incentives for everyday essentials, making your rewards feel relevant and valuable for a broad audience.

AJIO 👗 

• A prominent online fashion and lifestyle retailer owned by Reliance, focusing on modern and contemporary styles, apparel, and accessories, and well-integrated with the Indian market.

  Use it to: connect with younger or style-focused recipients by letting them pick out fashion, footwear, or accessories that match their personality—adding a personal, aspirational touch to your incentive program.

Barbeque Nation 🥘 

• An Indian-born restaurant chain best known for its all-you-can-eat grilling and buffet experience, it caters specifically to local palates and dining culture.

  Use it to: create memorable, social reward experiences—perfect for celebrating milestones like employee anniversaries or encouraging team bonding.

BookMyShow 🎬 

• India’s largest ticketing platform for movies, live events, and entertainment. Widely used by Indian consumers for booking cinema tickets and more. 

  Use it to: deliver entertainment-focused rewards that spark excitement and engagement, whether for recognition, surveys, or client thank-yous.

More noteworthy India-based brands

• Absolute Barbecues: Indian casual dining chain focused on grill buffets.
• Café Coffee Day: Once the country’s most popular coffeehouse chain, still recognized as an Indian-origin brand.
  • Learn more about using coffee gift cards in incentive programs here. 
• Ratnadeep: South India-based supermarket chain.
• Westside: Indian retailer with a focus on mid-range fashion and home products
• Wildcraft: Indian outdoor and adventure gear brand.
  • Learn more about using gift cards for sports fans here. 
• Fastrack: Indian fashion accessory brand owned by Titan.
• Shoppers Stop: Indian department store chain.
• Yatra: Indian online travel booking portal.
  
  

Another great option for Indian recipients: A Virtual Prepaid Mastercard®

Perhaps you've got recipients in multiple countries, and you want a one-and-done, simple reward that works for everyone. 

If that's the case, you might want to consider a virtual prepaid Mastercard. 

Unlike traditional gift cards that are tied to specific merchants, a prepaid Mastercard can be used anywhere Mastercards are accepted. This makes it an ideal choice for global rewards programs of all sizes.

Simply fund the account in the currency of your choice, and recipients will receive their Mastercard digitally. This removes the hassle of managing multiple currencies or tracking recipients over diverse regions.

👉  In short, if flexibility and ease across global audiences are your goals, the Virtual Prepaid Mastercard is a great go-to.

How to deliver digital gift cards to recipients in India (and beyond)

If you want a simple way to reward recipients in India and around the world, your best bet is usually to work with a reliable, transparent gift card distributor. 

For example, with Giftbit, perhaps the hardest part of your program will be creating your free account (and that'll only take a few minutes 😉). 

From there, just select the most fitting Indian gift cards for your strategy, tailor your delivery settings, and schedule—all from one reliable, user-friendly gift card platform.

And if you want to automate the process, you can easily do that, via gift card integration through Zapier, or via a fast build-in with the Giftbit API (see the full, ungated gift card API docs here). 

Giftbit makes it easy to send gift card incentives to recipients in India. Book some time  to learn about bulk rewards, revenue sharing, API integration, or any other questions you might have.