Recently we at MeetnGreetMe were discussing the pleasure we get when we give gifts to each other and how much it has changed since childhood when everyone couldn’t wait to unwrap whose colorful boxes to get what we were passionately asking Santa for.

Neuroscientists know it all. According to their studies, giving gifts to other people releases oxytocin into the giver’s brain - the hormone sometimes known as the ‘love hormone’ or the ‘cuddle hormone’. It is naturally released during special moments like snuggling, childbirth, caring for each other, hugging each other and even playing with your dog! Why we need the oxytocin to be released? It increases pleasure and human bonding, decreases stress and even decreases the risk of common heart ailments. Isn’t it fantastic? Just hug and live happy and healthy.

It sounds easy but not for those who are separated from each other by hundreds or thousands of miles. So we started to think about how MeetnGreetMe service can help.

We came up with an idea to introduce a very special gift delivery service for those who are far away from each other and conducted a survey to find out if people around the world send gifts to those who are far away and what problems they usually encounter. We are glad to share with you our findings and insights about that.

People from more than 40 countries around the world took part in our survey and shared their ideas with us. We found out that, in fact, 33% of respondents don’t live in the country where they were born. At the same, we found out that 81% of all the respondents have either family members or close friends in other countries and the number of countries is indeed fascinating, they stretch all the way from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia, to South Africa, Georgia, and Australia.

1. We give gifts to family and close friends.

People turn to be very generous, wherever they live. We get presents for everyone, such as our close friends, relatives, girlfriends and boyfriends, colleagues and business partners. Only 1% of all respondents said that they do not give gifts to anyone for special occasions. At the same time, the majority of people still get presents for close friends and family members, which is quite understandable.

2. Christmas and birthdays are the most popular occasions for giving and receiving gifts around the world.

We get presents to our dear ones not only for Christmas, New Year and birthdays, but for all sorts of occasions, such as St. Valentine’s Day, Mother’s and Father’s Day, St. Nicolaus Day, and so on. Christmas remains the most popular occasion for giving and receiving gifts from those who care about you.

3. The majority tend to spend up to $100 on gifts.

When it comes to gifts, everything depends on budget and creativity, of course. Normally people tend to spend up to $100 on gifts for their dear ones. At the same time, though, 21% per cent of all respondents said that money doesn’t matter to them as long as they make their dear one happy, surprised and pleased with the gift.

4. Chocolate, books, and perfume tend to be the most popular types of gifts.

Sometimes we also try to choose the best gift which would suit the person’s hobbies and interests, while on others days we opt for something more or less cheesy, such as chocolate, flowers, books, perfume and cosmetics. The most interesting gift ideas we received were tickets to other countries, interesting-looking socks, certificates to some cool activities and, of course, hand-made gifts. Later this month we will share with you some great ideas for DIY Christmas gifts and the best Christmas recipes for 2016.

5. The majority start buying gifts some weeks before the occasion.

Interesting enough, but the majority answered that they start preparations for Christmas and other events in advance. Only 18% confessed that they buy gifts at the very last minute, most people start buying presents weeks before the main event.

6. People use the post or ask friends for a favor when they want to send gifts abroad.

The majority of us use either post or ask our friends traveling to another country when we need to send gifts abroad to our friends and relatives. Other people just don’t send gifts because they can’t trust anyone or believe the post to be insecure. Obviously, there are some problems associated with such methods of delivery, such as the annoying need to plan everything much in advance, the cost of delivery, impersonal or just no delivery by post, inability to send large boxes in nice packages, late delivery, and just no trust.

Having received such kind of answers we decided to ask our respondents about the ideal way to give Christmas gifts to friends and family and here we bring to you the ideal one:

- delivered by a trusted person,

- fresh, if it is flowers or some food products,

- on time,

- at door and straight into hands,

- with a personal note,

- surprising,

- and a nice package.

So we included ALL these components in our special Christmas gift delivery service. Now anyone can hire a MeetnGreeter in the city where their close friend or relative lives and ask them to buy, wrap and deliver that something special to your dear one on time, at door, accompanied by your personal message and a hug, if you like.

How? Just fill in the Gift form specifying all the details and the assigned MeetnGreeters will contact you for more details. If you have any questions about how the gift delivery service works, you can read our FAQ or write to us at hello@meetngreetme.com.

Don’t waste a minute! Send your gift delivery request to us and make sure you celebrate this Christmas and New Year with your dear ones, regardless of the miles between you.

Let the ‘love’ hormone be released and make you happy and healthy all the year round.