Outsourcing Christmas gifts: Time saver - or tradition breaker?

Gift concierge services go into overdrive during the festive season on behalf of time-strapped people. Getty Images

Living in the UAE, where service has been elevated to an art form, it’s always interesting to see what we’ll be able to get delivered next.

I no longer have to wait at the petrol pump as I can book Cafu to fill up my car while I sleep. Breakfast, lunch and dinner can be delivered round the clock via myriad food apps. My groceries are ordered online. And if I’ve forgotten something, there’s Instashop, Noon and more for those items I simply have to have in the next 60 minutes – a service that any parent who has ever been casually told by their offspring at 9pm “Oh yeah, the bake sale is tomorrow” will appreciate.

Most recently, when my car needed some repairs in Dubai, I booked a driver to pick it up and drive it to the garage for me, rather than navigate the alleys of Al Quoz myself.

There is, however, one thing I’ve never outsourced, and that’s Christmas. But this festive season, I’m beginning to wonder if I’m in the minority, as gift concierge services go into overdrive on behalf of time-strapped people, parents and executives, who increasingly turn to them to source, deliver and gift-wrap their presents.

Yet, I remain a holdout. For me, the festive season is all about rolling up your sleeves and getting stuck in yourself. Buying mince pies from Spinneys? No, thank you, I make my own, pastry included. Decorations? It takes me four days, three Temu deliveries, two trips to Ace Hardware and a partridge in a pear tree. Christmas tree? Why, I head on out on to the glacial tundra and chop that thing down myself... OK, so I don’t go that far, which apparently means there are some things I do outsource at Christmas. So why am I so against farming out present-buying?

Outsourcing doesn’t mean you’re disconnected, it means you’re choosing to focus on what matters most, say service providers. Getty Images

“When you outsource, you might feel you’re missing the personal touch of selecting gifts yourself,” life coach Noona Nafousi tells me. “But Christmas is about presence, not perfection. Outsourcing doesn’t mean you’re disconnected; it means you’re choosing to focus on what matters most. You can always personalise gifts in other ways, such as writing heartfelt notes or adding a unique touch.”

There’s also the emotional aspect of upholding certain traditions the way previous generations did. My great-grandmother hosted six Christmases in London during the Second World War amid severe rationing and shortages – not to mention the Blitz – and I can’t walk around a mall for an afternoon or do some online scrolling on the sofa? Pathetic.

Perhaps I’m overthinking it. For Lisa Roebuck, owner of gifting and wrapping company With a Bow, outsourcing present-buying is less about doing away with traditions and more about time-maxing in our increasingly busy lives.

“For those juggling work, family and holiday chaos, this service removes the stress of shopping and wrapping,” she says. “It prevents panic-buying, keeps surprises intact, and ensures gifts are thoughtfully chosen and presented.”

Adds Lynsay Kilbane, founder of The Mama Consultancy and The Mama Concierge, who source, deliver and wrap gifts: “My clients are busy individuals spinning many plates. Outsourcing your never-ending to-do list is smart, and they understand this.”

The thing about the festive season is that it’s an automatic emotion-heightener. Throughout the rest of the year, I might remain unmoved, stoic even, in the face of Emma Thompson crying in her bedroom while listening to Joni Mitchell as the emotionally unfaithful Harry sits obliviously downstairs with the Nativity lobster. But watching Love, Actually at Christmas and I’m in bits, googling “how to get revenge on your cheating husband” on her behalf.

Concierge services aim to give back their clients the strongest currency: time. Getty Images

I have this long-held notion that the festive season is still kind of quaint. Ridiculous, really, given that it is one of the most commercialised holidays on the global calendar, but in this instance, I’m happy to look at life through sepia-tinted glasses.

Christmas, like many globally celebrated holidays, is as inextricably tied into nostalgia as it is a celebration of family and friends in the present (no pun intended). The festive season has always centred on family, food and gift-giving, with special dishes made and stockings stuffed and hung. So, when you outsource such a vital part of Christmas, isn't there a danger you’ll miss out on memory-making and personalisation?

“A concierge service like ours gives our clients time, and time is freedom, the strongest currency,” says Kilbane. “Time to spend on more important things like being present with your family.” Nafousi adds: “Remember, rest is productive too. You can’t pour from an empty cup, so give yourself the gift of boundaries and balance.”

Outsourcing as the gift you give yourself not others? Maybe this is a new tradition I can get behind, after all.