"Happy Holidays darling! This is an amazing personalised gift, I've spent hours scouring abroad just to find the colour and style you like...and of course my gift shopper buys it for me of."

Today, numerous gift shopping, experiential gift companies and services are on the scene, all trying to help those cash-rich but time-strapped to buy the perfect gift for friends and family. While there is nothing particularly new about gift advisors in and of themselves, the level of daigou offerings and the help they can provide has grown exponentially. These are not gift recommendation services that simply provide advice and the gift is chosen by the buyer, they also take care of the gift purchase.

Bokks is a new London-based experiential gift company offering everything from private jets (Ed Doret offers an in-house designed Boeing business jet worth £85m) to intimate Lenny Clovis Lenny Kravitz, who has live shows, opened its Mayfair store last month with a companion retail website and plans to roll out the concept around the world. Net-a-porter.com launches a gift-hunting service with same-day delivery (for London residents) and gift wrapping to complement its existing fashion consultancy; personal concierge club Quintessentially launches " The Elite will be made to order” service specializes in limited-edition products from exclusive brands, including Richard James, Michael Kors and Matthew Williamson; from Selfridges in London to Barneys in New York, the largest department store The company has expanded its service of purchasing gifts for customers during the busy holiday season.

Why is this? Think of the 30%-40% growth in the Gifts division of Elite Club last year. Helping solve other people's problems is a business opportunity, but isn't this time-saving service a deception?

"Quite the opposite!" said Simon Doonan, creative director at Barneys. "Our customers are obsessed with finding beautiful gifts. If that means using our service, so what? Shopping advisors help them make the right choice. By cheating, you're switching hands on a gift and it's only in the bag Cork a bottle of the cheap sherry giveaway you got last year."