How Giftpro helped Babur grow its brand legacy and boost voucher sales
The background
For over 41 years, Babur has been one of South London’s most celebrated Indian restaurants; a neighbourhood institution renowned for its authentic, innovative cuisine and warm hospitality.
Named after the first Mughal emperor, Babur has built a loyal following through its commitment to genuine Indian flavours, memorable dining experiences, and a thriving takeaway service. The restaurant has even released its own cookbook – so popular it sold out entirely and went to reprint. With a devoted customer base and a growing range of retail products alongside its dining offer, Babur recognised an opportunity to make gifting a more prominent and polished part of its business.
The challenge: accelerating gifting
Babur were already selling vouchers online, but something was missing. Browsing a competitor’s website, Office Administrator Ishika Hingorani came across Giftpro – and the difference was immediately apparent. The layout was clean, the interface intuitive, and crucially, the store felt like a natural extension of the restaurant itself rather than a bolt-on third-party tool.
“It doesn’t feel like you’re going off to a different site,” said Ishika. “You’re essentially still within the company’s site.” That seamless brand experience was exactly what Babur had been looking for. They reached out to Giftpro, and the partnership began.
The solution: a flexible platform that helps the business grow
Onboarding was smooth from day one. Working closely with Giftpro’s support team, Babur found the transition straightforward and well-supported. “It was very easy for us to onboard – the team were constantly in contact with us, and we were very happy with the process,” says Ishika. “They were absolutely brilliant.”
With the platform up and running, Babur quickly expanded what they offered through their Giftpro store. Alongside a tasting menu and monetary gift vouchers, they began selling chutneys, tea collections, tablecloths, and seasonal gift baskets for occasions like Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day. Their cookbook – a natural fit for gifting – proved so popular through the platform that it sold out entirely and had to go to reprint.
Seasonal promotions have become a key part of the strategy too. At Christmas, Babur runs a bonus voucher offer – buy £100, receive an extra £20 – a simple offering that drives sales while giving customers more value.
“It’s a great way to boost sales and give customers more gifting options,” Ishika notes. Christmas remains their strongest gifting period, with voucher sales up 5% over the festive season, and events like Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and even an unexpected summer heatwave have all delivered their own spikes too.
This is all aided by the voucher branding, mirroring that of Babur itself. “It’s a really lovely way to build on the vouchers themselves, and we’re very excited about using personalised video messaging too as it makes gifts to loved ones feel more personal.” Ishika added they’re excited to see customers using it and expect the uptake to be high.
The backend has made day-to-day management easy – updating product descriptions, monitoring inventory, and keeping the store current – all without needing technical expertise. “The user interface is quite simple. It’s been hassle free across the whole backend,” says Ishika.
When questions do come up, the support team is on hand fast. “They usually answer within 2 minutes and solve all the issues. Whether it’s about delivery or collection, they’re always there for us.”
Babur actively promotes their gift shop through a fortnightly customer newsletter, keeping it front of mind for loyal regulars. Redemption in the restaurant is just as frictionless; customers arrive with a code, staff know exactly how to process it, and many guests share their voucher details at the time of booking so the team can prepare ahead. “Usually when customers make bookings they send across the offer code, so we know what to expect and can handle everything smoothly when they arrive.”
Giftpro’s reporting tools have added further value, giving the team clear visibility over sales trends, peak periods, and voucher performance, as well as keeping customer data current for newsletter outreach. “We know from the reports what the sales trends and peak periods are, and we can monitor the performance of different voucher products. We also use the reports to update our customer data, which is very important because we use that data to send out our newsletters.”
The results: an increased brand legacy for Babur
The impact has been felt across the business. Operational efficiency has improved, the online store has brought Babur’s gifting to a wider audience, and revenue has grown steadily as a result. The cookbook sold out, seasonal products continue to perform strongly and most importantly voucher sales are up YoY.
“It’s definitely had a measurable impact on the business. It’s helped improve our operational efficiency, we’ve reached more customers through online sales, it’s supported overall revenue growth and over last Christmas alone we saw a 5% increase in voucher sales. Our cookbook was a great success, completely selling out. And we’ve also seen strong performance on other products, and a continued steady sale of customer favorites.”
When asked if she would recommend Giftpro to other hospitality businesses, the answer was simple:
“I would say go for it. It’s easy to use, professional and makes managing vouchers easy day to day. The team is great, the system is flexible and it creates a real legacy with loyal customers.”
