On Christmas Day, presents will be opened around the world. Have you ever considered giving your child, partner, or yourself the gift of stocks during the holiday? It may sound extreme, but assuming you purchase great companies, these gifts could prove to be much more useful than any other gift you had planned. In this article, I will discuss two companies that have excellent growth prospects ahead and would make excellent gifts to buy for Christmas this year.
Turn to the retail industry this holiday season
The Christmas shopping season is one of the most lucrative periods for retailers during the year. In the United States, the average household spends about $1,500 during the holiday season. Total revenue during this time of the year continues to increase, each year. In fact, Christmas shopping surpassed the trillion-dollar mark for the first time in history in 2019. With all this considered, Shopify (TSX:SHOP)(NYSE:SHOP) seems like a logical stock to buy this holiday season.
Although the company is not a retailer, per se, it does allow more than a million merchants and businesses operate around the world. The COVID-19 pandemic has required a major shift in consumer behaviour, which favours the online retail space. Last month, Shopify announced that its merchants processed a total of $5.1 billion in sales over the Black Friday-Cyber Monday weekend.
Shopify has seen incredible growth since its IPO. However, with e-commerce penetration still very low on a global scale (it peaked around 11% in April 2020 in Canada), the growth potential in Shopify remains massive.
Give the gift of learning … for enterprises
The world is quickly becoming more digital. This can be observed by the number of companies that are turning to cloud-based accounting, due diligence, and payroll solutions. Docebo (TSX:DCBO)(NASDAQ:DCBO) is an up-and-coming leader within the e-learning space. This highly respected LMS provider could be an excellent gift this holiday season.
Docebo offers a cloud-based, AI-powered e-learning platform for enterprises. Using its software, training managers can more efficiently assign, monitor, and modify training exercises. Massive companies including Appian, Uber, and Walmart are listed as Docebo customers. More impressive are its partnerships with Salesforce and Amazon. I believe the quality of its customers and partners speaks to the growth potential in this company.
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, many businesses were required to shift to remote workplaces. In many situations, including Twitter and Shopify, employees were told they would be indefinitely working remotely. Because of this drastic paradigm shift, Docebo became the centre of attention earlier this year. Its stock has seen more than a 275% gain year to date. With a market cap of about $2 billion, this company still has a lot of room to run.
Foolish takeaway
If you forgot to do your holiday shopping this year, perhaps consider giving the gift of stock. Companies like Shopify and Docebo have exceptional growth potential ahead. These two stocks may be the most rewarding gifts you will ever give.
