The Covid pandemic caused a lot of havoc and heartache for many people and businesses, however, it also inspired some fantastic business ideas such as gift flick, an innovative ecommerce plugin that enables consumers to virtually send any product or gift voucher in an e-tailer’s store.
For seasonal gifting occasions this means retailers can keep selling even after their shipping window has closed. And, of course, in situations like lockdowns it means customers can digitally personalise, ‘wrap’ and send gifts to friends and loved ones they are unable to see.
Helen Marsh, gift flick co-founder and CMO, says the aim is to remove the anxiety of ‘shopping before the shipping window cut-off date’ and replace that with a positive, creative new way for consumers to reveal physical gifts through a personalised digital experience.
“Our goal is to make online gifting simple, enjoyable and meaningful for everyone: gifter, recipient and retailer,” she explains.
“The gift flick experience puts the focus on the thoughtful selection and the relationship between the gifter and the receiver and leaves the retailer’s logistics company to deal with the logistical task of shipping of the physical items.
“From a tech perspective, we’ve made this incredibly easy to set up. Built as a lightweight API, gift flick servers do all the work so there’s no impact to website loading times and the experience is embedded entirely within the existing customer purchase journey. We can integrate the technology into existing ecommerce platforms within just one week.
“Brands, retailers and their creative partners can use this ‘white label’ tech to create bespoke seasonal or evergreen customisable gift stories opening up a whole new creative channel that delivers extra value to customers.”
The gift is revealed in a short video ‘gift story’, which the gifter personalises with video, photos and messages. gift flick technology combines all these personal media elements with an image of the physical gift product and then stitches it together to create a short video gift experience, which the gift buyer can send to the recipient via email or social messaging. This is called the ‘gift flick gift story’.
“Using smart technology, we relieve the headache of online gifting, bringing speed, ease, convenience and deep personalisation together in a magical digital experience any retailer can offer to their customers.”
Want to read more? Check out the full article in our winter digital magazine, which is out now!
