A local start-up has become the first to launch a friend-to-friend social gifting platform in SA.
While Berlin-based Rocket Internet had planned to expand its own social gifting platform, DropGifts, to SA last year, it failed to materialise and the company subsequently pulled out of SA, with Zando being its only remaining operation.
Local entrepreneur Kevin Tucker, who was the local MD for DropGifts, has as a result taken the opportunity to launch GoGifting - a wholly South African-owned and -funded operation. Tucker says he believes at the time of the local launch for DropGifts, the company was "a bit overambitious".
"The plan was to launch in nearly 30 countries all at once. However, most critical services were centralised in Germany and, thus, country-specific requirements could not be accommodated easily. Eventually, it was decided that the platform would be better served by a limited focus on larger, more established markets with fewer specific requirements," says Tucker.
"From our initial research into the market and discussions with local players, we realised there was definitely an appetite for a local social gifting platform. Most international companies don't see the benefit of launching here, but with the relatively high number of Facebook users SA is, in fact, a perfect market to launch GoGifting,"
Buzzword
Social gifting is the buzzword of the moment in the e-commerce space. The concept refers to services that enable users to send friends gifts using their connections on social platforms such as Facebook.
"Usually, many of these gifts are free, supplied by recognised brands looking to gain exposure on social networks," says Tucker, adding that in SA the gift card market is growing in maturity and GoGifting brings that to Facebook.
"There will be free gift cards on offer from a variety of SA's favourite brands and retailers. Users will also have the unique ability to pool together as a group of friends and give a group gift card," says Tucker.
Some of the free gift card offerings available at launch include those from Edgars, @home, WantItAll.co.za, Kalahari.com, Flowers.co.za, Norman Goodfellows and Mantality.co.za.
Tucker says GoGifting's key differentiator is its local approach. "We understand the needs of all the retailers and brands, and we've made all possible attempts to fit into their traditional gift card/vouchering systems. For some retailers, for example, we ship (by courier) gifts, while others are sent digitally. We also have slightly different commercial models to fit each merchant's financial requirements."
Tucker says he's been very happy with the uptake since going live three weeks ago. "Users really are registering at a greater pace than we anticipated at this early stage, and collectively they've sent in the hundreds of gift cards already."
GoGifting is available on the Web at www.gogifting.co.za and users can sign in with Facebook Connect. According to Tucker, a mobile GoGifting app is in development. "Mobile and gifting really go hand-in-hand, so we will hopefully have that ready in the next couple of months."
One-stop shop
Tucker says the social gifting market has huge potential. "Positioning brands in the social space by offering stored value that drives customers to stores is definitely sustainable. Additionally, as a marketing channel for brands, all the connotations are positive. There's no element of discounting, nor devaluation of the brand. In fact, it enhances brand-value and encourages customer interaction."
Recently, Facebook announced its own gifting service, Facebook Gifts, and while it is currently limited to the US, the social network has indicated it plans to expand the service to other regions.
Tucker says: "Facebook's gifting service is built on top of their acquisition of Karma. I think it's a great platform, and really has the potential to do well in the US. While we would welcome competition, we feel that our local approach will really stand us in good stead should a large international player enter the market. When dealing with local retail partners, I've found that there is never a one-size-fits-all solution."
Tucker says the aim with GoGifting is to become a one-stop shop for "convenient gift-giving" for all occasions. "We're aiming to be a channel where we can drive 'clicks to bricks' in all sorts of environments too. We also want to be at the forefront of digital/virtual redemption - a trend we're seeing more and more internationally."
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