Story by Dennis Buckly

March 7, 2024

Brands invest billions on ads to grab holiday shoppers’ attention, but it feels like throwing darts blindfolded. Despite hitting a staggering $929.5 billion in holiday retail sales, brands spent a jaw-dropping $1.9 billion in December alone on advertising. With over a quarter of holiday gifting sales resulting in returns, it’s crucial for brands to nail down purchases that match receivers’ needs and wants. Returns are hitting hard, costing them $26.50 out of every $100 of returns, as reported by the Wall Street Journal last May. Time to get creative and hit the bullseye or face the consequences.

Brands lie awake pondering…

  • Did my ad spend grow revenue and my customer base?
  • Were markdowns and promo’s worth it for the revenue outcome?
  • How much will returns dent margins and harm the planet?
  • Can I compete with a juggernaut like Amazon, dominating 40% of eCommerce?

Picture a world where Brands ditch relentless ads and deep discounts while also slashing returns. The impact on revenue? Monumental!

Brands flood the holiday season with enticing offers and discounts, assuming they know what every shopper wants. “The truth is, no retailer knows who is buying gifts for me or what I really want,” says Ed Jette, Founder and CEO of GyftHint, “and with 80% of gifts missing the mark, it’s time for a new approach.” Jette urges a shift from mass email blasts to personal gifting solutions. “It’s time to break free from the crowd and truly connect with your customers.”

The Current Model of Advertising for Gifting is Broken

Navigating successful gifting is incredibly challenging, brands need to

  • Know the customer’s desired gift, 
  • Communicate effectively to the correct gift buyer, and
  • Stand out from their 5 million competitors’ advertising.

Think it’s a piece of cake? Think again! Here’s the problem

  • They can’t pinpoint the perfect gift, despite AI investments. 
  • Identifying the gift buyer remains a mystery, regardless of extreme spending on email acquisition.
  • Their ads are lost in the noise of media saturation, losing effectiveness by the day.

Jette points out a critical flaw: “Brands focus their advertising and efforts on getting their loyal customers to buy a gift for someone else when their customer wants that someone else to buy them that gift.” They target their loyal customers, not the specific gift buyers, due to the lack of knowing who they are. GyftHint believes this approach is fractured and ready for a change.

GyftHint solves this problem by making it easy for consumers to answer the timeless question every brand asks: “What would you like for this occasion? By empowering their customers to preemptively answer with their products, brands unlock sales and significantly reduce costly returns.  

Market Drive reveals, consumers trust friends and family 5 times more than brands in purchase decisions. Bill Kahn, CCO at GyftHint emphasizes “the unique connection GyftHint creates between customers, their gift buyers, and brands. This grants brands direct access to gift buyers and insights into what loyal customers want, all with zero advertising cost.” 

A new wishlist strategy that is more than just wishing for a sale.

“We say that our wishlist is where our cart abandonment goes to die.”

 – A Prominent Beauty Retailer

With GyftHint, retailers install a dynamic e-commerce plugin to turbocharge their static wishlist or save button. This allows loyal customers to easily add their future gifts, or “hints,” to the GyftHint app. This ensures instant presentation to their tight network of 4-5 gift buyers, who you don’t know. They now buy your products as gifts and become your new customers with zero acquisition cost. Wishlist conversion rates jump from 10% to up to 63%, with the added benefit of up to 92% reduction in gift returns! 

Typical gifting results in 80% unwanted gifts, with nearly 40% of those returned to retailers, wreaking havoc on profits and the environment—where 25% end up in landfills. GyftHint transforms these missteps into flawless selections guided by the ultimate influencer, the gift recipient. 

GyftHint brands achieve an impressive 60%+ wishlist conversion rate, compared to the typical 10% rate. This success is attributed to our seamless experience to the gift buyers, from picking the perfect present every time through the gift recipient’s personal store to buying it with just a few clicks at our checkout. This eliminates common gift buyer frustrations that lead to cart abandonment. Jette emphasized that “brands need not worry about losing retail sales, as gifts purchased through GyftHint are incremental spend on products the shopper desires but may not have purchased otherwise.” Furthermore, with GyftHint, brands receive direct orders for their products, bypassing the need for costly advertising and marketing efforts.”

In today’s intensely competitive retail environment and amidst economic uncertainty, brands must innovate to thrive. Even established eCommerce giants face challenges, as seen with Wayfair’s recently announced layoffs. It’s time to forget traditional retail strategies and embrace innovative solutions like GyftHint. By doing so, brands can maximize their presence and success in the $2.2T gifting market. 

Check out GyftHint to learn more.