Q&A with gift flick: The Gift of Giving a Personalised Shopping Experience

In the lead up to Christmas, there were plenty of hiccups across the retail landscape. From delays in last-mile delivery to stock shortages and supply chain woes, the industry was in dire need of something new.

With e-commerce acceleration still underway following the pandemic, online shopping remains one of the leading ways for Australian to buy gifts. However, the need for a personalised experience remains a crucial element for shoppers, replicating the in-store experience even with delays in shipping.

That’s where gift flick comes in. Born out of the idea of sending something special as a last-minute gift, while enhancing the gifting experience, the business is driven by removing anxiety from ‘shopping before the window cut-off date’, and replacing it with a more positive, personalised and creative way to send gifts.

“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,” Helen Marsh, Co-Founder and CMO said. Founded only a couple of years ago, gift flick has already secured partnerships with David Jones, Country Road and Jo Mercer, among others.

As a shopper chooses an item to purchase online, they are promoted to send a personalised message to the receiver, so even if the item is delivered late, they will have a small gift already presented to their inbox.

This was a particularly crucial element for retailers last year as the supply chain and last-mile sectors battled delays and shortages. “What we saw was that [retailers], particularly in the lead up to Christmas last year; this was solving a problem for them when they were really constrained with shipping and delivery,” she told us.

How does it work? gift flick relies on a lightweight API, meaning retailers can use the white-label technology as a plug-in, integrated into necessary channels within a week, said Marsh.

“From a tech perspective, we’ve made this incredibly easy to set up,” she said. “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.”

Since its inception, gift flick has partnered with retailers such as David Jones and Country Road to gift stories for shoppers that purchase using digital channels. There are future plans to integrate with Kitchen Warehouse, too.

The team at Country Road have seen ‘twofold’ benefits. “The way in which our customers can now quickly and easily send a personalised gift message digitally to their loved ones using the social platform of their choice; and the benefit for our brand of an additional marketing channel to share our latest creative communications directly with customers,” said Charlie Watt, the Marketing Manager at Country Road. “The opportunities for one-to-one storytelling through gift flick gift stories are endless, and we’re excited about this new opportunity.”

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