A Wren Says

I was on the Valentino webpage, as us nonwealthy do from time to time. I noticed they were promoting an option for a virtual gifting experience: 4Gift.

As they put it, it gives you the option to give your recipient an instant digital unboxing, meaning you don’t need to worry about shipping delays. They get the fun of unwrapping a gift, even if you waited until the last minute to place your order.

This is a relatively recent tech innovation that I haven’t seen on any other sites. As a consumer, that will certainly take the pressure off, because I will still get to ensure that my loved one that yes in fact a gift is on the way. As a brand, I can see this being very useful in encouraging an online shopper to hit buy, instead of rushing off to the store to find something, anything at all.

As this innovation begins to be used by more e-commerce sites, I wonder how that will shift the retail landscape. For the first time in years, store traffic was up this holiday season, likely driven by unreliable shipments. But if you can still “give” your friend a gift in person, would you still seek to go in store at the last minute?

I haven’t used this platform yet. But have you? What do you thing about this idea?