The GiftZip.com Story

GiftZip.com started in a sustainable supply chain class at Michigan State University. The founder was challenged to improve an inefficient supply chain. Having just returned from a holiday break with a pocketful of plastic gift cards, he formed a team to investigate gift card giving. They found that gift cards were nothing more than alphanumeric codes entered online or read by a scanner in a store. The plastic, other than providing something physical to give, was just for show.

The team discovered that many retailers bypass the plastic altogether, providing instant emailable gift cards, or eGift cards. This choice, however, was hard to find on most stores' web sites. Web retailers selling eGift cards intentionally bury them deep within the site, requiring customers to browse through promotions and merchandise. Though clearly the easiest to give, eGift cards were anything but easy to get to.

Further focus groups revealed that, if given the choice, an overwhelming 84% of people would prefer to send and receive gift cards electronically. Nearly all gift card sales, however, occur in stores. So how could the majority of gift cards be purchased in a fashion completely against consumer preference? The answer was a bad shopping infrastructure. Nothing online offered the selection, speed, and convenience of the kiosk. GiftZip.com was born.

GiftZip.com is just like that in-store kiosk, but online, allowing us to offer hundreds of retailers to millions of people. Enjoy!

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