As someone for whom gifts are at the very bottom of my love language list, I rarely think to give gifts to others, and when I do, I struggle to figure out what to give. It isn’t necessarily for lack of imagination, but there’s plenty of self-doubt in regards to whether or not the other person actually wants the gift–I don’t want to buy something that someone won’t use or value.
Even the default idea for me–chocolate–has a certain level of uncertainty to it. I’m guessing that most people enjoy some types of chocolate, but do they prefer milk or dark? Plain or nuts, fruit, truffles, toffee, etc?
This conundrum comes to mind at the end of the year when it’s somewhat traditional for companies to send gifts to key clients and contractors. Sometimes I’ve sent gift baskets or Stonemaier webstore credit, sometimes I’ve just sent a thank you note or nothing at all.
I had a little inkling of an idea today that might help people like me who want to give gifts of gratitude that a relative stranger would value (beyond just “the thought that counts”). Here’s the concept:
Say there’s an important contractor or client for whom you want to buy a gift. You enter their email in the Gyft app, and that person receives an anonymous email saying, “Someone wants to buy you a gift in appreciation of your work. Check any of the following that you would value:”
The ensuing list would include things like food, books, games, drinks, pet toys, and so on. For each category the person selects, they have the option of getting more specific. They can also choose not to select anything–perhaps gifts aren’t their thing.
You then receive their response and can decide what to do with it. A smart, revenue-driven version of the app would link to some suggestions, but it doesn’t even need to do that.
Even though this is a form of commercialism, if people are going to buy gifts for each other, I think it’s much better if an app like this increased the number of gifts that are actually put into use.
What do you think? Would this be helpful to you? Does it already exist in some form?