Blue Skies Ahead for the MENA's Only E-Gift Card Platform

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Alexis Baghdadi
May 21 2015
Startups
Blue Skies Ahead for the MENA's Only E-Gift Card Platform
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Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP) recently made an undisclosed investment in Yougotagift.com, the MENA’s only online mall for gift cards and wedding registries.

Yougotagift.com is majority-owned by HoneyBee Tech Ventures, who seeded the platform at its idea stage in 2013. Its founders, Abed Bibi and Husain Makiya, are both part of the Dubai-based incubator (as co-founder and managing partner, respectively).

HoneyBee Tech Ventures also has a majority stake in the recruitment site Laimoon, the restaurant booking site RoundMenu, and the crowdshipping platform Friendshippr, which it developed, financed, and currently operates.

Yougotagift.com currently covers more than 80 retail stores in 4 countries (primarily in the UAE and Lebanon, followed by Saudi Arabia and Qatar). It has totaled 15,000 users to date, mostly from the MENA region, the UK, the USA, India, Ireland, Australia, and Canada.

As part of its scaling plan, Yougotagift.com is launching a new app for iOS and Android smartphones. It is also planning to expand in new markets, namely Egypt, Kuwait, and Bahrain. Afterwards, it will consider the UK market.

Personalizing the E-Gifting Experience

Yougotagift.com’s USP is it personalization feature.

When most people think of gift cards, they think of an impersonal voucher. Wedding registries through banks don’t exactly provide a satisfying user experience either. Yougotagift.com wants to change that. The platform offers users the choice to personalize their gift with a photo or video.

“We live in a world where we convey emotions on WhatsApp and fall in love via messaging, so gift cards can – and should – do more than that for sure!” said Abed Bibi, co-founder of Yougotagift.com.

For wedding registries, Yougotagift.com offers newlyweds the choice between getting a gift card (acceptable in all partner brands’ stores), and deposits in their bank accounts.

Finally, under corporate rewards, enterprises can purchase branded gift cards to give out to their employees and customers.

Unchallenged in the MENA

For now, it appears that Yougotagift.com is the only operating e-gifting platform in the MENA. In 2012, another platform (JustGiftIt) had ventured into the field. Sadly, it didn’t make it in the evolving digital landscape.

The difference between the two is that JustGiftIt used to focus more on free gift cards and bet on Facebook integration. It viewed itself as a marketing channel, rather than a sales platform, targeting businesses primarily. It had also introduced a mobile app very early on.

By comparison, Yougotagift.com does not require a Facebook login, and follows a purely B2C model. This model probably made more sense to retailers as it combined the benefits of marketing with sales.

The platform also offers white labeling - a concept that isn't very common in the region, said Bibi. Adopting Yougotagift.com’s e-gift card system can turn any store into an e-commerce site within 24 hours. This is an attractive option for small stores, and even for bigger brands like Virgin.

Retailer Buy-In Guarantees Sustainability

Some retailers approach Yougotagift.com through Google Ads or social media. But the company’s partnership team is the real engine behind engaging brands.

Sometimes, though, brands require a little more explanation before they decide to buy in. “I assure them that they are losing if they don’t respond, because they will miss the boat and be forgotten in the digital world,” said Bibi.

The system can track every gift card transaction and its location, providing merchants with feedback.

YouGotaGift.com does extensive marketing campaigns for its service, as well as to increase exposure for its brand partners. In addition to digital marketing and social media campaigns, it often uses conventional channels such as print ads.

“Retailers should also realize that the more they push their brand and communicate that people can purchase their gift cards online, the more they will create sales from different parts of the world – it is marketing 101,” said Bibi. Some of their partner stores are seeking to reach new markets in Australia, the UK, India, the USA, etc. he explained.

YouGotaGift.com earns a percentage on each transaction, depending on the merchant category. In the future, it aims to have a new revenue stream from advertising, said Bibi.