The Gift That Keeps on Giving:
Registry Game-Changer, The Gift Network Launches
Toronto, Ontario (September 22, 2011) - Toronto based company, The Gift Network, launched today, signifying a major benchmark in the gift registry market.
The Gift Network is a free online service that allows users to create a universal gift registry consisting of all kinds of gifts, from all kinds of stores across the GTA, in a central system online at TheGiftNetwork.com.
The gift registry market has remained unchanged for years, but The Gift Network challenges the status quo maintained by department stores by bringing together independent retailers, and making their diverse inventory available in one simple registry.
With over 90 retailers and thousands of products, The Gift Network provides the ultimate selection in exceptional and unique gifts. From traditional items such as kitchenware and linens, to the less conventional, such as fine art and fitness equipment, users will now have unprecedented variety when registering for their event.
The Gift Network is distinctive in its innovative elements that simplify a once complicated process. Users have the ability to list their gifts in order of preference, convert gifts into credit, or register for The Gift Network Gift Card, which allows them to spend their credit with any associated retailer. Event guests benefit too, as all of their gift buying can be done online at the click of a mouse.
Flexibility, simplicity and variety are fundamental to any quality gift registry. The Gift Network was clearly developed with each of these factors at its core. With further developments on the horizon, such as plans for additional features and even more products, the launch of this exciting new company will change how people register, where people register and the overall landscape of the Toronto registry market.
The Broken Heel Diaries - The Gift Network
We live in a connected world; the more you build your network, the more likely you are to get what you really want in life. Luckily for us, the same thing can be said about gifts thanks to The Gift Network.
The Gift Network is a free online service that allows users to create a universal gift registry. The Gift Network joins over 100 retailers across the GTA to create an exciting and extensive inventory of goods. It's ideal for brides & grooms, birthday extravaganzas, a bridal shower, baby showers and beyond.
It's online shopping element is very convenient, as is The Gift Network gift card. This card allows users to freely shop with any of the associated retailers, and if a gift received isn't right, a gift exchange is an easy solution.
On January 28 through the 30th, The Gift Network will take part in the National Bride Show at The Direct Energy Centre. If you're in and around town, be sure to check it out. A one-shop gift registry is so passé, it's all about joining a network – do it now.
The Gift Network: Toronto's Online Gift Registry
Buying gifts can be such an overwhelming process. How do you really know if the gift you purchased is what the person wants? Even worse, what if you are the one receiving a gift that you don't like? How do you approach that situation without hurting someone's feelings by telling them you'd like to exchange or return it?
It seems The Gift Network heard our cries and has come to our rescue, creating a free online service where you can now create your own registry, filled with items you'd like to receive from over 100 stores in Toronto. Now, not only brides and grooms can enjoy all the fun of having a gift registry. The Gift Network is not only super easy to use, but you no longer have to waste time guessing what the person wants.
Easy as 1-2-3, you can browse the registry of the person you are buying for online, purchase the gift online, and the receiver can even accept their gift online. If someone gets you something you don't like, you don't have to worry anymore. You can exchange your gifts for a Gift Network gift card. Unlike the typical gift cards we are used to, The Gift Network gift card can be used at any of the retailers associated with The Gift Network.
I played around with it myself, my birthday is coming up and thought it would be neat to create a list of things I wanted. (Even if likely no one will ever look at it!) In my opinion, this service offers something we have been secretly hoping for for years. Not only is it simple to use, it offers a variety of gifts to choose from and the gift redemption process is flexible. What really impressed me is the fact that The Gift Network supports Toronto retailers, offering over 90 retailers through the GTA including Umbra, Up Country, Shop AGO, Cookbook Store, to name a few. Don't take my word for it, hurry over to their site to create your own registry.
Attention lazy wedding guests: The Gift Network - an online wedding registry service - has launched in Toronto
Toronto-based website The Gift Network launched earlier this month, providing a free online gift registry that features partnerships with over 100 stores across the GTA. Soon-to-be-wedded folk who want to skip the process of entering a few stores and scanning a few gravy boats can now avoid human contact altogether - that is, until the big night. The Gift Network offers products from boutique stores like Golda's Kitchen, The Cookbook Store, Bohm Furniture, BlackBird Vintage Finds, Metropolis Living, Umbra Concept Store and Grassroots Environmental Products, and it also allows users to post links to registries from stores that are not offered by the website, which means maybe we'll take one HBC multistripe point blanket for our collection after all. We're intrigued by the idea of a catchall registry that allows brides - and grooms-to-be to register for a lot of what they need all in one place, but much like those wedge booties you bought online that you've never worn, the one downside to this whole project is that newlyweds might get things they never needed in the first place - online shopping is still hit or miss, and if you don't hold it, touch it or scan it, it might mean a series of decorative collectibles that looked decent on a screen, but not in your home.
Too many toasters? How to redesign your gift registry
Getting ready for her big day, bride-to-be Erin Altenburger dreaded one particular task: picking out items for the gift registry. At 31, she had already spent years accumulating housewares and appliances – she didn’t want to get rid of them just for the sake of upgrading. Nor was she exactly a cup-and-saucer girl, so china sets didn’t seem practical. Plus, the 660-foot downtown Toronto condo she shares with her fiancé doesn’t have space for much more. “I was going around the Bay zapping things with the [scanning] gun that I wasn’t sure we needed or wanted, thinking: ‘Where are we going to put all of this?’ ”
Then she heard about the Gift Network, a new online registry that’s partnered with more than 100 small Toronto retailers, which collectively offers couples everything from placemats to original art, spa experiences and fitness equipment.
“It gives us way more options,” says Ms. Altenburger, who’s most excited about the $275 white cuckoo clock she picked out from Ma Zone, the $40 pair of candle holders from 1212 Decor she describes as straight out of Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland and the $18.95 toast-shaped coasters from Blackbird Vintage Finds. “This is the kind of stuff that really reflects our personalities.”
Once upon a time, wedding registries served young couples who were leaving their parents’ home for the first time and needed toasters and towels along with every other house essential. Without much choice in the home-decor market, big stores like Sears, the Bay or more upscale Holt Renfrew offered everything a new bride desired.
But now, with couples marrying later and often living together beforehand, their need for home essentials has diminished. Add to that a thriving boutique retail scene able to attract couples whose unique senses of style have had years to develop, and the industry is primed for change.
The Gift Network is just the latest entry into the alternative registry fray. New choices include cash-based sites such as WeddingRepublic.com and OurWishingWell.com that allow guests to contribute money to a couple’s own wish list, specialized sites such as eHoneymoon in Canada or Foodie Registry in the U.S. and the increasing number of small businesses launching their own online registries. The timing couldn’t be better for brides like Ms. Altenburger.
In Vancouver, Genève McNally, a wedding planner at DreamGroup Productions, witnessed the registry rebellion begin a few years ago as more small businesses launched registries online. Couples, she says, were quick to embrace their newfound choice.
“They get really excited when we show them what they can do with their registry,” Ms. McNally says. “It’s completely changed; 10 years ago, it used to just be the Bay.” Now, at the bridal shows she attends, she’s noticed the Bay handing out free $20 gift cards just to get brides to sign up. For Ms. McNally’s clients, registries to create a wine cellar, acquire a piece of original art, or embark on a dream honeymoon tend to woo the most converts away from traditional stores. And, as the Gift Network prepares to expand to major cities across Canada this year, her clients will soon have access to its niche products.
Though local businesses can set up their own registries, Cole Diamond, the founder of the Gift Network, believes that a centralized website featuring several boutique retailers best satisfies today’s couples. It provides their clients with that same one-stop shopping of a department store, while offering a wide slate of unique products.
One of the favourite features of the Gift Network, Mr. Diamond says, is the chip-in option where gift buyers can contribute to a bigger ticket item – whether that’s a $20,000 custom-designed kitchen by Dekla, or a $3,200 Sunny Choi oil and acrylic painting.
“When I was doing the market research, I talked to several married couples who said they ended up returning a lot of smaller gifts for store credit so they could pool that money to get a bigger item. This way people with any budget can contribute to a more expensive item outright,” says Mr. Diamond.
Kym Klopp, owner of EcoExistence, was one of the first to sign up with the Gift Network when it launched in September. Ms. Klopp, who sells a full line of environmentally conscious products for the home, had long wanted to set up a gift registry, but the high cost prohibited that venture.
Not only does the Gift Network allow her to reach people who wouldn’t normally walk by her store, but it equips her business with the capacity to sell online. “We’ve had people get to know our store and its products just through this registry alone,” she says.
As Ms. Altenburger and fiancé Paul Thomson finalize the details for their nuptials in July, they’ve decided to keep that Bay registry and link it to their Gift Network page – “I’ll never tire of those [Hudson’s Bay Company] point blankets,” she writes on her registry, “especially when they’re repurposed as pillows.”
But the memory of the zapper is firmly behind her. “It’s so much nicer to sit in the comfort of your home and find items that are meaningful,” she says, “the kind that people will look at and say, that’s so Erin and Paul.”
Get Gifting (Or Receiving) With The Gift Network
Firstly, to those of you who are getting married in the coming months and those of you who have recently gotten engaged, CONGRATULATIONS! YaY!
Secondly, have you heard of The Gift Network? Unfortunately when I got hitched TGN wasn’t around. Most of our collective family don’t live in the greater Toronto area (let alone the country) which made registering to a local store a little difficult. Well, that and I couldn’t think of only one store that I would want things from.
The cool thing about TGN is that you can build your registry by picking from over 100 stores across Toronto and not be beholden to one or two department stores AND do it all online! You simply login, make your selections and share your link with your guests. Plus, if you’ve picked a higher ticket item, guests can opt to ‘chip in’ that way a bunch of people can team up to get you things that you actually need for your new love nest. Sweet!
They are host to some of Toronto’s top home furnishing stores as well as spas, galleries and more.
If you’re getting hitched (or just dreaming about it) TGN is a fun & convenient way to get exactly what you want and need. PLUS there are no fees and you don’t have to leave the comfort of your own home to do it.
xo,
Coco.
Behold, The Gift Network: Exclusive Interview With President, Cole Diamond
Now that winter is but bitter memory, Spring is here and couples waltz down the isle – yes, wedding season is upon us again. However, on the heels of this happiest of times, comes the dilemma of what precisely to buy freshly wedded couples, and more pointedly, finding the time in a hectic schedule to purchase a gift. Behold, The Gift Network. In essence, it is an efficient online one-stop-shop centralized website, that enables registrants to browse the inventory over 130 specialty retailers in the Greater Toronto Area. Additionally, members can visit a partner store to see products in person, and have products added to their registry, if so desired.
The Gift Network is the brainchild of founder and president, Cole Diamond. Founded in December 2010, and launched in October 2011, The Gift Network is very much on an upward trajectory.
Shalom Life was able to chat with Cole Diamond, about the company that he founded.
How did you come up with the concept of The Gift Network?
About 10 years ago, my cousin Alana was getting married and my mother told me I was old enough to buy my own gifts. When she told me that I had to visit The Bay to purchase her a gift from her registry, I said to her "why do I have to go The Bay? It’s a generic department store; there's so many other places that have better and more unique gifts". My mother's reply was simple, "She did a gift registry, and a gift registry is done at one department store only, and she chose The Bay!" Growing up in the 21st century, I thought that was weird, and wondered why people couldn't simply create their registry with more than one store, get access to a wider range of product, and manage it all in one centralized location to make it easy for their guests. Being in my late teens, I thought it was a great business idea, but knew I was too young and inexperienced to pursue it so I went and gained a ton of experience in sales, marketing, and software and then re-visited the idea in February 2011 when I recognized that no one had taken advantage of this idea I thought of years ago...and here we are today.
Who are the creative forces behind the company?
The Gift Network has a diverse team behind it composed of an 8-person investment team and 16 in-office employees. To label one or two people, as the creative force behind The Gift Network would overlook the hard work put in by the 25 or so people involved. Everyone has had their hand in helping build The Gift Network to what it is today. Without input from this many people, we would not be as successful as we have been. I credit our entire team as a creative force; without them, we are nothing!
Can you give us a brief overview of how The Gift Network works?
The Gift Network has 130+ partner locations across the GTA. Registrants create their registry on www.thegiftnetwork.com and then can start browsing for gifts from all of the retailers, adding products at a single click. Products are placed into a centralized registry, known as the registrant's "Registry Profile," and guests can visit the page to purchase gifts in a multitude of ways. The first is to simply purchase a gift outright. A guest will find a gift in their price range and purchase it. However, there are instances where a guest's price range and the products listed on the registrants profile, do not correspond. To combat this issue, The Gift Network offers two solutions: the first is a "chip in" feature for more expensive gifts. If a registrant wants a sectional sofa or piece of art for $1,500 dollars, a guest can visit their registry and "chip-in" any amount they feel comfortable contributing. Alternatively, The Gift Network offers a gift card known as the "TGN Gift Card" which is redeemable at any of The Gift Network's partner locations. Some registrants who do not know what gifts they want, will simply ask for their guests to purchase them the gift card so they can go shopping at their own convenience after their wedding, when they have the time to focus on getting the things they really need or want.
How old are you?
I'm 28 years old. My brother and business partner Ari is 24 years old. Together, we're a savvy 52-year-old CEO! Our Director of Business Development, Corey Shankman, is 26 years old and is an integral part of our business. We have a strong bunch of hardworking 20-somethings hungry for success!
What’s next on your agenda for the company?
The Gift Network has a lot planned for the future; given our strong relationships with our store partners, the sky is the limit. The gift registry market is just the beginning for us. A general gift card program for boutique and independent retailers is already in the works, as well as a push to go national with our registry service. We will be able to service customers across the country within 6 months. And then, we'll be going south to service our friends in the United States.
Where do you see The Gift Network in 5 years?
I see The Gift Network as a popular online shopping destination for unique and diverse products from Canadian-owned retail and service providers. I also see the most diverse gift card program in the country, with the ability to redeem the same gift card at an art gallery in Vancouver or a kitchen store in Mississauga. Our goal is to always grow, and leverage our partners and their products to give the Canadian population better access to bricks and mortar retail through an easy and robust online shopping experience.
The Gift Network: Shopping Made Easy
The Gift Network is transforming the way you purchase gifts for weddings, birthdays and everything in between in the ultimate timesaving one-stop shop that guarantees hassle-free shopping and well-received gifts. The gift-buying dilemma is nothing new; Marshall’s started the first gift registry in the 1920s to solve the problem of what to buy newly married couples. People still don’t know what to buy people – the gift card business is a $7 billion dollar industry in Canada and $100 billion in the United States. For young professionals time is precious, and it just so happens to be that time again: wedding season. Thankfully, The Gift Network offers a centralized website that features close to 120 boutique retailers (think 120 unique registries in one) to satisfy the unique needs of today’s young couple and urban professionals in general. Not just for the bridal market, The Gift Network is set to transform the entire gift-giving game in Canada.
In terms of efficiency, The Gift Network offers clients the same one-stop shopping experience of a department store, but with a specialized and unique set of products in a completely free service that grants users access to The Gift Network’s store partners’ products on one user-friendly system. This eliminates the stress and hassle of creating a gift registry at the typical department stores (that offer a little bit of everything, but specialize in nothing) by providing unique options from carefully selected retailers.
One of the best features about The Gift Network is that they work with Canadian-owned, independent businesses that specialize in the products that they sell. Storeowners personally do the purchasing to ensure high-quality, unique products that make great gifts. As opposed to generic department stores, the specialized stores offered by The Gift Network mean specialized service. Not just an online entity, members can actually go into stores and register for The Gift Network as well as add things to their registry. The Gift Network then allows independent business owners to reach people who wouldn’t normally walk by their stores in addition to the capacity to sell online, with some people getting to know the store and products through the registry alone.
The Gift Network enables users to custom design their own profile for their registry, complete with a profile picture and tailored welcome message. You can even post links to other gift registries on The Gift Network Registry. The profile can take the place of the increasingly common wedding website. Once their profiles are created, members can create a registry where they can log on and easily add desired products to their wish lists. The registry entitles members to a Gift Network gift card that is reloadable and can be used at any partner store, with leftover money put back on the card and valid at any store or location. If gift buyers don’t find anything on the registry that appeals to them, they can opt to put money on the gift card.
When gifts are purchased, the member will be informed of any new gift and sent a message, whereby they can decline or accept the gift. If they decline, the cost of the gift will be put in their account including all of the taxes. A popular feature of the site is the “chip in factor” which allows members to prioritize gifts with the most expensive item – like a rare piece of art or a kitchen makeover – placed at the top of the list that allows gift-givers to chip in what they want. This saves the common occurrence of couples that return smaller items for store credit so that they may pool the money to purchase a larger item. If they don’t make it to the entire cost of the item, the money is put back on the gift card.
The mastermind behind The Gift Network is Toronto-based young professional Cole Diamond, who is the company’s Founder and President. Entrepreneurial in spirit from a young age, Diamond started his first company in high school along with Notable.ca Founder Julian Brass called Exquisite Events, a company that threw concerts and events for their young peers. Diamonds attended King’s College at Dalhousie University but left after his second year to fuel his desire to jump into the workplace and begin to make his mark. He did just that, landing prosperous and impactful positions at Rainbow Play Systems, Jonas Software and PPX. The idea for The Gift Network came to Diamond when his oldest cousin was getting married and he was directed to her gift registry. Baffled that she could be registered only at one store, he saw a major need for a better gift-giving system among his time-strapped and frequently gifting friends and the receivers, all with unique and refined tastes.
The Gift Network was founded December 2010 and went live in October 2011. According to Diamond, the creation of The Gift Network was more of a challenge than other entrepreneurial startups in that it required the creation of something from nothing, with nothing to copy. This was especially time consuming and challenging in that the nature of the site requires such extensive back-end work. Diamond, however, was taught not to rush and account for mistakes early on. It paid off – even without formal marketing procedures put into play, 70 people used The Gift Network to shop for the 2011 holiday season this past December. When the company celebrated the public launch in January, The Gift Network already had over 1000 registered brides.
The traction is not slowing down anytime soon. Currently featuring a strong team of nine key players (including Cole’s brother Ari Diamond as the Director of Operations), this will increase to eleven in the near future. The Gift Network also relies on the expertise of an advisory board and a part-time CFO and CTO. By October, The Gift Network is set to expand into Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa and increase its e-commerce activity to include a range of stores and services available through a Gift Network account, including spas, yoga studios, hotels and restaurants.
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