Study finds customers groups are using giftlists
and wishlist in some unexpected ways.
Date:
Summary:
Online wishlists and giftlists are growing in popularity beyond traditional
Wedding Registries. Now, all sorts of
people are using them – and some in rather surprising ways. People want one list that works everywhere
not lots of lists at lots of different sites.
A Study by TheThingsIWant.com
Research findings:
|
US Customer Groups: |
% of Total Customer Base |
|
Wedding
Couples |
29 |
|
New/Mothers-to-be |
6 |
|
Families
(multiple users) |
12 |
|
Teenagers
(14-19) |
28 |
|
20-45 |
17 |
|
45+ |
8 |
About Customer Groups:
The
biggest customer group (29% of US) and best by far in terms of overall usage
are the brides and grooms to be. They’re
the ones who are most actively looking for an online wishlist. They’re also the most knowledgeable. They know that they don’t want to be tied
down to one store’s registry or wishlist.
They want to be able to choose items from a variety of stores – online
and offline.
The traditional
view of a couple wanting everything for setting up house for the first time is
an anachronism. Many are getting married
for the second and third time and are as likely to want a new electric drill as
they are a kitchen mixer. This group is
demanding in terms of search, password protection, and Share
functionality.
Of the
other groups Teenagers (28%) and New Mothers and Mothers-to-be (6%) are the
least demanding in terms of functionality.
It seems they just want a place to save stuff they find on the net at
different stores. They don’t necessarily
have a reason to share their list and have the fewest (average 3) people on
their contact lists.
Three Other Surprising Usages:
1. For
Comparative Shopping – users said they would window-shop
the web adding the same or similar products from different sites until they
felt they had enough products in their consideration set to make a purchase
decision. This way they had the prices
and features and site names side by side to make a good choice from. This seems to be particularly used on high
ticket items like computers, cameras and second hand cars and boats.
2. For
Overseas Offline Purchase – customers explained, especially in
3. For Small
Business Procurement – a few users (mostly in the
Company Comment:
“We’re
very pleased to be among the first to release general information about who and
how people are using use-it-anywhere wishlists like TheThingsIWant.com” said
Guy White, CEO of WhiteStripe Inc. “Clearly, couples-to-be are the leading
group. But it’s good to know that other
groups want a universal product that works at virtually any store as well. The web’s supposed to put the customer in
charge and our gift list products clearly help them do that. We give the maximum functionality – they can
use that functionality however they like.
We hope the customer keeps finding new uses - as long as they’re legal.”
About WhiteStripe Inc:
WhiteStripe
Inc. manages a three proprietary universal wishlist
products
Spanish (www.MiListaDeDeseos.com)
Portuguese (www.CoisasQueQuero.com).
They also
offer a plug-in version to boost Portal and e-commerce sites’ total customer
ownership programs.