Online gifts still don’t work.
Well, they technically work, but not as a consumer event.
Giving a gift is an event but treated as a transaction.
My grinch-like last minute Christmas gift buying laziness means I buy a lot of ‘considerate’ vouchers. I know I’m not alone.
But most companies don’t help.
On the surface, the certificate below looks OK, but…..
They gave the option to email it to the recipient on a certain date. Makes sense, but as a Christmas or birthday gift, do I turn up empty handed and tell them the gift is ‘in the mail’
Do I send it a day early and then ruin the surprise? Either way it eliminates the social norm of handing over a gift.
So I send the eCertificate to myself. Then it’s plastered with ‘my’ email address.
The certificate doesn’t print well because the bottom is littered with disclaimers.
The certificate is poorly sized and needs to be trimmed with a guillotine (or crooked scissor cuts).
A transaction makes an experience not.