> We find the best gifts each month to show how much you care.
Apparently, the subscribers of this service are only expected to care about their partner approximately $50/month's worth. Plus whatever small amount initially signing up for this service is worth.
Generally, women love receiving gifts just to show you care. $50/month is showing a small token of appreciation, from flowers to gift boxes. It's obviously no substitute for the more thoughtful gifts you may give once or twice a year.
Are you not concerned that this might backfire horribly? This is basically outsourcing caring. I can definitely see someone interpreting this as "He doesn't care enough about me to spend time thinking about what I would like."
I don't mean to be shitting all over your business idea; I don't think it's a bad idea, but there are definitely some, uh, marketing problems to be overcome :P
I have definitely thought about that and for the most part we'll be sourcing directly through major companies like 1-800-flowers, anthropologie and etsy. And I love the criticism, only way to improve a mvp :)
One thing you could do would be to have the purchaser choose from three options (e.g., a bouquet of flowers, a chocolate box + teddy bear, or a wine glass set). While this would make logistics more complex, the end result would be more tailored gifts -- for example, many people are allergic to flowers. If they get a bouquet, they'll question why it was purchased.
And if you solicit feedback after the gift is received, you can start doing some sorts of recommendations. If this user's significant other really liked the wine glasses, maybe next time you have one of the options be a picnic accessories set. If not, you offer more chocolate.
Also, letting the purchaser choose the gift means it's not a surprise to the purchaser when it shows up. This eliminates possible awkwardness where the purchaser doesn't know about the gift.
> Generally, women love receiving gifts just to show you care.
Without comment on the gender stereotyping, I think lots of people in relationships like frequent, minor indications that there partners are thinking of them.
Those people are unlikely to be satisfied (though may initially be deceived) by having this pawned off on a paid third party (whether the cliché of the wealthy professional whose gifts to their partner are all chosen by their assistant, or a service like the one proposed here which basically has the same relationship to the cliché as a cleaning service with a a variety of clients has to a full-time maid working for one employer.)
Is the page background indicative of where one's relationship will soon end up after the other partner finds out? :) [Sorry couldn't help myself!]
On a more constructive note, a generic postcard arriving in mail is pretty lame, if I can have live flowers delivered once a month for around 100 bucks per quarter from numerous established players.
Are you planning to offer any sort of customization/tailoring ala birchbox?
I think you've got the right idea, but the way you've set it up will be the fast road to ending many relationships:
It's monthly. How predictable. Small gifts to a special someone only work when it's unpredictable... when you least expect something but when you get something you're surprised. This type of giving isn't best expressed through a Birchbox. The whole part of "You'll get credit for being thoughtful every month" will translate to "You'll remind me how lazy you are each month with this love-as-a-service (LAAS)
You got my interest because the Nth week of every month seems to be reliably bad/depressing for my partner. But I'm not sure what to expect if I subscribe. Have you thought to add a list of things that a subscriber might expect? (I particularly don't want flowers or confections - durable things would be more in line with my value system.)
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[ 3.7 ms ] story [ 32.6 ms ] threadApparently, the subscribers of this service are only expected to care about their partner approximately $50/month's worth. Plus whatever small amount initially signing up for this service is worth.
I don't mean to be shitting all over your business idea; I don't think it's a bad idea, but there are definitely some, uh, marketing problems to be overcome :P
And if you solicit feedback after the gift is received, you can start doing some sorts of recommendations. If this user's significant other really liked the wine glasses, maybe next time you have one of the options be a picnic accessories set. If not, you offer more chocolate.
Also, letting the purchaser choose the gift means it's not a surprise to the purchaser when it shows up. This eliminates possible awkwardness where the purchaser doesn't know about the gift.
Without comment on the gender stereotyping, I think lots of people in relationships like frequent, minor indications that there partners are thinking of them.
Those people are unlikely to be satisfied (though may initially be deceived) by having this pawned off on a paid third party (whether the cliché of the wealthy professional whose gifts to their partner are all chosen by their assistant, or a service like the one proposed here which basically has the same relationship to the cliché as a cleaning service with a a variety of clients has to a full-time maid working for one employer.)
On a more constructive note, a generic postcard arriving in mail is pretty lame, if I can have live flowers delivered once a month for around 100 bucks per quarter from numerous established players.
Are you planning to offer any sort of customization/tailoring ala birchbox?
It's monthly. How predictable. Small gifts to a special someone only work when it's unpredictable... when you least expect something but when you get something you're surprised. This type of giving isn't best expressed through a Birchbox. The whole part of "You'll get credit for being thoughtful every month" will translate to "You'll remind me how lazy you are each month with this love-as-a-service (LAAS)