About Us
As a small child, receiving Christmas and birthday presents was probably the highlight of your year. The gift-wrapped boxes hid all kinds of exciting treasures, and no amount of shaking and prodding could reveal their secrets. However, you quickly came to fear the soft, malleable parcel from Aunty Betty that was bound to contain yet another purple skivvy.
While your local Op Shop probably benefits from the gift recycling that occurs with unwanted gifts, we thought it would be better to avoid the embarrassment and waste in the first place.
FamilyWrap was formed to banish unsuitable gifts forever.
We do this by allowing Mums and Dads to share details about their childrens’ likes, dislikes, and clothing sizes, with those well-intentioned Aunties, Uncles, Grandparents and other gift-givers.
Biographies
Susannah Sabine
Susannah is a Masters student studying Social Science of the Internet. She is a mother of three, and step mother of 7. All of her children’s aunts, uncles and grandparents live interstate and have no idea what her children like or dislike. As a child she hated receiving pink things from her aunts.
Danny Hetherington
Danny is a management consultant and father of two. In 1993 he told his mother that he thought a particular comic strip was slightly amusing, and he has since accumulated an impressive collection of ‘Far Side’ calendars, diaries and coffee mugs.
Andrew Mouchemore
Andrew has worked in the television and music industries and is currently developing a number of domains He has raised two children, now teenagers, the most difficult of family members to choose a gift for.
Navinda Kottege
Navinda recently completed his PhD in Robotics. He had to spend a substantial amount of valuable time trying to figure out which gifts to give for his family members while writing his thesis. He quickly realized how useful it would be to have a system to take the hassle out of the gift choosing/ gift buying process.
Srimal Jayawardena
Srimal recently started his PhD research. He has wasted much time and effort buying redundant and unsolicited gifts for his family. His PhD thesis is not on purchasing family gifts.
Spencer Thomas
Spencer is completing a B.Science and a B.AsianStudies. He holds a Cert.IV in Graphic Design and composes music for instrumental performance. His grandparents from overseas sent him a birthday gift each year of his childhood that would have been the perfect gift … four years earlier.
Business Overview
What problem does FamilyWrap solve?
A recent survey found that over 2/3 of all Australians received an unwanted gift last Christmas, and these were valued at close to $1 billion.
We all know that receiving unwanted gifts is awkward, and it’s almost impossible to provide feedback to the gift-giver without causing offence.
FamilyWrap seeks to help people choose more appropriate gifts for their loved ones. We do this by allowing parents and children to enter details about their likes and dislikes, clothing sizes, and even to enter wishlists. This information can then be shared with extended family, close friends, and other loved ones, to assist them in choosing gifts that will be appreciated.
Who is the target market?
Anyone who is a mother, father, son, or daughter.
FamilyWrap is aimed at families – particularly those with young children, and extended families that are geographically dispersed.
FamilyWrap assists Grandparents, Aunties, and Uncles to choose more appropriate gifts for their grandchildren, sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, brothers and sisters.
The likes and dislikes of all members of a family are entered into the FamilyWrap website, and these can then be shared with other members of the extended family. Parents and children will be able to update their likes and dislikes, clothing sizes, favourite colours and other information about themselves. There will also be a ‘wishlist’ function that enables people to identify specific gifts that they would like.
What is your business model?
FamilyWrap makes money through advertising.
Members of an extended family are likely to visit the FamilyWrap website prior to a gift-giving occasion (e.g. Christmas, birthdays) in order to inform their decision. Therefore they are likely to be very interested in making a purchase soon after their visit. Advertisements can be customized to match the various profiles listed on FamilyWrap (so if your niece likes dolls, you‘ll see advertisements for Barbie; if your nephew likes building things, you’ll see advertisements for Lego). The ‘Wishlist’ feature also allows users of the site to list specific products that they would like.