My family has a need for this right now.
Like many families, our extended family has a Kris Kringle every year at Christmas, where each person is randomly assigned a member of the family to buy a gift for.
There are a few major problems with it:
- The process of drawing names and communicating to everyone is a little slow and cumbersome. Until recently it was done manually with names put in envelopes and handed to people a few weeks prior. These days it's done via email which is a bit easier, but it's still slower than it needs to be.
- The bigger problem is that people too often end up with presents they don't particularly like. This is to be expected; in a big extended family, the giver will often not be familiar enough with the receiver to know what the person would really like. Through fear of giving a gift that may be unwelcome, people often resort to generic gifts like bottles of wine.
It's most likely everyone would have a book or CD/DVD or garment or something else that they'd be quite happy to receive, but it's not known to the giver - and can't be inquired about because it's meant to be secret.
I propose a website that allows the following:
- randomly assigns each family/group member a gift recipient, whilst allowing manual overriding.
- allows each group member to submit a wishlist - a few items they'd like to receive
- notifies family/group members of their assigned recipient and of gift suggestions.
The app must be very simple and user-friendly, as it must be usable by family members who may be computer-illiterate. It should allow for people who can't use computers at all (allow admin user to easily retrieve info and convey via post/phone).
The app would be useful to families, social groups and workplaces.
It could be monetised via contextual advertising, and indeed could be quite lucrative, given that the service is so closely linked to retail commerce.
I've searched widely for such a site and whilst some exist, they are poorly designed and too complicated for me to be willing to ask my family members to use.