Kiiah registry reimagines dollar-gifting for modern lifestyles
Gift cards and crowdfunding have become disruptive approaches to gift registries. Kiiah, through its web platform, offers the self-motivated, like new graduates, entrepreneurs, and travel enthusiasts, a chance to achieve their goals with the help of friends and family close by, distant or even internationally.
The web-sphere and imaginative thinkers have altered forever the way we function in our day-to-day lives. AirBnb has changed the global lodging landscape; Uber has disrupted the status-quo of the taxi industry. Kiiah now plans to quash token stuff-gifting (like random gift cards), and to redirect that monetary fuel for meaningful wants, practical needs and passion-driven goals.
Currently, most gifts are either sent through international mail, delivered in person, or ordered via third-parties like Amazon. About $10 billion is spent on gifts in Canada every year, and outside of Christmas and other holidays, Canadians spend an average of $166 a month on gifts and gift cards.
Kiiah was founded on the premise that most gifts and gift cards are given with luv, received with thanks, but alas, never used. All too often your gift-cards are not redeemed as they may not suit your preferences, your stage of life or are simply forgotten in a gift bag or your bedside table.
We pronounce our company name “Ky-ah” and our proposition is simple…stop wasting hard-earned financial resources on gifting for the sake of gifting. Instead, use your funds to spring-board something meaningful for the people you value.
Kiiah plans to change how we think about gift-giving with a novel approach questioning the intention and purpose of a gift itself. Expenditures on retail store registries, online gift registries, crowdfunding and gift cards can all be redirected through Kiiah to empower university graduates, entrepreneurs and travel enthusiasts with an opportunity to achieve their dreams. Through Kiiah, your goals are realized with the help of family, friends and co-workers who would otherwise have spent fruitless dollars on token gifts. As a user, you create a private space where you share your dream gifts, current needs and future goals.
Our research into the gifting space found that 79 per cent of Canadians would like to receive an open-loop gift card for Christmas, permitting them to purchase exactly what they want, when they want it. Three out of four people would prefer to receive cash for their birthday. The Kiiah platform is a way of enabling these preferences, while still preserving the gift-givers’ choice for the dream they want to fund. When users present the checklist of their desires, needs and passions, the Kiiah model requires that they value their asks. In this dynamic way, gift-givers are ensured that they are supporting a dream that becomes meaningful to them and becomes a reality to the grateful recipients!
How Does It Work?
You create your private registry by signing up to Kiiah via Facebook or email. Simply take photos of your wants and needs using your mobile device or import images from the web. Add a few lines of text and repeat. This is how your personal registry is populated.
Items can be added at any time as there is no set time frame unless you choose one. By sharing the secure link to your private registry with friends, family and coworkers, they are invited to participate by choosing any of your dreams, desires or passions and then contributing funds required to fulfill them. Funds are streamed directly into your selected account, ready to kickstart your ideas. When their contribution is received, a personalized “Thank-You” message will be sent automatically. Of course, you can follow up with a more intimate expression of gratitude…at your leisure.
Why Is It Different?
Kiiah is a “contribute as you can platform”. You, as the user, can receive funds from family, friends and co-workers of varying amounts. Your registry can be kept totally private or shared publicly on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn or even by Whatsapp, text messages and email. Only you, the recipient, can see who donated to your fund and how much. This way contributors are free to give what they can without feeling influenced or pressured by other donors. Public mode is meant for alternate purposes like charity fundraising, school fundraising and human disaster causes.
You can learn more about Kiiah by checking out the website at Kiiah.com. The website is currently accepting early access sign ups and will be fully live this fall.
Sources:
- Stats: https://www.thestar.com/business/2016/04/19/cash-is-king-as-wedding-gift-survey-says.html
- $10 billion industry https://www.cangift.org/en/about-us/about-cangift/
- Canadians prefer cash or open loop gift cards http://www.cppo.ca/news/5-cppo-news/canadian-gift-trends-survey-finds-gift-cards-are-the-most-popular-gift-this-holiday-season
