Gifting Reimagined with Robin

From spaces to banking to eyewear and beyond, offline businesses are being rapidly reinvented. As an investor, I’m curious about how people are changing the industries they work in. “Reimagined with Robin” is a show where I conduct live 15-minute interviews with founders and change-drivers who are reimagining all aspects of life.

?I’ve been following the trajectory of Snappy , a gifting platform that was initially started as a way to solve enterprise gift gifting solutions—think HR-driven employee appreciation gifts, thank-you gifts, or other corporate reward gifting. It’s easy to use for companies, but Snappy is now also available to the average consumer just in time for the holidays.

Anyone can use Snappy to find gifts across a variety of categories like tech, food, and beauty, or by occasions, such as birthdays, health and wellness, and general congratulations. With more than 2 million unique gifts in stock at any moment from vendors across the world, Snappy simplifies thoughtful gift-giving.

To get a sense of what’s different and important about Snappy, I talked with Hani Goldstein , founder and CEO, and then chatted with Ruth Wang , Head of Consumer.

As a special treat for all our readers, I’m also excited to share a discount for Snappy so that you can try it out! Use code GGV15 for 15% off* your first Snappy gift on snappygifts.com!?

*Valid on first orders only. Limit one per customer. Expires Dec 31, 2022.

PART ONE: HANI GOLDSTEIN, FOUNDER AND CEO OF SNAPPY

What are you reimagining?

Put simply, Snappy is reimagining gift-giving. It can be hard to know what to buy—what color, does the person have it already, will they like it, and not to mention the size, or where to even ship the gift? “We’ve learned that 65% of Americans have trouble with gift-giving,” says Hani. That struggle often results in hundreds of thousands of dollars in returns every year.

Snappy’s a one-click, one-stop shop for gift-giving, no matter how big or small the company, or no matter who the recipient is.

What’s different about Snappy?

Data has shown that a huge portion of gift cards go unredeemed. And gift cards can feel “transactional,” says Hani, rather than personal and specific. So often too the recipient uses the card for something practical, which doesn’t feel like a gift. With Snappy, “we actually built our entire solution as a marketplace with real products and experiences,” says Hani. In other words, it’s not as simple as a gift showing up at someone’s doorstep or desk. It could be a gift you scratch off on your mobile screen, or it can be a song or a video that you add to the experience of the recipient. You can send company swag, or you can send a cake.

How will our world be changed by Snappy in the next 5-10 years?

“We always say at Snappy that the mission is to spread smiles all over the world with a click of a button. Hopefully, we are able to generate a lot more gratitude and make it easier to show your support and appreciation to other people,” says Hani.

On a practical level, though, Snappy aims to solidify its status as a one-stop shop for sending almost any kind of gift—an aggregator that makes it easier regardless of whether you're an everyday consumer or an enterprise customer.

Finally, Snappy wants to create a positive impact on the world, says Hani. The company has already raised over $1 million for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, for example, which goes right toward fulfilling wishes for kids who need them. But other initiatives are underway too, such as planting trees, donating to other organizations, and volunteering time to causes that employees believe in—it’s another way of giving. “I think it's a privilege to have a fast-growing company that because it’s growing so fast and doing great things, it can also have a great impact on the world,” she says.

How are you reimagining yourself as a leader this year?

Growing and learning top the list for Hani and Snappy, along with innovation. “I think a company that stops there, that’s the end of it,” she says. Hani says that devising new, fun, and creative ways to help users be happy is a key part of their mission, plus gratitude.

PART 2: RUTH WANG, HEAD OF CONSUMER AT SNAPPY

What’s the goal of the Snappy consumer platform?

Ruth oversees the Snappy consumer platform, which launched in October. The idea is to “ease gift-giving anxieties by reinventing the giving and receiving experiences by giving the gift of choice,” says Ruth. All you need is a phone number or an email address.

Instead of guesswork on the part of the giver, you can let your friends and family pick what they want from a curated collection of gift options based on the budget you set. Recipients can then look through some exciting options and find the perfect gift they want. Snappy aims to make the experience to be as seamless as possible, and “full of joy and delight,” says Ruth.?

Why can’t we just do this on Amazon?

Snappy combines technology personalization and creativity to deliver not just a gift, but a gifting experience that’s easy and intuitive for those who are giving, and fun and delightful for the recipient. Because Snappy launched its consumer giving on top of an existing robust B2B platform, it’s powered by some cutting-edge technologies. You can’t get a gift from Amazon that sings to you, or one that even includes an interactive experience that’s “almost like going through playing a game to actually find that perfect gift you want,” says Ruth.

Curating gift experiences is both “an art and a science,” says Ruth. On the Snappy platform, people can even gift according to their values by shopping small, or by sourcing gifts from makers with diversity and inclusion in mind.

Why is this the right moment to launch the big consumer platform?

The pandemic has taught us all a lot, including the value of being grateful for and reflecting on our priorities and who are the most important people in our lives. The pandemic may be “exiting,” as Ruth puts it, but she hopes people are staying tuned into gratitude and showing appreciation to others through creative gift-giving.

The other reason? So many people have moved because of the pandemic, making it harder to keep track of friends and loved ones. But if you still have someone’s email address or a phone number, that’s all you need to start the gift-giving process.

How are you imagining yourself as a leader for 2023 and beyond?

Snappy continues to build itself as a diverse global team, but Ruth wants to evolve, too, as a leader, “especially as a woman of color executive. It’s so important to have representation at the top because women need to see the possibilities—what they could become[1] ?[2] ?[3] ?.”

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+ Special thanks to my colleagues?Amy Chen ?and?Megan Tung ?who made this come to life!