Not long ago, I reviewed the portfolio website and wedding website of Jason Gurley. At the end of the entry, I said that I’d like to discuss a new opportunity many might not have noticed happening around the Internet.
Though the opportunist might not agree so much about the idea implemented here because it’ll question ‘asian culture’ but I think other Malaysians today are becoming more modern and tech-savvy on their own.
After all, wouldn’t an online method be great to lessen the worries of a couples already stressing woes about choosing wedding locations, restaurants, photographers, guests and etc?
Jason and Susan are using the Amazon.com Wedding gift registry service. Amazon as usual done it with simplicity in mind and it’s easy to look up anyone’s gift registry by name, event date and state. If you viewed the list of items Jason and Susan made up – anyone’s allowed to buy the item for them as long you have an Amazon account and credit card. ;)
The couple already selected items with the assumed quantity they’d need and Amazon does the rest by presenting the information needed for anyone to buy them those available items. It’s not only that but you’ll also find a dropdown menu that allows you to arrange the items by Product Category, Price (low to high) or likewise, Priority and Purchase Status.
The Purchase Status is a little confusing though because what it means is that it arranges the items from the most quantity requested to the least.
The other part I find Amazon could’ve done better though is the presentation of its listed items when sorted by Product Category – it’s the default selection. If you see Jason and Susan’s list, it might be merely a few products but because all the categories are on a single page, scrolling is a little tiresome even for a friend to see what items should be bought.
Anyway, the wedding services offered online now are increasing from hiring a photographer to guest list confirmation and to a wedding registry. Though a wedding website might be simple in its aspiration, the Internet convenience is there to take some stress of any loving couple.
But what do you think?
Is the old still better than the new?
That seems to be a great idea for those who are tech savvy. But I guess a simple portal just dedicated for wedding registry gifts would be much ideal. And each couple would have their own sub domain. Gifts can be linked from anywhere, Amazon.com to even your nearest online store around the corner of where you live; all added to your Cart!
But getting partnership with these major outlets to small outlets would be interesting.
Imagine what would they say?
Most likely this business would be profit from commission from the outlets and ad selling.
Hmmm.. this seems to be a business idea going here. :)
Let say: http://www.weddingregistrygifts.com ?
Subdomain:
JasonSusan.weddingregistrygifts.com
hehehe… just some thoughts :)
What you think?
That’s exactly what I’d be aiming for Carlson. The commissions per product multiplied by the number of couples getting married in the US, Europe and Asia. Possibilities would be endless.
However, I’d question the process of linking the products from Amazon to your website. If it ain’t automated then it’s going to be even more work for you. An online service should be more automated in the Internet today.
I’d probably start with local shops and later move on to international online retailers. :)
I think it’s a great idea.
Usually, Malaysians are not keen when it comes to purchasing things online. As you know, they like to feel, touch and see the product before purchasing it. But that is when they purchase it for themselves only. So when it comes to buying it for someone else. The feel and touch process do not necessarily apply as all they want is to get the thing and be done with it. Hassle free and you don’t have to give ang pow.
A few months ago, I actually had a wedding planning service idea in mind (online based of course) but due to the fact that I have not completed my degree yet and I have very lil experience in this field of business, I gave that idea a slip. I would like to think that it would work considering how the younger generation are trying to get out of the usual oldie wedding stuffs now.
You can see that people are already moving away from taking wedding photos with fake bgrounds to those on location ones (KidChan) and from hotel weddings to garden side (Cyberview Lodge) so I’m not surprised if ppl would pay to get their wedding planned by another person as long as the service charged is reasonable.
Good luck in this wedding gifts registry thingy of yours! =) I would definitely use it if and when I get married. Hopefully everyone I know would be tech savvy by then =P
Actually there’s an open-source online wishlist programme that you can dowload from sourceforge called MyGifts. (http://mygifts.sourceforge.net/).
You can’t buy online with that, but you can organise your wishlist effectively and for free. Plus Amazon won’t bug you with offers to buy stuff just because you have an account with them.
Amazon doesn’t bug me with offers just cause I’ve got an account them or not yet. :P
Anyway, the idea is definetely now new but the process involved could be something new to young Malaysian couples. *girn*
There is a gift registry website for Malaysia now at : http://www.mychocolatemousse.com. However, the couple has to register to the website for a fee of RM180 for a year.
Hey Christine,
Thanks for sharing and quite absent minded of me to not have noticed something since it’s been around for a year already.
Oh yeah, happy anniversary on the website. ;)
And question, where does it say having to pay RM180 per year?
Cheers.