I was in the US for 7-8 years. I did my MS from the University of San Franciso. When you are away from home, there is a need to send gifts back home. I wasn’t happy with gifts or the service during Diwali and birthdays because the condition in which they reached people was so bad that I was asked to just call and wish them instead of sending gifts in the future
- Monica Agarwal talking from her experience
What does she do next?
Starts up GoGappa. Realising the potential of this market out of personal experience, Monica Agarwal joined Ashutosh Agarwal, an IIT alumnus with 5yrs experience in the WallStreet Journal, in 2011 to start GoGappa.com, an online gifting service that intends to create a pleasant experience for both the buyer and the receiver of the gift.
With focus on every detail right from design to packaging, logistics and gifting cards that go on the gift, a group of curators go through their list of gifts. They are no third party gifts or products sold on the website. The gift baskets are designed around an event or occasion and carry a theme in their design based on the occasion.
Started as a white glove service to customers, GoGappa intends to soon integrate an in-house team of trained logistic personnel to handle the delivery of gifts replacing courier services. Gappas will be the delivery personnel delivering gifts adding a more personalized touch to the entire experience going beyond the usual.
GoGappa.com believes in providing luxury gifts at affordable prices. “Gift hamper and baskets is popular world over. Gift hampers and baskets are supposed to be a wow thing. We want to give that ‘wow’ feeling at affordable prices. We don’t sell Cadbury or Ferrero Rocher. People who can see the difference will be our client,” says Monica. Targeted on anyone who would like to send gifts toIndia, GoGappa has also been well received in the B2B sector for corporate gifting.Though marketing efforts are distributed across online channels like SEO, Google Adwords and social media, the impact of word of mouth publicity has been far more impactful than the rest for GoGappa. After the festive season, we have massive expansion plans. “We want to be India’s no1 gifting website. It is not about selling gifts. It is about thrilling our customers. The feeling should be ‘Oh! We have got a GoGappa gift’ rather than just any gift,” says Monica sharing their vision.
For more information, take a look at GoGappa.com