giftee started off its business by providing “giftee” service, a CtoC casual gift service using eGift that enables one to convey one’s feelings with casual gifting. Since then, it has gradually expanded to other business areas. In 2014, we developed and began to provide the “eGift System”, under our own brand, that enables the eGift service to be extended to corporate customers. In 2016, we started to provide “giftee for Business”, a solution that utilizes the generated eGift of respective brands to be used as an incentive in corporate campaigns, etc.

“giftee” is a service that was born out of the idea that “it’s my friend’s birthday but all of us are simply too busy to meet up to celebrate. Still, I want to give something, as a surprise celebration.” A birthday message alone does not seem enough to convey the thoughts, and I want to do a little more than that. But sometimes, getting the other party to meet up might be taken as somewhat heavy. It was at that time, that the thought occured to me, “what if I could just send a cup of coffee, via online as an eGift”. That gave rise to this inspiration.

“giftee” is a service that enables one to easily send a gift, attached with a message card via app or email. For instance, for the birthday of a friend who is ever busy and hardly could meet up, one can send a gift via LINE attached with a “Happy Birthday” message. The average selling price of the gift items is around 600 yen. The available gift items are ranging from 100 yen, hence in this way, gifting can be rather easy-going without causing unneccessary pressure to the recipient. As such, giftee is a company that works to create a culture of casual gifting.

Currently, in the 9th year since incorporation, the number of memberships of “giftee” have exceeded 1.23 million (※1), and has grown to be the No.1 Casual Gifting Service in Japan. In addition, products handled by “giftee” can be redeemed at more than 90,000 stores nationwide, making it possible to find a suitable gift in various scenarios from the available product selection from coffee shops, convenience stores, restaurants, etc.

The market size of eGift in Japan is reported to be 83.5 billion yen in 2019 and estimated (※２) to grow to approximately 131 billion yen in 2021. With the market expanding steadily, we are anticipating further growth for the company. giftee shall continue to lead the market as a leading eGift company. In addition, we shall further our efforts to create a custom and culture of casual gifting, as a means for people to communicate their day-to-day wishes, and to provide and enhance a gift service that can be utilized by more and more people.