Father’s Day is this Sunday and, if you’re like most of us, work can take a toll on the time you get to spend shopping. This year I shopped for my father via the gift-giving site Wantful, which allows users to create a booklet of items chosen by you that you think your recipient would like. It’s extremely helpful when you get to the point where the friend/family member in your life “has everything,” and the last thing you want to do is get them another tie, pair of socks, or bath robe.
Wantful works for a variety of reasons. First of all, it has an amazing user experience, which guides you seamlessly through the entire gifting process. Second, the variety of products is a surefire way to get your loved one something they’ll like and use. Finally, Wantful offers a digital as well as physical experience of their booklets. Since Sunday is this weekend, the digital copy of Wantful’s booklet of gifts is a great last-minute way of saying “I love you” without making a stop at Wal-Mart for yet another $50 gift certificate to the neighborhood Chili’s.
Let’s dive in.
Wantful does a great job of keeping things light and simple by making it all about the products and the person you're buying for. Besides highlighting the most major upcoming holiday, Wantful keeps tabs on general holidays/occasions in the bar below each month. Once logged in, you can even add your own special days like your parent's anniversary or brother's birthday as reminders for your next Wantful booklet.
Once you're ready to get started, a screen appears asking for some light specifics on who your gift will be for and what the occasion is.
After that you’re led through a series of qualitative options on how the person you’re buying for lives their life.
Questions range from what type of environment they most enjoy, what house they’d love to live in, amount they enjoy food, and even how much they sing along to music.
Based on your answers, Wantful pulls a variety of items and brackets them into price ranges for purchase. Say you have $50 to spend on your dad this weekend. Wantful curates a whole page of options that match the indicators you previously filled out and allows you to place up to twelve items into a booklet that will be sent to your recipient.
Once you’ve made all of your selections (or you can let Wantful choose for you), you’re able to personalize the booklet with a “to” and “from,” change the cover image, and write a note that appears on the inside cover.
Shipping is a little extra, as is printing the book, but it's definitely worth it if you have the time. For Father's Day you could use the Facebook option where it makes a post on the recipient's wall, or use good ole' e-mail. Whatever means you choose for your end, Wantful is sure to be one of the most unique gifts your family/friends will ever get, and you can bet that they'll appreciate you for it.