Gift sending phone app developer Jifiti announced today that it has raised $2.5 million from Simon Property Group, Schottenstein Stores Corp. and the Jesselson Group. The announcement follows the successful completion of an alpha test in three Simon-owned shopping malls in the Boston area.
Jifiti makes gift giving easier and drives in-store sales for participating merchants by offering gift givers the ability to scan and purchase an item in-store, or select from trending gifts inside the app, and “teleport” it to the recipient. The recipient immediately gets a Jifiti in-app gift notification in the form of a personalized digital gift card on his or her phone. The recipient can redeem the gift in any of the retailer’s US locations after selecting size, color and style, or put the voucher toward a different product. Jifiti is modernizing and streamlining the gift card giving process by allowing users to phone a gift with the flexibility of the gift-card.
Jifiti was founded by CEO Yaacov Martin, CTO Meir Dudai and CMO Shaul Weisband. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, the company's development office is in Israel.
Martin said, “Our mission is to create the ultimate social gifting adventure by merging the unmatched shopping experience you can only get in-store with the unmatched shopping convenience you can only get online. Gift-giving is by definition a kind and generous act, yet too often it is a source of anxiety for the gifter and frustration for the giftee. Jifiti eliminates both the anxiety and the frustration, while serving as a real boon for bricks and mortar retailers.”
Martin added that Jifiti has been careful to ensure that their app does not require any altering of typical store operational procedures or point-of-sale systems. “Any store that can process gift card codes can use the Jifiti system,” he said.
Mikael Thygesen, Chief Marketing Officer of Simon Property Group and President of Simon Brand Ventures, has joined Jifiti’s board of directors.
Some of the retailers that have joined the Jifiti platform include Nike, Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Athleta, Sephora, Gamestop, Brookstone and Hot Topic.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 30, 2013
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