Service Excellence Awards 2005: Winner - Small Business Award - Wrapit Plc
Anyone who has ever compiled a wedding list knows what a daunting task it can be.
You'll find yourself trudging around floor after floor of the department store, notebook in hand, trying to find out what's available in what colour and whether they will go with items from a completely different department. Then, as the big day nears, finding out what's been bought or changing your list can be a nightmare too.
Which is why Pepita Diamand came up with the idea for Wrapit, an innovative online wedding-list service. Says Diamand, a Canadian: 'I discovered that wedding lists weren't doing what they should be doing. They often left guests disappointed, and they didn't manage couples correctly.' Moreover, nobody was using the internet to operate what is essentially a fulfilment application naturally suited to the web.
Five years on, the company's web-based store has more than 100 'departments' offering thousands of products, including more than 350 brands from 200 different suppliers. How does it work? Couples have a consultation, typically at Wrapit's smart central London showroom, where the consultant helps them assemble their list from items in-store and those in a web-based catalogue. The list is then made available to guests via the Wrapit website as a mini-catalogue; they can order their chosen gift with a few clicks.