Purple Hippo

Purple Hippo is a website that allows expats living in the Middle East to buy personal, unique gifts for their loved ones back home. I have found it difficult to purchase gifts for friends and family: the postal service can be unreliable, and if I am buying a lot of gifts, such as at Christmas, it can be very costly. Flying home with gifts is also a problem as they may get damaged or be too heavy for the baggage allowance. Purple Hippo is aimed specifically at expats who want help choosing a unique gift. It links up with small businesses and artisans back home (the UK for now) and allows the expat to search by different criteria for a more personal gift. The gift is ordered via the Purple Hippo website and the 'store' is notified. The 'store' is then responsible for creating and delivering the gift. The idea is to have personal products and service to make the customer and the person receiving the gift feel connected, almost as if they have given and received the gift face to face.