But what would constitute a perfect present for her? Differing opinions made this decision more challenging than they expected.
Then, the sisters had a brainwave: why not use technology to help them?
After all, artificial intelligence (AI) and chatbots were now so advanced, they could generate elaborate articles and artwork with just a single prompt. Why not utilise AI to help create the ultimate gift?
And so, the three co-founded A Little Thing, a company that uses AI-based technology for gift curation.
“We are the first company in Malaysia to implement AI gifting, and since this advancement is new in this field, we aim to provide only the best predictions possible. Our customer’s satisfaction and happiness are our utmost priority,” said Lee Ching, who is also the company director.
Believing that the act of gifting should be “special, not stressful”, she explained that their chatbot took the guesswork out of gift-giving.
“We aim to revolutionise the gifting industry by creating special, handmade gifts that help to build meaningful relationships,” she said.
Established in late 2020, this Penang-based company now offers a variety of gift-based services through their AI, chatbot and app. Customers can purchase handcrafted gift packages, or create one themselves for any theme or occasion.
To use their services, customers first sign up for an account. They then input details such as their budget and the email address of their gift’s intended recipient.
Once done, a link is sent to the said recipient, containing a list of questions for them to answer.
These questions narrow down the recipient’s interests, enabling the company’s AI to curate and compile personalised gifts for them.
The service has approximately 820 items in its website’s gift database, and approximately 221 items on its app.
She said in terms of accuracy, their AI shifts through their product list 200 times before generating approximately 15 relevant gift suggestions, depending on stock availability, and key phrases identified through natural language processing (NLP).
“But only one gift suggestion will be viewable on the frontend so as not to confuse or overwhelm our clients. Since it is an AI adopting NLP, it is continuously learning via inputs that it receives through our chatbot collectively,” said Lee Ching.
Some might argue that selecting gifts is an important part of the gift-giving process, and that relying on machines for this is impersonal. Lee Ching stressed, however, that this is not the case. Their AI elements exist to complement, not replace, the human elements of gifting.
She said the company’s AI is only responsible for the optimisation of curation. “It helps our clients save time on making calculations and preparations, and helps them find out more about our recipients,” she said, adding that some clients were either too reserved or too shy to ask questions.
“Our AI takes the burden of identifying which size of gift boxes are most suitable to be paired with the gift sets that it generates. Not only that, it’s able to recognise which products are in stock and those which are not – saving you more time compared to doing these manually.”
Every gift purchased from them is hand-packed and accompanied by a handwritten note, Lee Ching said.
Additionally, if a client is unsatisfied with their AI-generated gift suggestions, their staff will personally curate their gifts. Free returns are also an option should a recipient find their gift undesirable.
Asked about the reaction to their services so far, Lee Ching said it has been mostly positive.
One of the company’s biggest accomplishments was completing 2,700 gift sets for a major local media company recently, and delivering them to locations all around Malaysia.
In conjunction with World Creativity and Innovation Day today, Lee Ching advises Malaysian entrepreneurs to embrace creativity and innovation, and to be open to exploring new ideas.
“Collaboration and networking can be instrumental in creating innovative services. Connect with other entrepreneurs, industry experts, and potential customers to gather insights and feedback, and explore partnerships or collaborations to help bring your ideas to life,” she said.
She added that keeping abreast with market trends and technological advancements are also necessary.
“Keep learning, adapt to changes when necessary, and keep your customers’ needs and preferences your top priority. By adopting these practices, Malaysian entrepreneurs can create innovative services that are truly transformative and impactful.”
Follow A Little Thing on Facebook and Instagram or visit their website.