Under the intiative consumers can directly purchase Oreo gifts for the holiday season via gifts.oreo.com.
The project was designed through a partnership between brand owner Mondelēz’s Seattle-based e-commerce and supply chain team and Jifiti, a software firm that focuses on gifting services for retailers and brands.
The short-term program for the Oreo brand is an initiative within Mondelēz’s overall e-commerce strategy, which aims to grow e-commerce revenues to at least $1bn by 2020.
The Cadbury owner added that this is the second direct-to-consumer online initiative for Oreo after it launched Oreo Colorfilled, a customer customized packaging platform, last year.
How to make an order?
To place an order, a customer only needs the recipient’s email address or mobile number, according to global director of integrated supply chain, e-commerce and tech innovation leadership team at Mondelēz, Neil Ackerman.
He added that the recipient will then receive a link to the gift through an email or text message, with the ability to open their gift online and confirm shipping details to complete the delivery.
Co-founder of Jifiti, Shaul Weisband, told ConfectioneryNews his idea of starting his company came from realizing one of the main barriers when sending a gift is knowing the correct shipping address for the recipient.
“In 2016 most of us don't know the shipping address for our closest friends, let alone colleagues and others,” he said.
“[Once the order is confirmed online], it’ll be injected to the Mondelēz supply chain backend where it is sent from,” Weisband added. “The recipient can even send a designed thank you note from the same web page.”
Fully Mondelēz-owned supply chain
Ackerman pointed that the major difference between the new Jifiti project and Oreo Colorfilled is that it is using a supply chain that is completely performed by Mondelēz in Kentucky rather than a logistics supplier.
“When orders come in, we fulfill it,” he said. “I think consumers will love it.”
The launch is currently focused in the US, but Mondelēz will apply learnings in other key markets in the future, including the UK, France and China.
Ackerman said that orders will ship within 24 hours of payment and shipment address entry. UPS standard ground shipping will be provided free of charge, and most orders will ship within four to five business days.
UPS shipment tracking number will also be provided for each order, he added.