MyRegistry.com: Genius Idea, Poor Execution
By Nick | October 1, 2010
MyRegistry.com is a free gift registry consolidation service. You can register at multiple stores and import your gift lists into their system to display them all in one centralized location. You can also register for single items at ANY online store, regardless of whether or not that store has a gift registry option. How does MyRegistry.com make money?
It’s an affiliate model, and it’s genius. When you import your registry from Amazon, Target, Crate & Barrel, or any other store, MyRegistry.com adds their unique affiliate tracking ID to the links, which allows them to earn a commission on the gift purchases. The model is the same when you add one-off items from other stores. If that store has an affiliate program, they’ll add the tracking code and be off to the races.
MyRegistry.com provides a valuable service for all 3 parties involved — the register-ers, the gift shoppers, and the stores. The registry creators have one consolidated place to manage all their requested items, gift buyers have one centralized location to shop, and the stores may make some sales they otherwise wouldn’t.
And let’s say the average gift registry has $2000 worth of stuff on it. At an average commission of 5%, MyRegistry.com stands to make $100. Now scale that out times 2.1 million weddings a year (just in the US!) and appreciate the awesomeness of their business model. Aside from hosting and development costs, the site has very little overhead. It would be possible to run the company with a pretty lean crew of tech staff, customer support, and marketing people.
But as a user of MyRegistry.com, it has some shortcomings that might prevent it from really blowing up.
- We found the interface confusing and hard to use.
- We were constantly logged out of their system, despite selecting the “remember me” option.
- Sometimes there were problems or delays “syncing” the registry with 3rd party stores like Crate and Barrel.
Still, very cool idea. Definitely one of those “why didn’t I think of that” moments!
4 Comments
Dana on October 1, 2010 at 6:12 pm.
Interesting analysis. I’d love for you to check out my cash gift registry, DepositaGift.com
Free free to contact me personally if you have questions. I’m the founder and would be happy to help :) Cheers! [Also a NorCal native!]
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Mark Baker on April 16, 2011 at 2:13 pm.
Hey there,
Another site similar to myregistry is http://www.asimplerweddingregistry.com. Very similar in a lot of ways, but it has a couple of nice additional features. The site asks the guests to enter their mailing address and name when they check off a gift in the registry. This then allow the bride and groom to have a complete list of guests, gifts, and mailing addresses that they can print at the end to make the thank you card writing process much simpler. The site asks the guests to enter their mailing address and name when they check off a gift in the registry. This then allow the bride and groom to have a complete list of guests, gifts, and mailing addresses that they can print at the end to make the thank you card writing process much simpler. A Simpler Wedding Registry also allows guests to compare prices on items easily at several large retailers (Walmart, Target, Macys, etc…). Definitely worth checking out.
Curtis on April 18, 2011 at 12:53 pm.
Another simpler option is http://giftb.ag.
Same concept, cleaner interface, less clutter and more flexibility. The one downside is that it can’t import existing gift registries. But if you’re starting a new registry, I much prefer it to myregistry.