End-of-the-year gifts aren’t just about finding the right stocking stuffers for the kids in your life. Tokens of gratitude are an important part of building business relationships and saying thanks to those in your rolodex, says Brendan Kamm, CEO and Co-Founder of Thnks.
Such gifts can be an “extra level of thoughtfulness,” he told Hypepotamus. While that might look like getting a bottle of wine or a gift basket, Kamm and the Thnks team saw an opportunity to make giving more personalized and more localized.
The Nashville-based B2B platform just rolled out Thnks Local, a place where businesses can curate their gestures of appreciation while supporting local businesses.
Companies looking to send a gift can search for a recipient’s location anywhere in the country and get a list of local businesses in their area. They can then search based on the type of gift they’d like to give – be it taking a night off from cooking to go to a local restaurant or a day of pampering at a local spa.
Thnks Local is also a value add for local businesses and mom and pop shops, Kamm added. The platform connects directly with a small business’ point of sales (POS) system, meaning that the business can easily integrate this new gifting option into their daily operations.
“Unlike a large chain, [a small business] isn’t going to have a team of technologists who can build a custom integration each time. So we needed to make it really, really simple for them with the systems they already use,” added Kamm.
Yes, buying coffees and lunches are common gifting options on the Thnks Local platform. But Kamm said sending gifts that support local businesses like a hair and nail salon, bakery, or bookstore can be a thoughtful end-of-year gift that will certainly be used.
“It’s about asking, how can I make someone’s life a little easier?” Kamm said.
Supporting Small Businesses
2022 was a difficult year for small businesses across the country. After finding innovative ways to keep doors open during COVID, the current economic climate is impacting stores, restaurants, and service-related businesses across the country.
A survey from the nonprofit Small Business Majority this summer found that one in three businesses felt they could not survive another three months in business “without additional capital” or if the macro-economic climate took a turn.
Many businesses rely on the holiday sales to stay afloat, making this year’s Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and pre-Christmas shopping important times for stores preparing for 2023.
Thnks Local is an expansion of the B2B startup’s overall view of what it means to bring gratitude into the office space.
Thnks moved from New York to Nashville in 2020 as the startup entered a new growth phase. The platform gained new customers recently as users found it as a key way to shorten sales cycles, improve client relationships, and show employee appreciation through the act of giving.
To date, Thnks has grown its customer base to include 7,500 teams and 68 Fortune 500 companies.
