Dating app Hulah wanted to integrate gifting features onto its platform, allowing users to redeem real gifts from well-known brands. The platform worked with ecommerce partner Goody to make this a reality.
Hulah is a dating app where women can join and endorse guys for other single women to date. The philosophy behind the platform is to provide real-world accountability for bad actors and toxic behaviour.
The platform’s founder and CEO, Heather Hopkins, wanted to adopt a new feature where users can stand out from the crowd by sending digital gifts. However, she wanted these gifts to have real-world value for those receiving them.
This is different to other dating apps, where users can send ‘super likes’ or ‘roses’ that don’t have any value to the recipient.
“The way these other apps handle gifts is really a scam,” Hopkins shared. “A user pays money for a ‘rose,’ and then 100% of the profits go to the dating app. These digital gifts have a real cost to the people sending them, but none of that value ever goes to the actual person they’re trying to impress”, she explained.
In a new case study, Goody explained that Hulah went on to adopt its API. Hulah’s UX team designed the frontend design for the new ecommerce feature, while Goody managed the ordering and gift delivery processes.
“It would have taken us quarters if not years for us to build the same functionality ourselves,” Hopkins says.
Beyond just these new user capabilities, the feature also provides a new revenue stream for Hulah. The dating platform takes a share of the digital currency purchased by users for gifts, as well as a portion of the revenue from the real-world gifts that are purchased on the Goody store.
“I’m thrilled to be launching this capability to our users,” Hopkins summarised. “It’s great for our users who want to stand out in the dating pool, and it’s great for Hulah’s business. I can’t wait to hear about all the couples who will meet because of this feature.”
You read the full case study of Hulah and Goody’s partnership here.
