You’re nicked

You’re nicked

Father Christmas is currently calling up people to find out what they want for Christmas, says Iamsaintnick.com, a news site in the US. Will he be ringing here as well?

December 22, 2008 2:26 by Aarti Nagraj

If you are one of those who has been laid off, getting a new job maybe tough. But creating a new one might not be that difficult.

Trend-spotting site Springwise talks about Iamsaintnick.com, a website that, in its own words, has Santa do the dirty work of finding out what your friends or family want this Christmas.

Here’s how it works: You just have to go to the site and enter the phone number of the person for whom you want to buy the gift (say X) along with your e-mail address. X then gets a phone call from “Santa” and is asked what he/she wants. The reply is recorded, and the link is sent to you.

According to MSNBC, the site was created by Matt Steckler and Andres Krogh after they were let go in September from an internet security firm in Seattle. The pair reportedly worked four days straight getting the site set up, and launched Iamsaintnick.com at the beginning of December. The site aims to support itself through advertising and sponsorships.

But since they would be out of a job after Christmas, Steckler and Krogh are expanding their telephone shopping list service year-round to cater for events like birthdays, weddings, and Valentine’s Day. It is considering offering online gift inventories as a future enhancement.

A concept like this might even have greater commercial viability in a place like Dubai simply because of the multicultural population here. You have festivals and occasions all through the year, and finding the right gift is always a problem.

Also, the start-up costs would be minimal; you can create a website in Dubai with just $9, and setting up a phone connection too is not very expensive. Add some marketing, and the business can be ready to go. And if customers like the service, they would even be willing to pay for it.

So is Santa coming to town?