But gifts are still an important part of how we connect with each other. Altering the way we go about choosing them means altering a fundamental part of a significant process, even if that process is kind of messy and stressful. As things stand, gift giving does lend a certain structure to our lives. Everybody can make a wish list, and there's a password to get into that gift exchange. Everybody in the family can access that, and there's no longer a middleman.
People are busy now.
They don't have time to dwell upon this. People also like accuracy, says Johnson at Forrester Research. Put the gift-choosing process online, and you make the process undeniably more efficient. It's an activity that we engage in as part of maintaining and strengthening the relationships that we have with others. Gift giving strengthens and celebrates our relationships.