The Swishforit Success Story

Are you tired of receiving unwanted gifts? Have you ever wondered if there was a more environmental and economic way of gifting? Then Swishforit is something you need to give a try for Christmas 2020.

Nine years ago, Trina Scott-Priestly encountered this problem for herself. Her daughter was given three identical, pink rocking horses for Christmas and due to this mishap, she became interested in creating a simpler way to shop for loved ones in an economically, environmental, and overall, successful way. She felt it was a shame that the money and time of her friends and family were being wasted to try and buy the ‘perfect’ present for her daughter.

Situations like this led Trina to begin researching and taking note on ‘how we gift’ and the psychology behind the process. She soon understood that consumer habits were changing and that retailers could significantly increase their chance of a sale if they were able to stay connected with people. This sparked the beginnings of an idea to enable retailers, no matter their size, to be remembered by individual consumers through a new platform created solely by Trina. With further research, it became apparent that a lot of our unwanted gifts end up in charity shops or landfill, which undoubtedly causes and contributes to waste. This encouraged Trina more on her quest to change the way we shop for gifts.

With this new-found knowledge, Trina felt she had to make a change. She left her job as an accountant and in December 2019, Swishforit was born. Swishforit is an app, a website and a desktop extension that aims to make your gifting experience more enjoyable and organised. Swishforit allows you to make wish lists for yourself or gifting lists for friends and family. This means that when browsing online and you find a present that you think will be perfect for someone special, you can save it to your gifting list for them, to then purchase the item at a later date. Swishforit is a platform that is not only easy to use but is also a brilliant way of diversifying where you shop.

Trina was also lucky enough to take part in the #SheCan365 campaign. This was a campaign of women, set up by women to support women. It involved 365 women and told their stories over 365 days, in 365 words. Trina originally saw this on Instagram and applied to tell her business story. She was accepted. Initially, this was an online campaign only, but due to the traction it received, it was later turned into a book for International Women’s Day 2019. Trina felt this was a massive accomplishment for her.

She had noticed that her business journey (so far) had been dominated by men. Although she has always had a supportive husband and some incredible male businessmen there to help her along her way, she truly believes that ‘when women come together and support each other big things can happen’, making her accomplishments with this project all the greater for her.

As the software for Swishforit can be used across different retailers’, consumers are encouraged to shop with smaller, independent, and local retailers, rather than focusing solely on larger, more popular high street brands. With 600 people signing up to Swishforit in the first six weeks, Trina soon received interest from investors. Unfortunately, not long after this, Covid-19 entered the UK, and the country came to a standstill. However, Trina did not let this stop her fledgeling business crumble, she simply changed tack. Lockdown gave her some time to reflect, resulting in a new side of Swishforit being formed. Trina brought together 90 independent retailers and produced a showcase with them in July when the lockdown was lifted. Not only did this help raise their brand awareness but it also allowed them to engage with different audiences and ultimately make sales. Although creating showcases for independent retailers had not been part of her original plan, Trina now feels a certain degree of responsibility to keep the platform going for them and as a result of this is hosting two more events during the Christmas period to celebrate ‘shopping small’.

During this time Trina managed to create a haven for smaller businesses, while still developing her business model which now has 1500 members. She is excited to grow with investors in the future and to refine the tech the platform uses to make it the best it can be. Although Swishforit is mainly used by women, Trina hopes that as the business grows, so will her audience, as who does not want to save and spend tactically? Using Swishforit makes us more ‘considered’ spenders while highlighting ever-growing issues, like ‘fast fashion’, which is something we should all be actively encouraging in 2020.