Wedding Gift Registry Lands on Amazon.com

Online gift registry Della & James announced today that it has secured $45 million (US$) in funding from a consortium led by Amazon.com. As part of the agreement, Della & James’ wedding gift registry will be available on Amazon’s Web site.

Joining Amazon.com in the financing are upscale department store Neiman Marcus, home furnishings retailer Crate & Barrel and home-centered specialty retailer Williams Sonoma. Also participating in the round are Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers — an early investor in both Amazon.com and drugstore.com — and Trinity Ventures. Both of these venture capital firms have previously invested in Della & James.

The funding will be used to extend Della & James’ position in the online wedding gift registry market and to launch an all-occasion gift registry during the season.

“People share gift ideas throughout the year, and Della & James will provide a single, convenient place to create wish lists, discover people’s wishes and easily purchase the perfect gift,” said Rebecca Patton, president and CEO of Della & James.

How The New Service Will Work

Users will be able to visit the all-occasion gift registry and create a wish list with general hints, sizing information or personal interests that can be accessed by friends and family members. Della & James will also provide communication tools that will allow people to ask one another for gift hints and create personalized gift exchanges.

Product categories will include apparel, books, electronics, sporting goods and toys.

Currently, Della & James’ wedding gift registry features such retailers as department store Dillard’s, outdoors products retailer REI and specialty retailer Gump’s. In addition, the wedding gift registry features local stores in cities such as New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle and Dallas. Della & James says that it will announce additional partnerships in the coming months.

About Della & James

Della & James received funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in May 1998 and launched its wedding-registry service in June of 1999. The company was founded by Jenny Lefcourt and Jessica DiLullo, who came up with the idea while students at Stanford’s graduate school of business. Lefcourt and DiLullo are both company vice presidents, and the company’s executive team now includes former E*Trade, Oracle and Preview Travel employees.