Best Gift Group

What Best Gift Group does

Best Gift Group (formerly deGroots Media, established 1966) is an Australian privately-held hospitality media and gift card company headquartered in Darlinghurst, NSW, operating as Best Content Pty Ltd (ABN 23 000 554 254) with a New Zealand subsidiary, Best Content NZ Limited (NZBN 9429051218430). The company runs a portfolio of branded directories and multi-vendor gift card programmes across three verticals — Best Restaurants (launched 2000, Australia's largest online restaurant directory with 8,000+ listed venues, expanded into NZ in 2024), Best Wellness (originally Best Spas & Beauty, 2013; rebranded 2018; revamped 2023), and Best Wineries (wineries, distilleries, breweries in AU and NZ) — all purchasable through the unified Best Gift Cards portal (bestgiftcards.com.au, launched 2013). It holds the claim of having launched the first multi-vendor gift card in the Australian consumer market in 2000. Revenue is generated by selling pre-paid gift cards at face value with a variable admin fee (1.1% of purchase cost, $2.75 minimum, $5.75 cap as of September 2024) covering payment processing costs; gift cards are GST-free on purchase with tax collected at redemption by participating venues, and unspent balances expire three years from activation.

The go-to-market is hybrid: direct-to-consumer through owned e-commerce sites with both digital and physical card delivery, corporate B2B through a dedicated Business Account portal supporting bulk purchase, co-branded cards, and invoice payment terms (7 days), plus physical retail and third-party distributor channels. Distribution is supported by email marketing and organic social (Facebook, Instagram), with a small footprint of 11–50 employees and no disclosed external funding, suggesting founder/management ownership. The technology stack is a standard e-commerce and directory platform with no disclosed proprietary AI/ML components, integrating Stripe and PayPal for payments and Google and Facebook for analytics.

The company is led by CEO Rajneen Arora (appointed 2022 to drive international expansion; previously GM of content programmes at deGroots Media from 2019), Chairman Damien Hodgkinson (a chartered accountant with 30+ years in hospitality and prior chair of Sydney Worldpride 2023 and founder of Climate 200), and Independent Director Kellie Hush (former editor-in-chief of Harper's BAZAAR Australia and GRAZIA Australia). The board profile leans on hospitality and media expertise rather than technology depth. No revenue figures, funding rounds, M&A activity, or patent portfolio are disclosed in source materials.

Name

Best Gift Group

Legal name

Best Gift Group Pty Limited

Website

https://bestgiftgroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1966

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Best Gift Group is a hospitality media and gift card company that specializes in multi-vendor gift distribution programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hospitality Gift Cards

NAICS

Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Retailers (45942)

akta.pro primary industry

Multi-Merchant / Shopping Mall Gift Cards (FSAMANAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Corporate & Client Gifting Programs (HSACANAE), Greeting Cards, Wrap & Party Supplies Retail (CRALAJAE)

Keywords

• Multi-vendor gift cards
• Hospitality media
• Restaurant directories
• Corporate gift programs
• Winery wellness gift cards

Headquarters

HQ city

Darlinghurst

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Gift Card Sales: Sale of pre-paid gift cards for use at participating hospitality venues (restaurants, wellness, wineries). Cards are sold at face value with admin fees charged on purchases. Revenue recognized when cards are redeemed at venues where applicable taxes are collected.
2. Admin Fees: Variable admin fee charged on gift card purchases in addition to advertised prices. As of September 2024, calculated at 1.1% of purchase cost with $2.75 minimum and $5.75 cap. Covers online payment processing costs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Best Gift Group sells multi-vendor gift cards redeemable across thousands of participating hospitality venues and operates online directories that help consumers discover restaurants, wellness venues, and wineries. The portfolio is delivered through four branded sites (Best Restaurants, Best Wellness, Best Wineries, Best Gift Cards) across Australia and New Zealand, with both consumer and corporate sales channels.

Product overview

Best Gift Group is a hospitality media and gift card company offering a portfolio of interlinked products. The core offering centres on multi-vendor gift cards across three verticals—restaurants, wellness/spas, and wineries—each with its own branded website and directory. Best Restaurants (launched 2000) is Australia's largest online restaurant directory with over 8,000 venues and a multi-vendor gift card; Best Wellness (originally Best Spas & Beauty, rebranded 2018, revamped 2023) covers health and beauty; and Best Wineries (Australia and NZ) covers vineyards, distilleries and breweries. All BEST/ brand gift cards are purchasable through the unified Best Gift Cards portal (bestgiftcards.com.au). The company operates primarily in Australia and New Zealand.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Best Gift Cards: Umbrella website to purchase all of the BEST brand gift cards, first launched in 2013.
• Best Wellness
• Best Wineries
• Best Restaurants

Products and services

• Best Restaurants Australia's largest online restaurant directory housing over 8,000 restaurants, also available in New Zealand. Provides a multi-vendor gift card programme allowing users to purchase goods and services at participating venues across Australia and New Zealand.
• Best Wellness Gift card and online directory for health and beauty experiences; covers spas and wellness venues across Australia. Originally launched as Best Spas & Beauty in 2013, rebranded to Best Beauty and Wellness in 2018, and re-entered the market with a revamped offering in late 2023.
• Best Wineries Online directory and curated gift card for wineries, distilleries, and brewery/cellar door experiences across Australia and New Zealand.
• Best Gift Cards Umbrella website launched in 2013 to purchase all BEST/ brand gift cards across the company's restaurants, wellness, and wineries verticals, with catalogue continuing to expand as the company grows its offering.

Quantifiable outcome

• Australia's largest online restaurant directory
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Prezzee: Australian-headquartered digital gift card marketplace offering multi-retailer and single-retailer gift cards. Closest direct competitor to Best Gift Cards, sharing the multi-vendor digital gift card model, Australian home market, and corporate gifting channel.
• OpenTable: Restaurant discovery and reservations platform with millions of diner reviews and an integrated gift card programme. Directly comparable to Best Restaurants' directory-plus-gift-card combination, though operating globally rather than just AU/NZ.
• TheFork: Restaurant discovery, reservations and promotions platform operating across Europe and Australia (Tripadvisor-owned). Competes directly with Best Restaurants for restaurant discovery traffic and venue relationships in the same Australian market.

Broad incumbents

• Blackhawk Network: Global multi-merchant gift card distribution and processing network serving retailers and consumers. Operates the same multi-merchant gift card model as Best Gift Group but at vastly larger scale and across many geographies.
• InComm Payments: Major global provider of prepaid gift cards and stored-value solutions, distributing multi-merchant and closed-loop gift cards through retail and digital channels. Comparable business model to Best Gift Group's multi-vendor gift card programmes.
• Zomato: Global restaurant discovery and food delivery platform with extensive restaurant listings. Competes in the same restaurant directory and discovery category as Best Restaurants, with broader scope across multiple geographies.
• Tripadvisor: Global travel and restaurant reviews platform with deep restaurant directory content. Overlaps with Best Restaurants' directory and consumer discovery funnel, but operates as a broad incumbent across many categories and geographies.
• Yelp: Consumer review platform with extensive restaurant listings and discovery features. Comparable to Best Restaurants as a restaurant content directory, though broader in scope (covers many business categories globally).
• Givex: Provider of gift card, loyalty, and stored-value solutions to merchants globally. Adjacent to Best Gift Group's gift card issuance and processing model, serving merchants with similar technology though at much larger scale.

Others

• CardCash: Online marketplace for buying and selling unwanted gift cards at a discount. Adjacent to Best Gift Group's gift card ecosystem rather than a direct competitor, addressing the secondary market for unused balances.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks2 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/BestRestaurantsAustralia
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bestofaustraliagroup/about
• Instagraminstagram.com/bestrestaurantsaustralia

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Best Gift Group