New South African online gift boutique launches

"We are passionate about finding and sharing those special pieces and brands that you might not have known existed, but always seem to pop up in that really cool boutique down the block, or that random blog you stumble across. It is our job to seek out these hidden gems of design and bring them together," explains Crawford.

"All our suppliers are carefully chosen for their creativity, innovative style and quality, ensuring that we only promote the very best local talent. From jewellery and ceramics to clothing and art, the site is the place to indulge your sense for inspiring local design."

The site allows shoppers to collect all the brands they love into one basket and, through one simple checkout process, purchase with confidence through a secure online payment system, accepting major credit and debit cards. Payments are processed through a secure payment gateway using Extended Validation SSL with 256-bit encryption, so shoppers can be sure their card details are always safe.

"Having spent five years as a buyer for one of the largest local chain stores, I moved to the UK and into the online retail business. There I was fortunate enough to experience some of the largest online retail buying environments in the country. I realized quickly that it was only a matter of time before South African businesses started seeing similar success in the online market.

"With that in mind, I returned to South Africa and got to work setting up the site in Cape Town. Once I was back home, finding sellers that were creative, innovative and quality-driven was easy."

For more information, go to www.utique.co.za.