Wrapp, a “social-gifting service,” allows its users to send digital gift cards to their friends via Facebook, e-mail or text messages. The application can be downloaded onto Apple and Android smart phones or accessed online. In order to develop targeted gift card concepts for their business model, the app's operators work closely with local retailers.
Wrapp was started in 2011 by CEO Hjalmar Winbladh, co-founder of the Swedish Enterprise Sendit AB, along with other dedicated entrepreneurs from Stockholm and Silicon Valley including Andreas Ehn and Magnus Hult (both leaders in the history of the Spotify platform), Aage Reerslev (founder of mobile browser maker Squace), Leo Giertz (founder of Barefoot Hackers), Carl Fritjofsson (strategy advisor to Groupon.se), and Wrapp's chairman Fabian Månsson (former CEO of H&M and Eddie Bauer).
After successful launches in Sweden, Norway and the UK with retail partners like Björn Borg, Oasis, Karen Millen, JC Jeans & Clothes, Nelly, Happy Socks, Stadium, Junkyard, Warehouse and many others, Wrapp is now on the expansion path. Over the past couple of weeks, operations have begun in the Netherlands, Japan, Australia and the US with names like Gant, Gap, H&M, Sephora and The Wall Street Journal on board. Additional markets such as Germany are to follow in the near future.
SI talked to chairman Fabian Månsson about his latest business project.
Interview by Maria Hunstig
How did you get the idea for Wrapp?
The founding team and I were noticing that in today’s world of smartphones and social media, people send more congratulatory greetings to each other than ever before. So we thought, “Is there a way to turn this culture of congratulations into a business model?”
Tell us how Wrapp works.
When you start the app, it opens your Facebook friend list in a chronological birthday order. Once you select a friend to congratulate, the application shows you all of the available gift cards that can be sent. You pick one and have the choice of writing an additional greeting as well as the option of increasing the value of the gift card via Paypal or credit card. You then decide whether you want to post the gift card on your friend’s Facebook wall or send it as an e-mail or text message. If you decide on Facebook, your mutual friends will get a notification about your present and have the opportunity to add to the value of the gift card themselves while the receiver is not notified until the actual day of his/her birthday, jubilee or other event.
How does the cooperation with retail partners take place?
We want to work with the best retailers and brands out there and thus we look for partners from all sorts of industries such as fashion, home-wares, interiors, spas, hotels, flower companies, electronics, film and so on, both on a local and international level. Initially it was just us reaching out to the retailers, but now that we've reached a certain level we're also getting approached by the brands themselves.
In order to develop targeted campaigns for each company we work really close together with our clients. For example, if a clothing brand wants to address mainly 30- to 40-year-old women, the label’s gift cards will only be presented to users aiming to give a present to a female person belonging to that age group.
Finally, how do companies benefit from cooperating with Wrapp?
Many companies today struggle with the whole idea of smart phones and Facebook and don't know how do incorporate them into their businesses. I think Wrapp is a great way to really benefit from those trends. The app connects social media and the online universe with in-store realities by having people go shopping to use their gift cards. Then once the customers are in the shop, they generally buy four to six times more than the value of their gift card.
Our redemption rates are really satisfying and are pushed by the fact that retailers make use of targeting and even have the possibility of reminding the gift card owners to redeem their vouchers.
Moreover, if users decide to give gift cards on Facebook – by far the most popular option – the respective supplying company gets mentioned on Facebook and greatly benefits from the effects of viral marketing.
Wrapp was started in 2011 by CEO Hjalmar Winbladh, co-founder of the Swedish Enterprise Sendit AB, along with other dedicated entrepreneurs from Stockholm and Silicon Valley including Andreas Ehn and Magnus Hult (both leaders in the history of the Spotify platform), Aage Reerslev (founder of mobile browser maker Squace), Leo Giertz (founder of Barefoot Hackers), Carl Fritjofsson (strategy advisor to Groupon.se), and Wrapp's chairman Fabian Månsson (former CEO of H&M and Eddie Bauer).
After successful launches in Sweden, Norway and the UK with retail partners like Björn Borg, Oasis, Karen Millen, JC Jeans & Clothes, Nelly, Happy Socks, Stadium, Junkyard, Warehouse and many others, Wrapp is now on the expansion path. Over the past couple of weeks, operations have begun in the Netherlands, Japan, Australia and the US with names like Gant, Gap, H&M, Sephora and The Wall Street Journal on board. Additional markets such as Germany are to follow in the near future.
SI talked to chairman Fabian Månsson about his latest business project.
Interview by Maria Hunstig
How did you get the idea for Wrapp?
The founding team and I were noticing that in today’s world of smartphones and social media, people send more congratulatory greetings to each other than ever before. So we thought, “Is there a way to turn this culture of congratulations into a business model?”
Infographic on how Wrapp works
When you start the app, it opens your Facebook friend list in a chronological birthday order. Once you select a friend to congratulate, the application shows you all of the available gift cards that can be sent. You pick one and have the choice of writing an additional greeting as well as the option of increasing the value of the gift card via Paypal or credit card. You then decide whether you want to post the gift card on your friend’s Facebook wall or send it as an e-mail or text message. If you decide on Facebook, your mutual friends will get a notification about your present and have the opportunity to add to the value of the gift card themselves while the receiver is not notified until the actual day of his/her birthday, jubilee or other event.
How does the cooperation with retail partners take place?
We want to work with the best retailers and brands out there and thus we look for partners from all sorts of industries such as fashion, home-wares, interiors, spas, hotels, flower companies, electronics, film and so on, both on a local and international level. Initially it was just us reaching out to the retailers, but now that we've reached a certain level we're also getting approached by the brands themselves.
In order to develop targeted campaigns for each company we work really close together with our clients. For example, if a clothing brand wants to address mainly 30- to 40-year-old women, the label’s gift cards will only be presented to users aiming to give a present to a female person belonging to that age group.
Finally, how do companies benefit from cooperating with Wrapp?
Many companies today struggle with the whole idea of smart phones and Facebook and don't know how do incorporate them into their businesses. I think Wrapp is a great way to really benefit from those trends. The app connects social media and the online universe with in-store realities by having people go shopping to use their gift cards. Then once the customers are in the shop, they generally buy four to six times more than the value of their gift card.
Our redemption rates are really satisfying and are pushed by the fact that retailers make use of targeting and even have the possibility of reminding the gift card owners to redeem their vouchers.
Moreover, if users decide to give gift cards on Facebook – by far the most popular option – the respective supplying company gets mentioned on Facebook and greatly benefits from the effects of viral marketing.
Case study by Wrapp on a Swedish client
