Swedish startup Wrapp is taking on the clones by launching in Germany, Austria and Switzerland – with the firm’s CEO promising to keep the lead in the gift-giving space by remaining innovative.
The move is an apparent attempt to take on a Rocket clone, with Silicon Allee revealing last month how the Samwer brothers’ investment vehicle was developing a similar service called DropGifts.
Wrapp has today responded to that threat by announcing its intention to move into Rocket Internet’s territory as the battle for gift-giving dominance escalates.
Stockholm-based Wrapp is an app which allows users to give their Facebook friends free gift cards from major retailers, and has also just been launched in Norway. According to the firm, it makes it fun and easy to give, receive and redeem presents online and using mobile devices while also enabling FB friends to contribute to a gift.
For merchants, meanwhile, Wrapp represents a valuable platform for acquiring and retaining new customers.
The service was launched last year and is already available in Sweden and the UK. More than 150,000 users have sent around a million gift cards so far. Now Germans, Swiss and Austrians will be able to take advantage of the offers.
Wrapp CEO and co-founder Hjalmar Winbladh hit out at DropGifts and other similar clones, insisting that his company would win out by remaining innovative: “Our partners can always rely on us. We do not engage in e-commerce business and we will also not build anything that could lead to a competitive situation for our partners. Lasting success in our business requires innovation and close, trusting business relationships. Wrapp is the first service with a mobile app and we will ensure that we keep the lead in innovation also in the future – further innovative features can be expected from us.”
He also revealed that Wrapp has started preliminary discussions with some of Germany’s top names in various different areas of retail: “We are confident that the retail business can only profit from a partnership with Wrapp. In Sweden, where we started in November 2011, this has already been shown… our partners report that the revenue generated is around four to six times higher than for normal vouchers.”
The company is extending its efforts to become internationally established by preparing for country launches in Italy, France and the US, as well as in Asia. Expanding quickly is usually a trademark of Rocket companies – it remains to be seen how they, and DropGifts, respond to the gauntlet thrown down by Wrapp.