• Reuters, Monday, April 30, 2012 11:46 AM

Sweden-startup Wrapp is bringing its social gifting expertise to U.S. consumers, and, in turn, drawing attention to the ecommerce trend. “Last year, the buzzword in e-commerce was Groupon Inc and its myriad of competitors that offered daily online coupons to entice shoppers in a down economy,” Reuters reminds us. “Now, the latest fashion in retail is social gifting, where people get together on Facebook to buy each other gifts.” 

According to Wrapp’s CEO Hjalmar Winbladh: "Brick-and-mortar retailers are all looking for new, more efficient ways to drive sales into stores without diluting their brands ... we wanted to really see how retailers can leverage the megatrends of smartphones and social networks." Wrapp’s app, which can run on smartphones, tablets and computers, has already gained traction in Europe. Since mid-November, the company says that more than 165,000 active users have given over 1.4 million gift cards that can be redeemed in some 50 major retail stores.

The app let Facebook friends buy each other gift cards from participating retailers -- either individually or as a group -- which they can store on their mobile devices and redeem either online or inside physical stores. As Reuters adds: “Retailers like it because there is little marketing cost and because customers often end up buying more once they are inside the store.”

Read the whole story at Reuters »