Danish startup links web stores with shoppers to simplify wish lists

Copenhagen company has secured $1.8 million investment and is expanding rapidly

The Danish entrepreneurs Brian Petersen and Kasper Refskou Jensen have started a company they believe will revolutionise gift giving and give parents and grandparents more time to focus on the important things, like deciding who’s naughty and nice or the most polite way to not invite Uncle John to the party.  

Avoid duplication
The service allows users to make online wish lists from hundreds of online shops.  Lists can then be sent to relatives or friends when gift giving occasions approach.  

Addwish users receive price drop e-mails and special offers from the online merchants.  

Gifts can be reserved to avoid duplication but, to maintain the element of surprise, the owner of the list cannot see in advance which gifts have been reserved.

Cashing in on e-commerce
A study conducted by RetailMeNot has found that E-commerce is the fastest growing retail market in Europe.

In 2014, internet sales are expected to reach 155.3 billion euros in Europe and 224 billion euros in the United States.  

Sales via mobile devices are also increasing rapidly. Last year in Europe, 8 percent of all online orders were made via a smartphone.  

That figure is predicted to increase to over 13 percent this year.  

‘Relevant all year’
Co-founder Brian Petersen believes the service provides value to both users and sellers.  “With our new price notification system we are relevant all year, both for users and merchants” he said. 

“Besides that, our retargeting tool is very strong and an important feature that our merchants really like.  

For merchants it’s all about giving them a great maintenance free tool, which provides them with a unique platform to retarget their products,” he said.

$1.8 million investment
In 2013, Addwish received $1.8 million in funding from Sunstone Capital, its first outside investment.  

The company currently has about 110,000 users and more than 500 online shops that have their ‘add to wish list’ plugin on their websites.  

Addwish believes the number of web shops in their network will increase to 2,000 by the end of the year.  

 

‘Potential is huge’
The Copenhagen-based company has global ambitions. 

“We are a global company,” claims Petersen. “We have huge knowledge of what people want to buy and we can provide that information to the shops in an easy way. 

Everyone with an e-commerce system wants that. So the potential is huge.”

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