Startup looking to replace junk mail with online initiative

The rise in popularity of ShopGun has coincided with a massive fall in residents wanting retail advertisements through their letterboxes

Douglas Whitbread

‘ShopGun’, an app and website founded in 2009, aims to make the junk mail stuffed through Copenhagen residents’ letter box a thing of the past.

Its service enables users to search and compare promotional material, presented by a range of major stores, in countries throughout Europe.

Among the companies currently working with the startup in Denmark are Netto, Irma, Rema 1000, and Matas.

The rise of web advertising
Christian Birch, the co-founder & CEO of ShopGun, describes how the company has changed the way Copenhagen residents view promotional advertisements.

“When we started out in 2009, 18 percent of the Danish population said ‘no’ to receiving print commercials in their mailboxes. Today, the figure is at 50 percent, and in many parts of Copenhagen it’s about 75 percent,” he told CPH POST.

However, over the same period, ShopGun measured a large rise in the usage of its website and app by individuals across the country.

“We’ve [now] got around 2 million downloads in Denmark – our user-base represents a mini-Denmark,” he enthused.

Consumers in control
This success, Birch argues, rests on empowering those who look to get the best deals each week.

“We never think about how retailers can ‘make more money’ in the first place. We are people and think of what’s the best product for people,” he explained.

In this respect, the service that ShopGun provides, Birch suggests, does not seek to persuade people to buy. Rather, it allows them to strategise how they will make their weekly purchases.

“We want to make people feel like they’ve hired a butler or an assistant that completely automates their shopping as much as possible,” he said.

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