社會化禮品應用Wrapp能成為后Groupon時代的明星嗎？

????近日，在科技創業公司圈內開始流行一個大家最喜歡的消遣活動——抨擊Groupon。這家一度炙手可熱的團購之王現在突然變得處處遭人詬?。簭呢攧掌墼p，到內控不足，再到為了業務拓展而大手大腳地開支過度?？赡茏钤愕氖?，批評人士稱，對那些貪便宜的主，Groupon就像是他們的磁鐵。商家只要是在Groupon上發布了團購優惠，他們就一擁而上，用足低價折扣，然后就一去不復返了。Groupon本來是指望這些消費者成為回頭客，從而吸引商家成為Groupon的客戶，可這么一來，所謂雙贏模式還從何談起呢。

????那么，有沒有哪個自稱是“反Groupon”的公司找到一劑良方，能讓消費者和零售商皆大歡喜呢？這正是哈加爾馬?溫布拉德的希望所在。作為一位連續創業家，他在瑞典成立了一個名為Wrapp的公司。本周一，這家公司正式進入美國市場。作為Wrapp的首席執行官，他表示：“從零售商的角度看，我們能把合適的客戶送到店里，并幫助提高銷量?！?/p>

????Wrapp不是團購公司——團購公司成百上千，沒有一家成氣候的。它是一個社交饋贈移動應用，名字是wrap和app這兩個單詞的結合，建立在Facebook的社交圖譜上。它鼓勵用戶在生日、節日和其他特殊場合向自己的親戚朋友贈送禮物。不過，用戶們贈送的不是虛擬的馬天尼酒之類的禮物，而是虛擬的禮品卡，這種卡通過手機就能在大型零售商如GAP、H&M或絲芙蘭（Sephora）處兌換商品。

????這種卡很多都是免費的，零售商可以指定它們對哪類人群有效（比如，芝加哥18歲到24歲的女性）。如果你正好是送卡人，就可以往卡里充值，還能在Facebook上發布自己要送的禮物，這樣其他人也能為它充值（比如可以說：“喬就要參加半程馬拉松了，我們都來給他的新跑鞋捐點錢吧?！保?。這個應用可以使用Facebook的數據，因此能在朋友生日和其他特殊日子向用戶發出提醒。

????絲芙蘭的互動副總裁布里奇特?多蘭表示：“Wrapp是一種美妙的送禮方式?！倍嗵m稱，很多人本來有意送禮，卻常常沒這么做，因為他們沒時間，或是壓根就給忘了?！坝辛薟rapp，你就能付諸行動了，因為這是那么容易。它本身就是讓人驚喜地喊出‘哎呀’的完美禮物?！?/p>

????絲芙蘭已經使用了第一信息公司（First Data Corporation）開發的電子產品eGift Social，它讓人們能通過Facebook贈送禮品卡。多蘭表示，Wrapp的移動應用及提醒用戶特殊日子的功能有可能讓絲芙蘭的禮品卡生意獲得“極快的病毒式增長”。

????溫布拉德稱，Wrapp和Groupon一樣，會讓網民們走進實體店。不過，他表示，用戶不會把這種購物體驗和買打折貨掛鉤，那樣只會損害品牌的聲譽，相反，他們認為這是朋友精選挑選的禮物。當Wrapp的用戶在Facebook上發布禮物，或是加入贊助某種禮物的群組，或是“贊”（like）他們朋友的禮物時，品牌實際上得到了免費的廣告傳播。

????There's a favorite pastime these days in tech startup circles -- bashing Groupon. The once-hot daily deals kingpin is being slammed for everything from accounting shenanigans to lack of internal controls and overspending to grow its business. Perhaps worst of all, critics say Groupon is a magnet for cheapskates who flock to merchants to redeem deep discounts and never return -- hardly a winning model for the retailers Groupon counts on as repeat customers.

????So has a company that bills itself as the anti-Groupon (GRPN) found a formula that works for both consumers and retailers? That's the hope of Hjalmar Winbladh, a serial entrepreneur whose Swedish startup, Wrapp, is launching in the United States on Monday. "From a retailer perspective, we can send the right customer to your store and help drive more sales," says Winbladh, who is Wrapp's CEO.

????Wrapp is not daily deals startup -- there are already hundreds of those, none of them runaway successes. Wrapp is a social gifting mobile app, whose name is a mash-up of "wrap" and "app," and is built atop of Facebook's social graph. It encourages users to give gifts to their friends and relatives on birthdays, holidays and other special occasions. But instead of giving, say, a virtual martini, Wrapp users give each other virtual gift cards that are redeemable, via their mobile phones, at major retailers like Gap (GPS), H&M or Sephora.

????Many of the cards are free and retailers can specify to whom they are available (women 18 to 24 in Chicago, for example). If you are the one doing the giving, you can add money to a card. You can also publish your gift on Facebook, where others can also add money to it. ("Hey, Joe is running a half-marathon, so lets all contribute to a his new pair of running shoes.") Since the mobile app has access to Facebook data, it will remind you of your friend's birthdays and other special occasions.

????"Wrapp will be a fantastic way to give a gift," says Bridget Dolan, vice president of interactive at Sephora. Dolan says many people who have the intention to give gifts often don't do so because they don't have time or because they forget. "With Wrapp, you are going to act on those intentions because it is so easy. It is the perfect 'oops' gift."

????Sephora already works with eGift Social, which lets people send gift cards via Facebook, but Dolan says Wrapp's mobile app and its ability to remind users about special occasions has the potential to put Sephora's gift card business on a "very fast viral climb."

????Like Groupon, Wrapp will drive online denizens to brick-and-mortar stores, says Winbladh. However consumers won't associate the shopping experience with a discount, which can tarnish a brand's cachet, but rather with a gift purposely chosen by their friends, he says. And brands will get free advertising, of sorts, when Wrapp users publish their gifts, join as a group to make a gift bigger, or "like" their friend's gifts on Facebook.