by SEBASTIAN DAIMINGER
Time back much too late with the Christmas gifts? This fate comes above all men every year. And then there’s the nagging question would be: what should you give only? Vouchers are a beautiful thing.
With their start up company “MOBI g” (mobile gifting, so mobile gift-giving) Siska and Karl August Thiele have developed an app that guarantees Schenkern and recipient joy. The principle is simple: in the app can be selected from vouchers from over 40 major brands. The amount is freely selectable. Great fun fact: the gift can be fitted with personal congratulations as voice messages, photos or drawings. After a simple payment process the recipient gets the “mobile voucher” on his mobile phone, in the Gmail mailbox, or classic letter straight to your home. Gift shop
Muffle, need something at the last minute, will finally help: select, pay, send – everything takes only a few minutes and goes easily via fingertip on the mobile phone.
The brilliant voucher idea came the couple Thiele incidentally spontaneously at a concert of the Irish rock band U2. She experimented as you know will be happy with new. Since 2005, concept was tinkered at the “MOBI g”. A trial started in January 2012, since this week, the finished Web shop to the big “gift voucher department store” is online. The free app has been downloaded 20 000 times already. Over 1000 users actively use the service. “There are mostly men and younger customers. But many women appreciate this kind of gift-giving and belong to the repeat offenders,”says Karl-August Thiele.
The market with gift cards, the so-called prepaid cards is enormous: 100 billion euros be implemented in Europe alone every year. “While the offer in the United States is already much more widespread, Germany has still quite large pent-up demand. The market is growing each year by 15 to 20 percent”, so Thiele. A hard-fought business where good ideas are needed. Because success there is unfortunately not free.
Image courtesy of garryknight