admin, Author at Woohoo Gifting Blog

Can’t decide what to gift your loved one? This startup has an answer

As appeared in techinasia.com on 29 August 2015, by Nikita Peer.

————————————————————————

Last diwali Ritwik Sharma’s employer gifted him a dinner set. Expensive cutlery. A nice gesture, but it’s the seventh dinner set he owns, so it’s destined to wind up in his storeroom. Shreya Momaya dreads weddings- not because she can’t decide what to wear, but because she suffers from “can’t decide what to gift” syndrome.

Bangalore-based Qwikcilver launched Woohoo, a gift card store aimed at solving this problem. Woohoo has partnered with brands from 400 cities to give the gift receiver a choice of buying from categories like kitchenware, apparel, and jewellery. The cards can also be redeemed for experiences like a trip to the movies, dining out, visiting a spa, or travel.

“Gift cards have emerged as the preferred gifting option for trendy and tech-savvy early adopters seeking novelty. Woohoo embodies all the joy, fresh vibrancy, and positive imagery needed for any gifting occasion,” says Qwikcilver co-founder Pratap TP.

Woohoo’s gift cards can be delivered to loved ones via SMS, email, or Whatsapp as well as physically.

The startup has partnered with 150 online and offline brands including Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Titan, Madura garments, Croma, Pizza Hut, Makemytrip, Flipkart, and Amazon. Woohoo says it will add 1,000 new brands in the next year. The goal is to offer enough variety that anyone can find something they want.

The gift cards can also be decorated using a variety of colourful templates and personalization options of photos, stickers, or messages to add a special tinge. There are occasions-based themes like birthdays and anniversaries or festival occasions like Diwali and Christmas.

The startup recently acquired Sourcen, a mobile technology developer. The deal was actually an acqui-hire of sorts that added a team of dozen mobile app developers who were instrumental in launching Woohoo.

Unexplored territory

Qwikcilver, a six-year-old startup, was founded by Pratap TP and Kumar Sudarshan, engineers from India’s premier institutes BITS-Pilani. Back then, gift cards as a consumer-driven business was non-existent in India. Qwikcilver initially focused on developing tech tools for providing stored-value-card solutions and gift cards to retail brands. With a flexible SaaS platform, the startup manages the entire gift card program for retailers including design, storage, and transactions pertaining to it.

“The biggest challenge was driving adoption at multiple levels – enterprise level, business unit level, cross functional level, and ultimately by the consumer,” says Pratap. “The excitement for a startup is only triggered by the complexity of the game on hand. The pavement pounding over the years and the confidence reposed in our platform and by our customers through the years has driven our mission,” he adds.

Qwikcilver is the first startup in India that’s backed by Amazon. Last year, the startup secured US$10 million in a funding round from Amazon and existing investors Helion Venture Partners and Accel Partners.

Qwikcilver claims it is the only player in the global arena that operates in an integrated manner – across offline and online brands, retailers, and corporates. The startup addresses a market that is handled by multiple players internationally – Ceridian SVS for physical card processing, Cashstar for digital card processing, Blackhawk and Incomm for distribution are some of the players in the international segments.

“We are doing what VISA and MasterCard have done for the credit card industry,” says Pratap.

Qwikcilver processes 50 million transactions across physical cards, digital cards, and mobile based engagements annually in India. It claims the annual gross value of these cards is INR10 billion (US$151 million).

Some of its clients include Arvind retail, Madura Garments, Flipkart, Cleartrip, and Amazon. The startup plans to add 100 international brands mainly from Middle East and Asia Pacific.

“Woohoo would be an anchor to drive additional sales and footfalls for our strategic partner stores with an app based shopping experience,” says Pratap.

The market size of the gifting industry is US$30 billion in India. “Digital gift cards are the fastest growing mode of gifting,” says Pratap who claims to have captured a 90 percent market share.

In India, gifting has been given a center-stage during festivals and marriages. Since gift purchases take place within two days of the event, instant gifting options are poised to grow.

QwikCilver’s e-gifting store GiftBig is now Woohoo

As appeared in medianama.com on 5th August 2015 by Sneha Johari.

——————————————————————

E-gifting platform QwikCilver has launched e-gift and gift card store Woohoo.in, which it claims will work across 400 cities and over 150 brands, online and offline. The website has basically been consolidated from and will redirect from its previous offering GiftBig, its users will be migrated to Woohoo.in.

The company plans to add 1,000 new brands across categories in the next year and currently has gift cards from Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Tata Trent, Titan, Madura Garments, Croma, Cafe Coffee Day, Pizza Hut, Makemytrip, Cleartrip, Thomas Cook, Flipkart, Amazon, Myntra, PVR Cinemas among others. The platform will let users customise plastic and e-cards for multiple occasions and can be redeemed across online and offline stores, also using the mobile app.

QwikCilver claims to have around 90% of the prepaid and gift card market share, with over 100 brands across 20 categories like apparel, jewellery, dining, spa and travel among others. It claims to process over 50 million transactions annually across physical and digital cards across desktop and mobile in over 300 towns and cities.

Woohoo app: In April this year, after receiving a $10 million injection of funds from Amazon Asia Pacific, Accel Partners and Helion Venture Partners, Quikcilver launched a loyalty rewards points, gift card and virtual wallet app. The Woohoo app lets users pay through mobile online and offline and has partners in brands like Levi’s, Cafe Coffee Day, Cleartrip, Myntra, Payback and MobiKwik among others.

RBI wallet license: QwikCilver had secured a five-year prepaid mobile wallet license from RBI in August 2013 along with Mobikwik and Paytm. Amazon’s investment gave it access to QwikCilver’s semi closed wallet system, which would allow them to offer customers a digital wallet service for purchases from the site.

In March, Sanjay Tambwekar joined QwikCilver Solutions as its CTO. QwikCilver said that Tambwekar’s experience across technology practices would help QwikCilver to scale up their product platform suite and grow their enterprise architecture, e-commerce and m-commerce.

Set up in 2007, QwikCilver provides stored value card solutions to retail and corporate customers. It claims brands like Van Heusen, Shopper’s Stop, Peter England, Yahoo India, Nike, CCD, Levi’s, Microsoft among others as customers. QwikCilver provides gift, loyalty, discount, frequency, corporate campus and credit cards through its SaaS platform enabling a minimal upfront investment.

Qwikcilver launches Gift card Superstore – Woohoo.in

As appeared in techstory.in on 5 August 2015, by Dipti Gore.

————————————————————————————-

Qwikcilver Solutions, India’s pioneering Gift Card Company has announced the launch of Woohoo.in, India’s First Fully Integrated Mobile Responsive Online Gifting superstore. The platform aims to be a one stop destination for consumers for personal and occasion based gifting, and will allow them to choose from a wide array of gift card brands. The newly launched platform is mobile responsive, and enables consumers to transact from any mobile device, and gift on-the-go.

Through Woohoo.in, customers can send and receive gifts across more than 400 cities with the choice of 150+ trusted brands – be it offline or online, while also enabling the gift recipients to have the freedom to choose their own product and brand seamlessly. The platform gives consumers choices of gifting options not only in terms of brands but also allow them to choose from 20+categories including apparel, jewellery, home needs and so on. One can even gift experiences such as an entertaining day at cinema, exquisite fine dining, a relaxing spa or fun filled travel escapades. Woohoo.in has partnered with leading retail chains and brands including Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Tata – Trent, Titan, Madura garments, Croma, Cafe Coffee Day, Pizza Hut, Makemytrip, Cleartrip, Thomas Cook, Flipkart, Amazon, Myntra, PVR Cinemas and many more.

Commenting on the launch, Pratap T.P. Co-founder and CMO, Qwikcilver said, ‘Gift cards have emerged as the preferred gifting option by trendy and tech-savvy early adopters seeking novelty. The Woohoo brand embodies all the joy, fresh vibrancy and positive imagery needed for any Gifting occasion. Woohoo.in showcases and epitomizes the Indian consumers Gifting aspirations and needs today with this novel online destination.”

He further added, “The platform offers a unique Mobile gifting experience with a wide range of gifting options, instant Gifting delivery and multiple modes of gratification. Giftbig.com, the ecommerce site for Gift cards will seamlessly migrate into Woohoo.in. The consumer base of Giftbig.com would be redirected to our new Woohoo.in site. Woohoo.in is looking at adding 1000+ new brands across categories in the next one year.

Woohoo.in provides consumers quick access to gift cards of reputable brands, both plastic and e-cards. The extensive personalization feature allows consumers to customize their gifts for various personal occasions ranging from Birthdays, Anniversaries; and festival occasions like Diwali, Raksha Bandhan and many more, making the whole process of selecting and buying a gift much simpler. The gift cards can be redeemed at the online and offline stores and also used to shop at thousands of new places using the Woohoo mobile app.

Gift cards are a 3000 crore industry in India. Qwikcilver has established and reinforced the Prepaid & Gift Card Qwikcilver Network in Indian retail – with close to 90% share of the customer engagements across 100+ power brands in 20 consumption categories. The Qwikcilver Network has grown by 300% year-on-year for the last 4 years and currently processes over 50 million transactions across physical cards, digital cards and Mobile based engagements across card transactions annually in 300+ towns & cities.

Qwikcilver recently launched one-of-its-kind innovation in retail, Woohoo App that aggregates multiple payment options in a single platform, for consumers to transact at various retail outlets – offline and online. Consumers can use Woohoo as the single Mobile App for their transactions, be it buying in retail, having a meal in a restaurant, or buying a ticket online.

Qwikcilver Solutions, is a single-stop provider for all kinds of stored value card based solutions for Retailers, service providers and corporates (to power convenience and operational efficiency programs like Campus Cards, Incentives and Benefits Card).Qwikcilver is well poised to enable its customers derive the maximum benefit out of the card programs.

Qwikcilver’s mission is to play a transformational role in driving footfalls and transactions across offline & online segments with innovative technology powered solutions. Qwikcilver has pioneered and established significant leadership of the Prepaid & Gift Card category in India. Through Woohoo, Qwikcilver is targeting the end consumer by giving them maximum benefit out of available currency options.

Amazon-backed QwikCilver merges GiftBig with newly launched online gift store Woohoo.in for mobile first play

As appeared in techcircle.vccircle.com on 4 August 2015, by Binu Paul.

—————————————————————————————————-

GiftBig.com, run by Bangalore-based QwikCilver Solutions Pvt Ltd, has been re-branded to Woohoo.in, as it seeks to morph into a mobile-first online gifting superstore for consumers.

“The (new) platform offers a mobile gifting experience with a wide range of gifting options, instant gifting delivery and multiple modes of gratification. Giftbig.com, the e-commerce site for gift cards will seamlessly migrate into Woohoo.in. The consumer base of Giftbig.com would be redirected to our new Woohoo.in site,” said Pratap TP, co-founder and CMO of QwikCilver.

The company will continue to provide the back-end technology for B2B transactions related to plastic gift cards, loyalty cards, code programmes and social media gifting of various brands, said Pratap. Moreover, the desktop version of woohoo.in will also lend itself to gifting transactions.

Pratap further stated that Woohoo is looking to add more than 1,000 new brands across categories in the next one year.

Woohoo.in provides consumers with gift cards of reputable brands that can be redeemed at online and offline stores. These can also be used to shop on Woohoo mobile app, which was launched in May this year to enable aggregation of payment options and to pay retail outlets through mobile. The app allows retailers to accept multiple currencies. Similarly, it would allow currency partners like Oxigen wallet and loyalty rewards programme points under Payback to be accepted across thousands of retailers.

Qwikcilver was founded in 2008 by the duo of Pratap and Kumar Sudarshan. It works on a Software-as-a-Service model (SaaS), enabling customers to launch the stored value card program with minimal upfront investment and provides suite of services to create, deploy and manage the programme.

Last year, the company had raised $10 million in a funding round led by e-commerce giant Amazon. The firm’s existing investors Helion Venture Partners and Accel Partners also participated in the round.

The company claims that the Qwikcilver network has grown by 300 per cent year-on-year in the last four years and that it currently processes over 50 million transactions across physical cards, digital cards and mobile-based engagements.

At present the gift-card market in India is estimated at $500 million (over Rs 3,000 crore) and projected to treble over the next two years.

Recently, Mumbai-based GCI Network Pvt Ltd, the company behind the online gifting platform GiftCardsIndia, had raised an undisclosed amount in funding from Blume Ventures and Google India head Rajan Anandan in December last year. It also acquired social gifting venture Giftery for an undisclosed amount.

Don’t Forget To Wish Your Dad This Father’s Day!

Father’s Day is coming up soon – in fact, it’s on Sunday, the 15th of June, 2014. Are you ready with the perfect gift to wish your darling father on this special day? Somehow, we feel that people tend to remember Mother’s Day more often than Father’s Day! Do you feel this is true as well? In that case, please feel free to go ahead and celebrate Father’s Day this year with great aplomb. Take your father out to dinner, pamper him, buy him the gifts he wants, and make the whole day something to remember and cherish.

Put In Some Extra Effort!

You still have some time left, so make it a priority to find out what daddy dear wants. Is he a sports fanatic? Or does he stay glued to the TV all day long? Does he have a thing for the latest tech? Does he like to shop for clothes? Make a list of his likes and decide what he really wants as a gift. He may not tell you this if you ask him – dads are like that. They’re always giving; receiving doesn’t come easy for them. It’ll be your job to make sure that dad not only enjoys receiving gifts from you, but also looks forward to them!

OK, You’re Still Not Really Sure What To Buy For Dad

OK, so you’ve done your homework but you’re still not really sure about what gift to give your dad. Never fear. We’re here to help you out. Just pick up a Father’s Day gift card from a great brand that offers what he likes! Could it get simpler than this? How about gift cards from Reliance, Croma or The Mobile Zone if your dad has a thing for tech stuff? Say he loves to shop for fine suits and ties. What could be more appropriate than a gift card from Arrow, Van Heusen or Raymond for that matter? Suppose you don’t know which fashion brand he likes. Just buy the Woohoo Fashion Gift Card and let your dad use it to buy a gift card from the fashion brand he likes!How about gifting a fine dining experience? All you do is pick up the Woohoo Dining Gift Card. Your dad can redeem it against a gift card or gift voucher from major restaurant brands on Woohoo.in Easy? Yes? So go on, make this Father’s Day your father’s most special day of the year.

QwikCilver riding on rising demand for gift cards

As appeared in thehindubusinessline.com on 1 June 2015, by Sangeetha Chengappa.

———————————————————————————————

The Indian gift card market is expected to receive fresh funding of up to $50 million which will enable key players such as Amazon-backed QwikCilver Solutions to ride the next wave of growth in digital cards.

Increasing consumer adoption of gift cards over the last two years, especially digital gift cards over physical cards, has seen QwikCilver’s sales growing 300 per cent year-on-year. The ₹3,000-crore Indian gift market card is expected to touch ₹9,000 crore by FY-2018.

TP Pratap, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer, QwikCilver Solutions Pvt Ltd, told BusinessLinethat currently, 5 million gift cards worth ₹1,000 crore are in circulation activated by the 100 brands the company has partnered with across 20 different consumption categories, spanning departmental stores, food & beverages, e-commerce, retail fashion chains, PVR entertainment, among others.

“The fresh infusion of funds by our partner brands will take us to the next level of growth, where we are aiming for ₹3,000 crore in sales by March, enabled by QwikCilver gift cards,” Pratap said.

Founded in 2008 by Kumar Sudarsan, TP Pratap and Bhaskar Vasudevan, the start-up raised $10 million in Series C funding in December, led by Amazon Asia Pacific with participation from its existing investors, Helion Venture Partners and Accel Partners.

The start-up recently acquired Sourcen, a mobile technology start-up, for its team of 12 who specialise in mobile app development. While the acquisition did not involve a cash payout, stock options have been given to some of the key members of the Sourcen team.

“We were working with Sourcen over the last six months on developing Woohoo, a mobile app we launched last month that aggregates multiple payments options for consumers to transact at various retail outlets. We decided to acquire Sourcen and will ramp up the team by hiring mobile developers who will help integrate multiple currencies such as MobiKwik, Paytm, Vodafone and airline currencies to our platform” said Pratap. To support its growth, the company has made a spate of high profile hires over the last 12 months. QwikCilver hired Sanjay Tambwekar as its CTO, from NetApp; Saurabh Sharma to head product management, from Google; Anu Mathew to head Human Resources, from HCL Infosystems; Mahesh Bhalla to head Sales, from Dell and Gyaneshwaran to head Operations from IBM. The headcount has grown from 100 people, eight months ago to 250 people today.

On hiring-spree

“We are in the process of doubling our headcount over the next 12 months and are ramping up our core technology team of 25 to 75 over the next three months,” said Pratap.

QwikCilver also has its own website, GiftBig.com (now Woohoo.in) that sells gift cards usable on any of the 100 brands that it has partnered with.

Gift the latest technological devices from Croma

Croma is a techno-lover’s paradise, with a huge range of consumer electronics and durables. India hadn’t seen the likes of Croma before it was launched by Infiniti Retail Limited, a subsidiary of Tata Group. Croma offers an impressive range of over 6000 products across eight categories. The list is growing every day, but currently encompasses everything from smartphones, to high-tech cameras, computers, home appliances and entertainment consoles.

Croma for the discerning techno-lover

If you have a friend with a huge collection of various techno products, you cannot please him or her easily with your selection. Croma with its unbelievable range of products and great ambience makes your job easy. Making things easier is Woohoo.in, from where you can quickly and easily buy a Croma gift voucher for any value you choose. Your job is done right there – Woohoo takes care of the rest including special packaging and prompt delivery.

The Croma experience

When your friend receives the gift card, take the opportunity to visit your nearest Croma store along with him or her. You’ll be extremely impressed by the sheer size, range and the wonderful ambience of this store. You will find the latest technology from top brands such as Sony, Samsung, LG, Toshiba and many others here.
Helpful store assistants guide you to the product you want. The entire process of checking out a range of products and making your final selection takes very little time, due to the seamless customer experience at Croma. The store chain has also earned the “Most Admired Retailer” award for four years in a row for its dedication to enabling a hassle-free shopping experience for customers. That’s not an easy feat by anyone’s standards.

(Post updated on 18 Jan 2016)

This Easter, Give a Special Gift to Your Loved Ones

Easter, a holy festival celebrated all over the globe symbolises victory over death, when Jesus rose from the dead on Easter Sunday. Apart from the dimly lit candles, prayers sung for Jesus accompanies with an elaborate mass music sessions, this festival gives each one of the food lovers an opportunity to enjoy fabulous feasts along with gifting something very special to their loved ones.

When talking about gifts one thing that triggers each one of us is whether they would use or like it? Thinking of this itself we land up finding alternatives of gifting either in the form of kind/cash.

When we can try and accept many changes in life, then why not implement the same when it comes to gifting as well?

Yea, you got us right! We are talking about the gift card concept which is a convenient modern way of escaping from the hassle of shopping. A gift card can be a problem solver by helping them gifting the best options from which they can buy what they love from any of the top stores like Lifestyle, Shoppers Stop , Myntra and so on.

Gift card is one such gift people can ever forget the person who gifted since they get the privilege to get a gift of their choice which is no less than a life time memory. It will for sure turn out to be a dual gift in itself. So, why not plan something exciting than the usual hunting of decorated eggs by gifting a gift card?

We are pretty sure all would definitely be eager to gift a card filled with unlimited happiness along with unlimited memories.

What else can anyone ask for this festive season, when they get everything in this Gift Card which is brought to you from Woohoo.in .

Gift a Perfect Day of Pampering to Your Loved Ones with VLCC Gift Card

Many of us strongly urge to pamper ourselves but we fail to pull out time from our framed busy schedules. It is very essential to give equal priority to our body, soul and mind. Most of the time women get considerably more lucky in comparison to men as they get more chances to pamper themselves.

But, have you ever thought why should men always get the credit of expressing? Why not we women? They also can impress the men by giving them an opportunity to rejuvenate and pamper themselves. Sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it?

Pampering can and should be enjoyed by both men and women and get overwhelmed by not only beautifying themselves but also for a good overall relaxation. TRUST US! It works wonders.

You shall find tons of elaborate options to choose from the Spa to get refreshed from the chaos of day to day work. If you are one of them who loves nature, then you can’t definitely wait to try the scrub and wrap that would detoxify you with full of minerals and enhance moisture in your skin. This shall also help removing all the toxins from your body. Adding, to this awesome feel the heady aromas will definitely carry you go beyond your imagination.

It does not end with this, if you are little sceptical trying this, then hop on to the Ayurveda section which has earned its own acclaim in India long back which includes massages with herbs. In short, you can enjoy the glimpses of divine ancient wisdom.

One cannot make themselves to feel something, but one can definitely do something they feel to do!

So, without a second thought gift your loved ones a package of opportunity to pamper themselves in VLCC and avail a discount of 15% by purchasing a gift card from www.Woohoo.in

Get 15% OFF on VLCC Gift Cards

Let Health and Beauty Be Your Valentine’s Day Gift!

Chocolates get over quickly and flowers fade. How about precious hours of cleansing, exfoliating, tender massages and relaxation? At world-famous spas and saloons. What an amazing gift that’ll be! Watch your tired wife or girlfriend walk into a spa and come out looking like a million dollars! You’ll be the hero of the day – of the year, in fact!

Gift them a Day of Cherishing and Pampering

A whole day of being cherished. Pampered. Taken care of. Scrubbed and exfoliated. Smoothed and bleached. Soaked in fragrant herbs and lotions. Such total bliss! You want your wife, mom or sis to remember their day of pampering for a very long time. Where do you send them, then?

You send them to a classy place. A place that promises nothing short of the very best in luxurious health and beauty treatments. You want to send the women you love to someplace exclusive like Lakme Salon, O2 Spa or Four Fountains Spa. Purchase a gift card from one of these beauty destinations for Valentine’s. Won’t the ladies be delighted? You can hear their excited screams already, can’t you?

Of Spas and Saloons….

Lakme Salon is an exclusive beauty destination frequented by women who know something about quality beauty treatments. The word ‘Lakme’ is synonymous with beauty, makeup and fashion. At Lakme, your loved one will be treated to exclusive skin and hair treatments fit for a queen. Lakme understands the Indian woman’s true beauty. Select a Lakme gift card for your special lady and you’ll be forgiven anything for the rest of the year!

O2 Spa and Four Fountains Spa are the perfect destinations for some holistic whole-body cleansings, massages and revitalization. No matter how tired your lady is, she will feel like a brand new human being after a day at one of these spas. And you can make that happen, by buying O2 or Four Fountains Spa gift cards!

Don’t try the Guessing Game…

That’s just the thing – you can never tell how much is enough. Not when it comes to health and beauty. Just loosen those purse strings. It’s Valentine’s, after all!

A day of pampering at O2 or Four Fountains Spa, followed by a day of exclusive beauty treatments at Lakme Salon. Which woman will dream of saying no to that? Here’s another thought – combine two gifts into one. Buy a gift card from O2 or Four Fountains Spa and one from Lakme. A fabulous day of relaxation at a spa followed by a day of beauty treatments – can you see how wonderful that’ll be? So go ahead – this is your chance to establish yourself as the best husband, boyfriend, son or brother on this planet.