????甚至連Groupon的投資人、創業公司的大腕雷德?霍夫曼（LinkedIn創始人——譯注）也認為，對零售商來說，Wrapp要比團購更有效。霍夫曼稱：“它與團購網站有著類似的價值主張，但吸引客戶的方式卻非常與眾不同。它不是吆喝說‘嘿，我這里的東西比標價便宜’，而是一種完全不同的營銷推廣方式。”今年1月，霍夫曼在Wrapp的A輪募資中投了1050萬美元，還加入了該公司的董事會。

????與霍夫曼同時加入Wrapp董事會的還有一位投資界名宿——尼克拉斯?曾特羅姆。他是Skype和Kazaa（世界著名的P2P軟件——譯注）的聯合創始人。本次投資他是通過其位于倫敦的風險投資公司Atomico來完成的。

????Wrapp目前在美國共有10個合作品牌。溫布拉德稱，另有15家商戶將在幾周內加盟。公司的盈利之道是：收取零售商手續費，以及抽取禮品卡金額的一定比例。

????Wrapp是去年11月在瑞典推出的，不久前在英國和挪威開業。目前，它已擁有165,000名活躍用戶，他們共送出超過140萬張卡。平均而言，零售商實現的銷售額是禮品卡價值的四倍還多。

????鑒于美國禮品卡市場的規模和增長勢頭——僅2011年圣誕節期間，美國人就送出了價值超過300億美元的卡——不難看出，為什么溫布拉德、霍夫曼和曾特羅姆對Wrapp登陸美國的前景如此看好。 “我們與零售商100%同進退，” 溫布拉德說。

????譯者：清遠

????Even Groupon investor and startup sage Reid Hoffman suggests that Wrapp could prove more effective for retailers than daily deals. "It has a similar value proposition but appeals to consumers in a very different way," says Hoffman, who invested in Wrapp's $10.5 million Series A round in January and joined the company's board of directors. "It's not saying, 'hey, my product is worth less than I charge for.' It's a different kind of marketing promotion."

????Hoffman was joined on Wrapp's board by fellow high profile investor, Niklas Zennstr?m, the cofounder of Skype (MSFT) and Kazaa, through his London-based venture capital firm, Atomico.

????Wrapp is opening in the United States with 10 brands, and Winbladh says another 15 merchants will join in a matter of weeks. The company makes money by charging retailers a transaction fee and a percentage of paid cards that are gifted through the app.

????Wrapp launched in Sweden in November, and more recently opened its service in the U.K. and Norway. Since then, it has amassed about 165,000 active users that have gifted more than 1.4 million cards. On average, retailers saw a lift in sales that was more than four times the value of the free cards.

????Given the size and growth of the U.S. gift card market -- more than $30 billion in cards were given during the 2011 holiday season alone -- it's not hard to see why Winbladh, Hoffman and Zennstr?m are salivating at the prospect of Wrapp's U.S. launch. Says Winblath, "We are 100% aligned with the retailer."