Giftster – Wish List Registry - Interview with the developer of a fantastic app

Did you have any prior development or coding experience?

Giftster had business and technical cofounders that both had extensive prior experience in software start-ups and full-stack software development.

What was the most challenging aspect of developing mobile app?

Developing a quality solution for both Android and iOS that also play nice with the website version at giftster.com. Also having the patience to build a great service and allow the time needed for people to discover it, which took years.

_{Ron Reimann - Founder}

The interviewee, Ron Reimann, is the Founder and CEO of Gifster - an awesome app that allows you to create both private and public wish lists that can be shared with friends and family. If your whole family registers for the service, you can create a group where lists can be shared directly, and you can even see if an item has already been purchased from someone's list by another member of your family.

Name a few of your favorite apps and reason you love them.

The interviewee chose not to answer this question.

How long have you been working on this app?

The Giftster app first came to life in 2012 and the 3rd generation is getting close to release!

What need of the user did you have in mind when developing this app?

Gift anxiety is real. It's a struggle to pick thoughtful gifts, and receiving duplicate gifts, or gifts that while well-intended were not needed or wanted, is a $14 billion dollar problem in the USA alone. The target user is a family or friend group that has gift giving traditions around birthdays and holidays. Also international considerations, we design with other countries in mind so although it is in English you can use local currency symbols and add items from e-commerce sites in your own country.

In what way do you think your app is better than similar apps on the market? Please describe in detail what innovation you think you bring and what you are proud of in your app.

There have been in our count over 100 apps attempting to offer wish list making services outside of the wedding and baby categories. Only a handful remain. It's a service that seems simple on the surface, but is very complex to make it work well. Easy is hard. Giftster pioneered the idea of year-round wish list sharing, in a private, family group overseen by one family member in that group. The result is Giftster becomes part of the fabric of the family, everyone "checks Giftster" around gift giving occasions, year after year. Our team cares about the quality, reliability, speed and privacy of our service and I think our members can tell, and they reward us with their loyalty and word of mouth recommendations. We keep growing 30-40% a year.

What are your future plans and expected features of the coming new versions of this app?

We're excited about our next release of the Giftster Android and iOS apps; they are completely native to their platforms and incorporate our best thinking from having had 2 million members. Apple fans will love the iOS Giftster and Android fans will love their Android Giftster, developed by separate teams to make each the best they can be.

Assuming new users of your app are reading this page. What do you want to ask them to do (contact you about X, Share the app, etc.)?

Our Giftser members are the ones that help us grow by sharing how much Giftster has become a part of their family traditions. You can get started now with Giftster using the current apps in iOS App Store, Android App Store and the Amazon App store, or even the mobile responsive giftster.com. They all work together so everyone in the family has a way to be connected via Giftster around gift giving occasions.