A local entrepreneur recently launched his gift-giving app. Photos by Burl Rolett.
A local app startup recently got a restaurant upgrade.
GiftCaddies, a smartphone app that allows users to remotely buy friends vouchers for drinks, food and gift certificates, said last week it struck a deal to have Richmond Restaurant Group’s six restaurants signed on to the gift-giving platform.
GiftCaddies owner Charlie Vecchio said the deal gives the app, which went live in June, momentum as it looks to gain traction adding other area businesses. Richmond Restaurant Group owns The Daily Kitchen & Bar, Pearl Raw Bar, two locations of The Hard Shell, The Hill Cafe and Water Coastal Kitchen.
“The partnership is great for us because it puts a reputable business on the platform,” Vecchio said. “We now have six of the top restaurants in Richmond on the app.”
Charlie Vecchio
Now, for example, someone sitting at home can buy a friend at the downtown Hard Shell a cocktail or oyster sampler using GiftCaddies. The recipient can redeem the gift either through the GiftCaddies iPhone app, which is free to download, or through an email link. Once GiftCaddies becomes available for Android users in the next 60 days, gifts will only be redeemable using the app.
In addition to the six restaurants recently signed on, the two Halligan Bar & Grill locations downtown and in the West End are also using GiftCaddies.
GiftCaddies is also in the Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads market, where it has 10 businesses signed on. In addition to restaurants, spas and a limousine company also use the app there.
“Anything you could possibly gift, we’ll work with,” Vecchio said.
GiftCaddies makes its money by taking a percentage cut of the price of the gift. Businesses pay an annual fee to be on the app. The fee varies depending on the size, location and prominence of the business, Vecchio said.
“It opens up a revenue stream that they never had before,” Vecchio said of his business customers.
Hard Shell downtown offers eight food and drink gifts and three gift card options.
Vecchio, who works on GiftCaddies full-time, said the company has brought in about $20,000 in revenue and has been downloaded more than 2,000 times. About $250,000 has been spent to get the app where it is today. It has been financed by Vecchio, along with downtown marketing firm West Cary Group, which has invested in the company and helped develop the app.
Vecchio has two full-time salespeople, as well as a part-time administrative worker.
He said the biggest challenge to getting GiftCaddies to catch on is expanding its geographical reach.
“The big challenge is the scaling and getting it into multiple markets,” Vecchio said. “In order for this to really take off, it needs to be in more markets.”
Eventually, Vecchio said he hopes to raise about $500,000 to take GiftCaddies nationwide, starting with Austin, Texas.
“We want to be on the national stage,” Vecchio said. “Our two-year plan is to be in 50-plus markets – to really be a one-stop shop where people go to send gifts.”
A local entrepreneur recently launched his gift-giving app. Photos by Burl Rolett.
A local app startup recently got a restaurant upgrade.
GiftCaddies, a smartphone app that allows users to remotely buy friends vouchers for drinks, food and gift certificates, said last week it struck a deal to have Richmond Restaurant Group’s six restaurants signed on to the gift-giving platform.
GiftCaddies owner Charlie Vecchio said the deal gives the app, which went live in June, momentum as it looks to gain traction adding other area businesses. Richmond Restaurant Group owns The Daily Kitchen & Bar, Pearl Raw Bar, two locations of The Hard Shell, The Hill Cafe and Water Coastal Kitchen.
“The partnership is great for us because it puts a reputable business on the platform,” Vecchio said. “We now have six of the top restaurants in Richmond on the app.”
Charlie Vecchio
Now, for example, someone sitting at home can buy a friend at the downtown Hard Shell a cocktail or oyster sampler using GiftCaddies. The recipient can redeem the gift either through the GiftCaddies iPhone app, which is free to download, or through an email link. Once GiftCaddies becomes available for Android users in the next 60 days, gifts will only be redeemable using the app.
In addition to the six restaurants recently signed on, the two Halligan Bar & Grill locations downtown and in the West End are also using GiftCaddies.
GiftCaddies is also in the Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads market, where it has 10 businesses signed on. In addition to restaurants, spas and a limousine company also use the app there.
“Anything you could possibly gift, we’ll work with,” Vecchio said.
GiftCaddies makes its money by taking a percentage cut of the price of the gift. Businesses pay an annual fee to be on the app. The fee varies depending on the size, location and prominence of the business, Vecchio said.
“It opens up a revenue stream that they never had before,” Vecchio said of his business customers.
Hard Shell downtown offers eight food and drink gifts and three gift card options.
Vecchio, who works on GiftCaddies full-time, said the company has brought in about $20,000 in revenue and has been downloaded more than 2,000 times. About $250,000 has been spent to get the app where it is today. It has been financed by Vecchio, along with downtown marketing firm West Cary Group, which has invested in the company and helped develop the app.
Vecchio has two full-time salespeople, as well as a part-time administrative worker.
He said the biggest challenge to getting GiftCaddies to catch on is expanding its geographical reach.
“The big challenge is the scaling and getting it into multiple markets,” Vecchio said. “In order for this to really take off, it needs to be in more markets.”
Eventually, Vecchio said he hopes to raise about $500,000 to take GiftCaddies nationwide, starting with Austin, Texas.
“We want to be on the national stage,” Vecchio said. “Our two-year plan is to be in 50-plus markets – to really be a one-stop shop where people go to send gifts.”