New online greetings cards firm Whamoosh wants to take on Moonpig

By Alistair Houghton on Dec 10, 09 12:23 PM

A CHESHIRE company is using technology developed by university researchers to help it take on the giants of the personalised greetings card industry.
The directors of Daresbury-based Whamoosh! launched their new website six weeks ago, and say they want to claim a quarter of the personalised greetings card market within four years.

The company uses facial recognition software originally developed by researchers from the University of Manchester. When users upload pictures, the software automatically scans faces and can then use them to create bespoke greetings cards.
Whamoosh! co-founder John Bickley says the technology is more advanced than that used by market leader Moonpig - but says his young firm now has to battle against the might of Moonpig's publicity machine.
Mr Bickley says the greetings card market in the UK is worth around £1.5bn, of which around 1% is sold online. He says the online market is sure to grow still further, and that he is confident Whamoosh! can battle back against Moonpig's domination of the market.
He said: "Moonpig turned over more than £20m last year. It generated £6.7m profit. There's a lot of margin in this business.
"It's a very good business from a cashflow point of view. We don't manufacture anything until you buy it.
"We believe we have an offering that is better than Moonpig. Our challenge, coming from a standing start, is one of awareness - it's the challenge all internet businesses face."
Whamoosh! parent Spotlight Cards was founded by Mr Bickley and Alan Oliver. The website went live in October.
Mr Oliver founded Liverpool greetings card firm Kamrok and saw it grow into an industry leader, turning over £3m and supplying chains such as Clinton Cards, before he sold it in 2006.
Mr Bickley is a former senior executive at video game developers Psygnosis and SonyPlayStation. He led the technology company Genemation, which was based at Liverpool Science Park but is now based alongside Whamoosh!, in Daresbury, that developed FaceTec software.
Mr Bickley, who leads a team of four at Whamoosh!, said: "Alan is a mate of mine and this came about from us talking about how we would like to build a business together.
"I was approached by Moonpig last year and nearly licensed the technology to them. We were also approached by other personalisation companies.
"But he took the view that with his background in greetings cards and my background in intellectual property and technology, we should do it ourselves."