Argos ‘Gift Finder’ app mimics Tinder-swipe design

Argos has mimicked the infamous swipe function popularly assimilated with the date-hungry Tinder app, to help indecisive customers narrow down gift ideas for friends.

The Argos Christmas Gift Finder asks users to define demographics such as age, gender, age and price – then displays suggestions based on your parameters. The web app then lets users exercise their finger muscles, whittling down preferences pressing the left arrow to reject, or the right to accept.

The app will then store likes and dislikes and advise the user what gifts may be most appropriate.

According to Argos, the web app has been seen more than 300,000 visits. Early data suggests users spend an average of three minutes looking at gift suggestions. It is unclear as to how/if the app has converted sales.

To maximise on the festive period, Argos has also released a game – ‘Friend or Fraud’ – within the app which lets users build their own wishlists, then invite friends to guess which items they like or dislike.

Mark Steel, Head of Digital Trading, Marketing & Operations at Argos said: “With almost a quarter² of our total sales now coming from mobile devices, we know shoppers are increasingly purchasing products on-the-go.  We’ve developed a rewarding mobile experience that is visually rich, thumb-friendly and intuitive to make Argos stand out from the crowd in the mobile battleground this year.”

James Dye, co-founder of Convert said: “Within the Argos Gift Finder the customer only discovers relevant, intelligently recommended products, one at a time, which makes for quick and easy decisions. It lets the customer drill down to a “maybe list” very quickly, then save, email the list or go straight on to purchase the items.”

The web app can be used across most smartphones, desktop PCs and tablets.