CleverGift was named Start-up of the Year at the Tech. Awards powered by Retail Week, after winning the majority vote from the retail judges.

CleverGift came out on top following fierce competition from 46 other start-ups after pitching to a panel of judges including Schuh ecommerce director Sean McKee, Made.com chief technology officer Jonathan Howell and John Lewis’ online product director Sienne Veit.

The competition took place over the two-day Tech. powered by Retail Week conference and comprised start-ups making a three-minute pitch about their business followed by three minutes of questions.

CleverGift edged out the second and third place winners Divido and Avora by less than 1%.

The Irish start-up is designed to drive the gift shopping experiences for ecommerce retailers.

CleverGift’s platform allows online retailers to sell online past shipment cut-off dates and capture last minute gift shopping and will also remind users of their friends and family members birthdays and other special occasions throughout the year. 

Made.com’s Jonathan Howell said: “The post-Christmas return rate across the industry shows that customers struggle with gifting, and CleverGift offers a very slick solution.”