Wriggle App: Review

An independent local app that gives you last minute special offers at independent businesses around Bristol. Sounds good, doesn’t it? That’s precisely what Wriggle is – and if you’ve not downloaded the app, you’re missing out.

Available for both Apple and Android phones and tablets, Wriggle offers the user a daily-changing selection of local deals from which to choose, all of which are available for that day only. It was the brainchild of entrepreneur Rob Hall, who came up with the idea while working as a lawyer. With so many great independent restaurants and bars, he was convinced that Bristol was the right place to start, and left his job to give it a go.

Wriggle began life as a simple email service to test the water. Those signed up to the Wriggle mailing list would receive a daily email, informing them of that day’s offers. At the time, it worked on a trust basis: subscribers would select the deal they wanted, confirm by email and receive a code from the Wriggle team, which they would then show to the venue so that they could enjoy their deal. Payment would then be requested by Wriggle after the event. Perhaps surprisingly, the trust system actually worked – and showed Rob just how many people were up for booking a spontaneous night out.

Fast forward to May 7th 2014, and the launch of the Wriggle app. The creation of the app allowed Wriggle to bill customers instantly, and made the whole process far more user-friendly. Since then, the company has grown and grown, with thousands of app downloads and several new businesses working with the Wriggle team. Excitingly, Wriggle have also gone down the crowdfunding route to source more investment: they’ve not only reached their target, but have exceeded it.

There’s no doubting that Wriggle benefits both the customers and the businesses involved. For the customer, it’s a great way to find something new to do that evening at an affordable price. At the moment, it’s mainly food and drink businesses selling last minute tables, but Rob aims to expand to include theatre tickets and other ideas that are time-sensitive. It introduces people to local, independent businesses they may never have heard of, let alone spent money with – and at a discounted price too.

For businesses, it offers the opportunity to be seen by a wider range of different potential customers, and the chance to fill empty seats at the last minute. A number of businesses in Bristol have been stung by the high commission and strict rules imposed by the national deals websites (you know the ones we mean…!) but Wriggle is different: commission is low, and they’re pretty good at plugging their partner businesses across social media too. The fact that a number of local bars and restaurants now offer weekly deals via Wriggle shows that they must be happy with the service.

So what type of places can you expect to find on Wriggle? Well, there’s generally a great choice each day. Places like The Runcible Spoon, Aviator Bar, The Bootlegger, Small Street Espresso, The Beer Emporium, Delmonico, Yume Kitchen (who actually offered the first ever Wriggle!) – the list goes on. Offers change on a daily basis, so there’s always somewhere new and exciting to try.

We used the Wriggle app for the first time recently for our first visit to Mathilda’s Chilli Bar (you can read the review here). The following should give you a decent idea of just how easy the Wriggle app is to use…

After logging in (you can login either with Facebook or email), we started at the home screen, which lists all of the offers available on that particular day, and the times at which they are available. Click on one of the offers, and you’re provided with more detail.

Each deal page will give you more information about the venue and the deal, along with a big “Book Now” button. All very straightforward – what I would love to see, though, would be a direct link to the venue’s website and their menu, as sometimes the deals are for specific dishes that it would be good to find out more about before booking.

Click “Book Now”, and you’re taken to a screen that asks you to confirm the number of people you’re booking for…

…followed by a request for your payment details. You’re given the option to save your card details for future usage if you like, and I was glad to see that security is important to Wriggle – once I’d typed in my card number, it was converted to asterisks.

On the following screen, a request for a few contact details just in case Wriggle need to get in touch…

…and that’s it. Your confirmation screen/receipt includes your booking code, which you simply need to show to the venue when you arrive (it will be emailed to you, and there’s a “Bookings” tab within the app where it will also be stored. You also have a social share option pop up on the screen – it’s up to you whether you share or not!

We had no problems whatsoever with the Wriggle code when we arrived at Mathilda’s Chilli Bar, and enjoyed a great meal! It was great to see that we had aftercare service from Wriggle too, with the following email arriving the next day…

All in all, a great experience. As previously mentioned, it would be great to have a bit more information about the venue on the individual deal pages, rather than having to find and visit the website outside of the app, but everything else was positive. It’s a great way to try out some of Bristol’s independent bars and restaurants at a fraction of the normal cost, and I’m looking forward to seeing some non-food and drink options appearing on the Wriggle app in the near future too. The team also have plans to expand to Bath, so watch this space…

Want to know more about Wriggle? Visit their website, find them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter for more information…