ByensGaver · Byens Gaver

#6 on the Danish shopping Top Grossing chart, 0 ratings: an app version of a city Christmas calendar

What it is A Danish city Christmas calendar app: pay 199 kroner to unlock a city's calendar, then open one door each day from Dec 1 to 24, and claim a gift from a local shop sponsor.

Why it took off 10, November is when Danes buy adult Advent calendars. It already had a network of merchants and local Facebook pages across 18 cities, and the Danish shopping Top Grossing chart has a low bar, so a few dozen purchases can reach the top 10. The app itself has an iOS rating of 0 and 10+ Android downloads.

CHow you could follow it Don't copy the app, copy the business structure: in a city where you have merchant relationships (or a country outside Denmark), sign 24 shops to offer gifts, sell on the web, unlock via app or web, get customers through local community giveaways and merchants selling for you, and start the deals next summer.

C grade: the model has been proven for 2019 years. Denmark already has Bykalender covering 32 cities, and pure-app versions have been tried without lasting. The hard part is signing merchants offline one by one, and it only sells one season a year. Net profit is about 110k kroner and shrinking. The business structure is worth learning from, but following it as an app isn't worth it. Few people know about it yet

Data (updated daily) · First launched 2026-10-12 · Danish rating 0 · Charted in 11-08 storefronts 1: iOS · best category chart rank · by store
Data 2026-10-28 → 2026-11-08 (12 days, 12 observations). Lower rank is higher; gaps mean it wasn't charted that day
iOS · rating count · Denmark
Data 2026-10-28 → 2026-11-08 (12 days, 12 observations). Apple doesn't publish download counts; rating growth is a proxy for downloads.

ByensGaver is a small Danish company's "city edition Christmas calendar": pay 199 kroner for one city's calendar, open one door each day from Dec 1 to 24, and behind each door is a gift from a local shop or restaurant that you pick up in person. This October it launched an app for the first time, and in November it broke into the top 10 of Denmark's App Store shopping grossing chart. But the app itself didn't really take off. The chart placement came from an offline business that has run for several years. What's worth studying is the business structure, not the app.

Oct 17, a giveaway post in a local Facebook group

Around Oct 17 of 2026, the same post appeared in several local Facebook groups in southern Denmark, including Sønderborg and Bredebro. Its title was "KONKURRENCE: Vind adgang til årets digitale julekalender!" (Giveaway: win access to this year's digital Christmas calendar). Entering took two steps: download the ByensGaver app for free, then comment "DOWNLOADET" under the post and tag a friend. The winner was drawn on Oct 26, and the prize was an unlock for one person. The post included download links for both iPhone and Android.

This round is about downloads, not sales. The App launched in Oct 12, and on 16 the update to 1.3.0 had two changes: a badge beside the price showing the total value of the gifts behind the doors, and support for the Danish Cancer Society's "Kræft er ikke for børn" (Cancer Doesn't Belong to Children) campaign (App Store Denmark, 11-06).

What it sells

An "adult Advent calendar". The official pitch: it looks like a traditional Christmas calendar, with up to 28 doors, and "at least 24 free gifts per calendar". The back of each door says which shop you can visit that day and what you get. The doors aren't named, so you can tear one off and give it to family. The tagline: "Redeem 4 doors and it's paid for."

This year there are 18 city editions: Odense, Aarhus, Esbjerg, Kolding, Roskilde, Silkeborg, Sønderborg, Holbæk, Hillerød, Amager and more. Each city's Facebook page lists the total gift value: over DKK 2,830 in Odense, over DKK 3,779 in Holbæk. You pay DKK 199, for goods marked at more than ten times that.

The money flow is simple: shops give gifts for free in exchange for foot traffic from people who arrive in December holding a ticket. ByensGaver collects the cash from selling the calendar. The paper version's main costs are printing and distribution, and it sells at local branches of chains like Bilka, REMA 1000 and SuperBrugsen (Facebook Sønderborg group, 10-17). The app version skips printing entirely: the web shop has a separate "APP-versionen" product, and its page says "You're buying the digital version, no paper calendar included", then you unlock it in the app. Paying through the web shop also avoids Apple's cut. The app also has an in-app purchase unlock, priced at a tier of $22.99 (unverified).

Why it hit the grossing charts

Start with the charts. It has only charted on one: the Denmark App Store Shopping Top Grossing chart. Oct 28 #50, Nov 2 dropped to #75, Nov 3 jumped to #6,4, day 5,6 #11. It has never charted on the overall Top Grossing chart (App Store Denmark, 10-28 to 11-06).

That chart has a low bar. On the same chart on Nov 6, #1 was the secondhand marketplace Tradera, and #2, #3, #8, #9 were package tracking tools. The Danish market is small, few people make in-app purchases in shopping apps, so a few dozen DKK 199 purchases a day is enough to reach the top 10 (inferred; Apple doesn't publish the numbers).

Look at the user numbers: the iOS rating is 0, and new ratings over the last 7 days are also 0. The Android version shows "10+ downloads" on Google Play (11-06). The Christmas calendar is only useful in December, so people who buy now have nothing to review, and few ratings isn't surprising. Still, there are no signs of a download surge. Across both platforms, the app probably has a few dozen to a few hundred users (estimate).

The jump on Nov 3 came right after the Oct 26 prize draw, and afterward city pages began promoting "you can now buy the app version". It may be a push concentrated in early November, or retail partnerships starting to sell it. I found no direct evidence either way.

So it charted on three things it already had: a seasonal peak every year in 10 and November, a merchant network across 18 cities, and one Facebook page per city. The app is just a new form for them.

How big is this business

Not big, and shrinking. ByensGaver ApS was registered in March 2022, with an address in the small town of Jægerspris on Zealand. Its registered industry is "advertising campaign planning", and one director holds 100% through his holding company. Public financials (fiscal year April to March the next year): FY 2024/25 gross profit DKK 214k, net profit DKK 175k; FY 2025/26 gross profit DKK 131k, net profit DKK 111k (paqle.dk). Net profit of DKK 110k is about $17k (estimate). The app's package name contains flinkudvikling, so it was probably outsourced to a dev shop (inferred).

Who it's competing with

Competitors	Form	Scale	How ByensGaver differs
Bykalender (including Odensekalenderen)	Paper + web	Claims 32 Danish cities, with the Odense edition running for 2019 years; donated DKK 2025k in 780, at least DKK 10 per calendar	The biggest in the same model: DKK 250, 25 gifts, no app; TikTok account with 986 followers
Din Julekalender	Pure app	Only Copenhagen since 2021; sold DKK 2022 in 249 with 24 shops	The earliest pure-app city calendar. It ran into trouble in its first year. The domain no longer resolves, and it looks shut down.
Individual city calendars (Vejlekalenderen and others)	Paper + Facebook	Single city	Same model, competing one city at a time
Mall-run prize calendars	Instagram / Facebook	Every year	Free to enter, no sales

This model has been run in Denmark for at least 2019 years, so it's been tested. ByensGaver sits in the second tier. It's DKK 51 cheaper than Bykalender and added an app this year. But given how Din Julekalender ended, apps with no offline base haven't survived.

A few moves worth noting

Two-sided matching at no cost to either side: shops give gifts in exchange for foot traffic, customers pay DKK 199 for items marked at DKK 2,000 to 3,000, and the platform sells the gift bundle in the middle.
Show customers the break-even math: "Redeem 4 doors and it's paid for", and 1.3.0 put the total gift value in a badge next to the price.
One Facebook page per city, prize draws in local groups for "download + review + tag a friend": cold start costs almost nothing, just one unlock given away.
Every shop is a distribution point: participating stores post on Instagram that they're "in the calendar this year" and run their own giveaways with it.
Charity backing: tie in the cancer society campaign so buyers worry less about being scammed.

The hard part isn't the tech. You have to sign 24+ shops per city, one by one, and you can only sell one season a year.

If it were you

Verdict: this is a proven but small, grinding seasonal business, and the app is an add-on. Copying the app alone is pointless. What's worth learning is the business structure.

Who it fits: people who already have shop relationships in a city, such as local lifestyle accounts, community group-buying operators, local chamber of commerce or shopping district managers; or small teams wanting to build a "city gift calendar" brand in countries outside Denmark (Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, mid-sized North American cities).

Who it doesn't fit: indie devs who can code and hope App Store organic traffic will drive growth. The traffic and supply here are offline, and an app alone won't sell it (Din Julekalender is the example).

How to do it: pick one city, sign up 24 shops to each give one gift (coffee, dessert, small goods, experience vouchers), and show each shop the math: "hundreds of people with tickets walking into the store in December." Sell the calendar on the web and unlock it in the app or on the web, avoiding Apple's cut and printing costs. Put the total gift value and the "redeem X doors to break even" line beside the price. Replicate only after one city works.

How to acquire users: run a local Facebook page per city, post prize draws in local Facebook and community groups, have each partner shop promote it on their own socials, and tie in one national charity across all copy.

When to start: too late for this year. Shops need to be signed by 9, sales open in October, and doors open on Dec 1. To make next year's, start signing shops in summer 2027.

What would mean you read it wrong: if after December ByensGaver's app rating is still in single digits and Android downloads are still in the dozens, Danes still prefer the paper version, and the printing savings from going digital can't carry a business. Or if a leader like Bykalender launches an app and it gains traction, the opportunity sits with the incumbents, not with followers.

iOS store page ↗

Research notes: competitor table, acquisition evidence, full research report

Competitors

Name	Where	Launched	Scale	How it differs from this one
Bykalender (including Odensekalenderen and others)	Web	2019(Odense)	Claims 32 Danish cities; donated DKK 2025 in 779,840 (at least DKK 10 per calendar); TikTok 986 followers	The leader in the same model: DKK 250 per calendar, paper tear-off doors, no app, proceeds to local organizations. ByensGaver has fewer cities, is cheaper, and has an app.
Din Julekalender	iOS	2021	Copenhagen only, DKK 249, 24 shops (2022 advertorial). The domain no longer resolves; looks shut down.	Built as a pure app from scratch with no offline base, and didn't survive. ByensGaver started with paper and a shop network, then added an app.
Individual city calendars (Vejlekalenderen, Nyborg and others)	Other	Years	Local	Paper, same model, competing within single cities
Calendars run by malls or merchants themselves: free to enter, prizes drawn, no sales	Other	Every year	Local	Free to enter, prizes drawn, no sales
Generic digital advent calendars (MyAdvent, Jacquie Lawson, SVT Julkalendern)	iOS	Years	Medium	Content-driven, or homemade for gifting, with no local shop gift vouchers

Where users come from

Verified City Facebook pages + prize draws in local Facebook groups: around 2026-10-17, the same post "download the app + review DOWNLOADET" ran in several local groups including Sønderborg and Bredebro, with the draw on 10-26 and both iOS and Android links posted.
Verified Partner shops help promote it: participating stores posted on Instagram and Facebook that they're in the calendar, and ran giveaways with it.
Verified Offline retail distribution: the paper version is sold in Sønderborg at Bilka, REMA 1000, SuperBrugsen, BabySam and other stores.
Verified Charity backing: partnered with Kræftens Bekæmpelse's "Kræft er ikke for børn", listed on the cancer society's partners page.
Verified Store page conversion work: 1.3.0 added a gift-value badge beside the price.
Inferred Meta paid ads: there are video posts on Facebook, not tracked by the metaads library.

ByensGaver (iOS 6799205455) research report

One-liner: ByensGaver is the mobile version of a city Christmas calendar from ByensGaver ApS, a small Danish company founded in 2022 (registered in Jægerspris). Users pay 199 DKK for a calendar for one city; each day from Dec 1 to 24 they open a door to find a free physical gift from a local shop or restaurant, redeemed in store. The paper version has been around for years; the app only launched in Oct 2026 12. Seeing it at #11 on the Denmark Shopping Top Grossing chart at crawl time means little, since that chart's bar is very low: 0 ratings, and Android at only 10+ downloads. The app itself hasn't really taken off. It's a seasonal side business that runs on a network of local merchants and Facebook local groups, and it has just gone digital.

1. How to read the data card (correcting first)

Charts: It has charted on only one chart, the Denmark Shopping Top Grossing chart (genre 6024). Ranks: #10-28 #50,10-29 #49,10-30 #53,10-31 #59,11-01 #73,11-02 #75, 11-03 jumped to #6, 11-04 #5,11-05 #6,11-06 #11 (appstore library chart_rank / app_day, 2026-10-28 to 11-06). It has never charted on the overall chart.
This chart's bar is low: on the same day (11-06), the #1 Top Grossing shopping app in the Denmark store was Tradera (secondhand marketplace), #2, #3, #8, #9 were all parcel-tracking tools, #4 was My Movies 6, and #12 was AppRaven (appstore library v_chart, 2026-11-06). Denmark is a small store and in-app purchases in shopping are rare, so a few to a few dozen purchases a day at 199 kroner each is enough to make the top 10. This is an inference: Apple doesn't publish the numbers, but it matches the items below.
Rating 0, 7 new ratings in the last 0 days (appstore library; iTunes lookup dk, 2026-11-06). The Christmas calendar is only used in December, so buyers now have nothing to rate yet. Few ratings says little on its own, but there's no sign of a download surge.
Android version (com.flinkudvikling.byensgaver): the Google Play page shows "10+ Downloads" (Play Store page, read 2026-11-06). Our googleplay library failed this time because the server's SSH kept getting reset, so I couldn't check further. Across both platforms, the user base is likely only in the tens to hundreds.
Versions: 1.0 was listed on 2026-10-12, and 1.3.0 was released on 10-16. The release notes say "we added a badge next to the price showing the total value of the gifts," plus a charity partnership with Kræftens Bekæmpelse (the Danish Cancer Society), "Kræft er ikke for børn" (iTunes lookup). The developer is listed as ByensGaver ApS, and the flinkudvikling in the package name suggests the app was outsourced to a dev shop (inference).
The 11-03 rank jump: the timing lines up with the Facebook giveaway round in mid-to-late October. 10-26 was drawn, and afterward each city started posting "the app version is now available to buy". My guess is a push in early November, or a retail partner starting to sell it, which brought a small wave of purchases (unverified).

2. The business behind it: ByensGaver ApS

Company: ByensGaver ApS, CVR 43180126,2022-03-31, founded in 11, address Thyrasvej 3630, 100 Jægerspris. Registered industry: advertising campaign planning. Director Henrik Smed, with H. Smed Holding ApS holding 2022% (cvrapi.dk, paqle.dk, lasso.dk). One lasso.dk record says 4 shareholders were registered in 33, including Henrik Smed (50%) and Ulrich Vigandt, so ownership has changed.
Financials (paqle.dk, fiscal year April to March): 2025/26 fiscal year gross profit 131k DKK, net profit 111k; 2024/25 fiscal year gross profit 214k, net profit 175k; total assets 670k. Very small, and shrinking.
Product: the paper calendar has up to 28 doors, guarantees "at least 24 free gifts," and the pitch is "redeem 4 doors and it pays for itself." Price 199 DKK, free shipping on 3 copies (shopbyensgaver.dk). In 2026 there were 18 city editions: Odense, Esbjerg, Holstebro, Silkeborg, Sønderborg, Holbæk, Frederikssund, Køge, Roskilde, Struer-Vinderup, Aarhus, Tønder, Kolding, Ringsted, Hillerød, Amager, Rødovre, Hørsholm. The advertised gift value is over 2,830 DKK in Odense and over 3,779 DKK in Holbæk (city Facebook pages).
Offline channels: besides the web shop, the paper version is sold in local retail stores. For example, in Sønderborg it is sold at Bilka, BabySam, Billigblomst, SuperBrugsen, REMA 1000 (posts in the Facebook Sønderborg group, 2026-10-17).
Where the money comes from: merchants give gifts for free in exchange for foot traffic and exposure, and ByensGaver earns by selling calendars. The merchants pay for the gifts, so the paper version's costs are mainly printing and distribution; the app version drops printing too. The app has two payment paths: in-app purchase (the data card lists "Calendar unlock" at $22.99, which I didn't verify separately), or buying the "APP-versionen" on the web shop and unlocking it in the app (the Esbjerg page on shopbyensgaver.dk states "you're buying the digital version, no paper calendar"). The web shop route bypasses Apple's commission.

3. Competitors

Competitors	Platform	Launched	Scale	How ByensGaver differs
Bykalender (bykalender.dk, including Odensekalenderen)	Web + paper	Odense edition since 2019; Copenhagen edition users say they've been buying since 2020	Claims "32 Danish cities" (Facebook Bykalender Danmark); donated 2025 DKK in 779,840, at least 10 DKK per calendar (bykalender.dk, FAQ); TikTok @bykalender.dk 986 followers, 15.5k likes (TikHub)	Direct competitor with a bigger footprint (32 cities vs 18 cities), priced at 250 DKK with 25 gifts. Paper tear-off pages only, no app. Has influencer and Instagram giveaway partnerships; local newspapers have covered founder Tore True (ugeavisen.dk).
Din Julekalender(dinjulekalender.dk)	iOS/Android App	2021	Sold 249 DKK in Copenhagen in 2022, with 24 partner merchants (sponsored piece on migogkbh.dk, 2022-10)	This was the earliest pure-app city calendar, Copenhagen only. It ran into trouble in its first year, 2021, and added a "satisfaction guarantee" in 2022. Now the domain doesn't resolve, so it appears to have shut down.
Individual city calendars (Vejlekalenderen, Nyborg and others)	Paper + Facebook	Years	Local	Some sit under Bykalender, others are independent, with the same model
Mall or retailer raffle calendars (e.g., Norway's City Lade Julekalender)	Instagram / Facebook	Every year	Local	Free to enter, prizes drawn, no sales
Generic digital Advent calendars (MyAdvent, Jacquie Lawson, SVT's Julkalendern app)	Web / iOS	Years	Has real scale	Content-driven, or made as gifts for people, not local merchant gift vouchers
Big-company features	None	—	—	No big player runs a "local merchant gift voucher calendar"

Takeaway: the model of "local merchants supply gifts, the platform sells the calendar" has been run in Denmark since at least 2019 and is proven. The biggest is Bykalender. A pure-app version was tried (Din Julekalender) and didn't survive. ByensGaver is second tier in this business and only added an app this year.

4. Growth tactics (with evidence)

One Facebook page per city, plus local Facebook group giveaways (confirmed): each city has its own page, such as ByensGaver - Odense, Holbæk, Silkeborg, Roskilde, Aarhus, and Kolding (the Kolding page was only created in 2025). Around 2026-10-17, they posted the same copy in several local groups (Facebook Sønderborg, Bredebro, and others): "KONKURRENCE: Vind adgang til årets digitale julekalender!" Entry: "1. Download the app for free; 2. Comment DOWNLOADET and tag a friend." 10-26 winner gets a free unlock, and both iOS and Android links are posted. This round was about driving downloads, not direct sales.
Partner merchants help promote (confirmed): participating shops post on Instagram and Facebook, e.g. "we're in the ByensGaver calendar again this year" and "buy the calendar in store." Some shops run giveaways with the ByensGaver calendar (for example an Esbjerg merchant on Instagram, and a reel with a clinic). Each merchant is a distribution point.
Offline retail distribution (confirmed): local stores of chains such as Bilka, REMA 1000, and SuperBrugsen sell the paper version.
Charity backing (confirmed): partnered with Kræftens Bekæmpelse on "Kræft er ikke for børn", listed on the cancer society's partner page and written into every promo.
In-store conversion optimization (confirmed): 1.3.0 added a gift-value badge next to the price.
Paid ads: Facebook video posts exist, so it may have run paid ads, but the metaads library doesn't track it. Unverified.
Media, influencers, X, TikTok: ByensGaver returns no related videos on TikHub; x-radar shows 0 posts in the last 60 days; no media coverage found.

5. Why it could "chart"

The seasonal demand is certain: Danes have a habit of buying "adult Advent calendars" before Christmas, and late October through November is peak season.
It already has an offline base: a network of merchants in 18 cities, retail distribution, and one Facebook page per city. The app is just another channel, so it doesn't have to build users from zero.
The Denmark shopping Top Grossing chart's bar is very low: a few dozen 199 DKK purchases can push it into the top 10.
The 11-03 jump matches the timing of the Facebook group giveaways in mid-late October and the "app version now on sale" push in early November (inference).

6. Differentiation

Compared with Bykalender: fewer cities, lower price (199 vs 250 DKK), has an app, and its charity is the national cancer society, while Bykalender donates to local organizations.
Compared with Din Julekalender: ByensGaver had a paper version and a merchant network first, and the app is just an extra channel. Din Julekalender was built app-only from scratch and didn't survive.
"Has an app" is new this year, but judging by Android 10+ downloads and iOS 0 ratings, it isn't why the business works. The business runs on paper, the merchant network, and local Facebook. The app is currently a nice extra that saves printing and shipping.

7. What can be borrowed

Two-sided free matching: merchants give gifts for foot traffic, the platform sells a "gift bundle," and customers feel they're getting 10x+ the value. "Redeem 4 doors and it pays for itself" is a strong anchor.
One Facebook page per city, and local group giveaways with "download + comment" entries. Cold-start costs are very low.
Charity backing lowers the "afraid of being scammed on a voucher bundle" hesitation.
Sell the digital version on a web shop and unlock it in the app to avoid Apple's commission. No inventory, and it can be copied across seasons, e.g. a summer edition or a city-exploration passport.
But it depends heavily on offline business development (24+ merchants to sign per city), so the barrier is manpower, not technology; it only sells one season a year.

8. Still unclear

The in-app price and actual purchase volume are unverified; what daily sales the #5–11 chart positions correspond to is only inferred.
Our googleplay library didn't return data (SSH reset), so for Android I only used the "10+" figure from the store page.
The exact reason for the 11-03 rank jump, whether promotion, retail, or a concentrated launch, has no direct evidence.
Annual print sales for 2026 are unknown; the financials only run to the end of fiscal year 2026-03, and the trend looks like it's shrinking.
Whether they ran Meta ads was not verified.

Sources

appstore library (agent-im server) chart_rank / app_day / v_chart, 2026-10-28 to 11-06
iTunes lookup:itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=6799205455&country=dk
Official site and city pages: shopbyensgaver.dk/, shopbyensgaver.dk/shop/9-esbjerg-julekalenderen/7-esbjerg-ju…, shopbyensgaver.dk/kontakt/
Google Play:play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.flinkudvikling.bye…
Company: cvrapi.dk/virksomhed/dk/byensgaver-aps/43180126, www.paqle.dk/p/byensgaver-aps/6949371, lasso.dk
Facebook giveaway post: www.facebook.com/groups/1675206179420120/posts/4594145674192… (2026-10-17), and identical posts in groups such as Bredebro
Charity: www.cancer.dk/kraeft-er-ikke-for-boern/til-virksomheder/sama…
Competitors: www.bykalender.dk/, www.bykalender.dk/faq/, www.facebook.com/bykalenderdanmark/, www.mitodense.dk/odensekalenderen-2025-25-gaver-til-dig/, migogkbh.dk/digital-julekalender-24-spaendende-gaver/
TikHub (@bykalender.dk profile; search byensgaver), x-radar (search ByensGaver, 0 posts in the last 60 days)

This article was written by AI from public data and the data we collect daily. Numbers are sourced, and inferences are labeled.