"This is not a price comparison site but rather a functional online showcase of in-store deals," says Marc du Plessis, GM at Dealfinder. "For consumers, it means that they can find deals that are relevant and available close by. The consumer can either browse through thousands of deals or search by retailer, category, product or brand.
For retailers, it is a powerful tool to establish what consumers want. "While consumers can sign up for category, brand or product alerts, retailers and brands will be able to communicate directly with consumers who have shown an interest or are in the market for particular products."
A range of marketing tools have been made available to retailers subscribing to the site, including access to a database of consumers who have 'wish listed' a certain item; SMS, or email marketing campaigns to targeted consumer groups; sponsored competitions; gamification in the form of interactive competitions and campaigns; a mobile site and apps to come, allowing on-the-go browsing.
While in South Africa, online retail sales only represents around 1-2% of total retail sales, the browsing/researching online behaviour is huge but consumers still choose to make the vast majority of their purchases offline.
"We know that consumers use inserts in their local papers to pre-plan shopping trips, this site is an extension of these printed inserts. It is another opportunity for the retailer to get offers into the hands/onto the screens of their customers.
"Markets are thin and not many people are shopping for an item at any given time, that's why media that have mass reach, such as our local papers, coupled with the site, are platforms that will deliver prospective buyers week in, week out."
By using a product like Dealfinder, retailers can include online price and product advertising in their marketing mix at no risk, with no development costs but with increased exposure to the right consumers, at any time.
For more information, go to www.dealfinder.co.za, or www.facebook.com/Dealfindersa, Twitter (@dealfindersa), Google + https://plus.google.com/+DealfinderCoZa and Pinterest (dealfindersa).
