Money-saving website DiscountVouchers.co.uk is moving into the daily deals market with a promise to guarantee the retailers it works with payment even if a customer does not appear to claim their daily deal.
The company has teamed up with group buying technology specialists NimbleCommerce, who have developed software for the new service, which pits it against competitors including Groupon. It believes its existing client base of 5m, its 150,000 daily visitors to the site, and its local knowledge will combine to give it an advantage.
The new venture will be run by Gerard Doyle, chief executive of DiscountVouchers.co.uk. He said: “We have millions of customers who already visit our website in search of a deal or a discount. It’s only logical that we expand this service platform into the booming realm of group buys. The consumers are there. We just need to feed them the deals.”
He said that partner NimbleCommerce would help it to gain the technological sophistication boasted by daily deals businesses in the US, where the sector is more developed. “They have loads of experience with the global markets and we have the local connections. Together we can enter the group buy market in the UK without needing to make so much guesswork,” said Doyle.
Peter Casey, NimbleCommerce’s European sales director, said: “DiscountVouchers.co.uk has another clever plan to keep everyone happy. Under our new partnership, the retailers who work with us will get a built-in guarantee of payment. If a customer does not appear to claim a daily deal they buy, the merchant involved will still get their payment. Few others in this industry offer such protection.
“The daily deals field in Britain is revving up fast, but I think DiscountVouchers has an excellent chance of garnering one of the top membership bases. It is well-known for reliable customer service and has over 5 million existing clients to work with. I’d say this is a huge advantage over other newcomers.”
The DiscountVouchers service will initially be available in Brighton, Newcastle and Birmingham.
DiscountVouchers was launched in 2009 and says that since then it has helped customers save more than £3.8m. In the year to August 2011 revenues topped £25m.
