Telmap, a pioneer in mobile location-based services, has unveiled location-aware restaurant coupons as part of its Mobile Location Companion, a result of cooperation with REST, Israel’s leading restaurant guide, and part of the Yellow Pages Israel Group. This important capability is launched as part of the Navigator GPS+ service offered to the subscribers of Pelephone Communications, Israel’s first mobile operator.
Telmap users in Israel can search for a restaurant in their vicinity, either through the single-line search engine, or through the REST-branded widget on the Pelephone Navigator GPS+ rich widgets carousel. They will then receive results based on their search criteria and location, with an indication of whether there is a coupon available for redemption in specific restaurants that appear in the search results. Users can then redeem the coupon by showing it to the waiter at the restaurant (on their phone’s screen), and receive for example 10% discount on a meal, two drinks for the price of one, or any other offer that’s cited on the coupon.
REST has been Israel’s restaurant guide for the past 13 years, set up in 1998 in order to provide broad and diverse information around food and restaurants. Overtime it has become the leading food and restaurants guide and brand online. Part of the Yellow Pages Group in Israel, it is now the leading food network and directory of restaurants in Israel, with tens of thousands of visitors every day and offering access to thousands of restaurants, cafes, and more. Around 1.25 million users access the website on a monthly basis and the REST loyal members club has close to 60,000 active users. Users can search according to a variety of criteria and parameters such as location, restaurant type, and more. In addition, users can post recommendations and regular updates on their favourite restaurants.
Telmap is the provider of white label, hosted and managed location-based services to mobile operators, and the introduction of location-aware restaurant coupons is tightly aligned with its vision of serving all users’ on-the-go needs. Social buying and coupons are becoming more and more popular and Telmap has taken upon itself to tie them into location, making them accessible on the mobile, for an optimized user experience, ensuring users do not miss a good deal around them.
“Telmap is constantly pushing for a relevant experience that brings real value, and relevant offers to users at the exact location and time they need it. Working with local content providers who are leaders in their field, such as REST, enables us to combine their brand power, specialty and recognition together with our location capabilities so that we can present coupons and offers to users, taking into consideration their real-time location, as well as their context at that exact moment, and offer them deals that are relevant specifically to them. This combined offering is of course highly beneficial and relevant to end-users,” says Motti Kushnir, Telmap CMO.
“We have been collaborating with Telmap for more than two years – and are excited to work with Telmap on bringing location-aware coupons to users. Our exposure through the Telmap Mobile Location Companion increases significantly our distribution power, enabling us to further convince restaurants to present their best discounts and offers on REST, fulfilling a true promise of increasing traffic to their local businesses, as literally, now we have access to hungry people on the street,” adds Avichai Blitzki, CEO, Experience Division, Yellow Pages Group.
The location-aware restaurant coupons in cooperation with REST are already available to users in Israel on the Pelephone Navigator GPS+ service (touch devices) and will be available on additional networks and devices in the near future. Similar implementations with local providers in other markets.
