Taking your family out for dinner at a five-star hotel is an expensive affair. A few years back, many would have chosen a cheaper option like a smaller restaurant.
Things are different now. There are websites and apps that can get you a booking in the same five-year hotel at a hefty discount, sometimes as high as 50 per cent. Similarly, getting a spa, hair treatment or pest control done for 25 per cent less is the new normal for people visiting these websites or downloading apps.
Hyperlocal services: These websites or apps are marketplaces that aggregate hyperlocal services. Which means they offer deals for restaurants, spas, theme parks, movies, plays, music shows, etc, in different locations. The merchant or service provider gets customers, while the aggregator gets a commission for directing the customers. For example: Littleapp.in, a hyperlocal deal discovery marketplace, has offers from 11,000 merchants across 11 cities and offers 30,000 live deals a day. Manish Chopra, chief executive officer and co-founder of Little, says, "The only reason the discount is offered by the restaurant is because it helps get new customers or customers during lean periods. Since new deals are difficult to popularise using traditional channels, restaurants don't openly disclose it. Instead, they use platforms like ours and offer exclusive deals." For the consumer, it offers an opportunity to enjoy some experience that they would normally not be able to afford.
These offers are like happy hours in many restaurants. Customers, during these happy hours, get good discounts on food and beverages.
A consumer signs up on Little and purchases the coupon. He/she receives a unique code, scanned at the merchant to avail the discount. As players like Little are consolidating platforms, they negotiate with the merchants to offer good deals. The discounts range from 25 to 60 per cent.
BookMeIn.in is another player that also offers services like car wash and pest control, etc, in addition to spa treatments and dining. There are 40-odd categories and about 6,000 services listed. Customers can pay through BookMeIn's website or at the spot. Once the customer logs in, he/she gets a unique code. The service provider also gets the same code and that can be used to avail of the discount.
Siddharth Dalal, co-founder of BookMeIn, says, "The discounts are driven by the service provider. Services like salons or restaurants have fixed costs such as rent, salary, etc. So, if no customer comes into the salon between 11 am and 1 pm, the merchant may choose to offer a discount on haircuts in that time period. Or a restaurant may offer a 50 per cent discount to anyone who comes in between 2.30 pm and 4.30 pm, instead of remaining empty".
Just like e-commerce websites, BookMeIn also runs flash sales. It recently offered car wash and pest control services at Rs 70. These are limited and get sold very quickly.
CouponDunia.in offers deals for about 2,000 e-commerce websites and select offline retail chains like Cafe Coffee Day, McDonalds and Dominos. When you log into coupondunia.in, you are directed to the e-commerce websites or stores' websites. You then choose the deal, take a print of the voucher and use it, in case of an offline deal. For the e-commerce website you get a code, which you can use to avail of the discount.
"We have a team actively scouting for these kinds of offers. It works like a ready reckoner that gives all deals. Customers can also vote in favour of or against a deal to indicate if it has worked for them or not,'' says Ankita Tandon, operations head, CouponDunia.in.
CouponDunia has recently started a cashback offer. In this case, if the customer does not return the product, there is cashback that is paid to his/her wallet, which is maintained with CouponDunia. This can be either used for further purchases or transferred back to your account. The cashback is available only for select e-commerce websites.
Are they genuine? Both Little and BookMeIn have detailed descriptions of the offers, with images, address of the salon, spa, etc. A customer can also call before going to the merchant to verify the deal, Dalal says. If the deal does not happen, the money is refunded to the customer, Chopra adds. However, according to Tandon, most offline players, restaurants or retail stores don't have CRM systems, which makes it difficult to aggregate deals. "Customer experience used to be bad, which is why we have stopped offline deals. We used to do these earlier. But there have been cases where the staff at the merchant was not aware of the deal and used to turn customers away. This used to cause embarrassment to customers,'' she says.
The fine print: Many of these deals have an expiry date. Some might be valid only on weekends and some only on weekdays. Some might be available only at a particular time during the day. You cannot club Little's discount with a cashback on your credit/debit card or mobile wallet but you can do so in the case of CouponDunia. The e-commerce website has an offer, that can also be clubbed with CouponDunia's offer. Also, keep in mind expiry dates. "Merchants don't offer open-ended deals. But, most keep it for some months. We give customers reminders if nearing the expiry date,'' says Chopra.
The highest demand is seen for food & beverages, followed by health care, such as gym and spa services. Last-minute hotel deals are also popular, Chopra says. The festival period, starting from Diwali, is when demand for such deals increases, as people make a lot of purchases during this period.
DISCOUNTED DEALS, CUSTOMISED SERVICES
LITTLEAPP
Hard Rock Cafe- Get 50 per cent off on brewed drinks and starters
Discounted cost- Rs 699; original cost: Rs 1,300
Mainland China - Flame and Grill, 50 per cent off on weekday gift voucher
Discounted cost - Rs 400; original cost - Rs 800
Toni & Guy - Head to toe beauty package for women at 61 per cent off
Discounted cost- Rs 1,499; original cost: Rs 3,800
Smash-gaming and entertainment zone - 74 per cent off on ATV bike racing, lazer maze and more
Discounted cost- Rs 549; original cost: Rs 2,100
No Escape - Weekday game: Buy four tickets and get four free
Discounted cost - Rs 2,000; original cost - Rs 4,000
BOOKMEIN
India70 Sale: Every service available at Rs 70, in-line 70 years of Independence
BeBappaReady: Buy all items required for decoration during Ganesh Chaturthi and also browse for priests
High5: Book and consume any five services offered on the platform. In return, the customer receives Rs 1,000 cashback on Paytm
Flash sale: Between 50 per cent and 90 per cent discount on all the top brands
