Shopping inserts have come to life with a new digital offering that allows consumers to look for deals online by area, retailer, category or brand name. Caxton CTP Publishers and Printers and the Newspaper Advertising Bureau (NAB) have spent a year developing the site, called www.dealfinder.co.za
Marc du Plessis, general manager at Dealfinder, says the move was spurred by consumer demand. “With the launch of Caxton’s local websites (including looklocal) readers have been asking for some way to access their shopping information when their local paper and inserts are not accessible to them (eg when at work, on the move),” he says.
Retail advertisers have not hesitated in becoming involved.“We currently have 70 retailers onboard, which includes all the major retailers in South Africa – Shoprite-Checkers, Massmart, Pick ‘n Pay, JD Group, Ellerines Holdings, Dis-Chem, and Clicks Group,” De Plessis says.
This means advertisers using print inserts now list on Dealfinder too. Du Plessis says the jacket carrying the inserts has been rebranded ‘Dealfinder’, which is an extension of the reference point in the newspaper.
“Dealfinder is a new offering, so for a limited time retailers are being included on dealfinder.co.za at no additional cost,” Du Plessis says. The product allows shoppers to find the best deals in their own areas, at any time. Essentially, traditional printed inserts become even more functional by making them searchable, geographically relevant, user relevant and available to shoppers 24/7.
“Dealfinder is not a price comparison site but rather a functional online showcase of in-store deals,” says Du Plessis. For retailers, Dealfinder 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,” he says.
“Dealfinder is focused on providing shoppers with deals that they have physical access to. All retail stores are mapped with GPS location to ensure that the user knows exactly where the physical store they are after is located. Dealfinder is also focused on retail deals from retailers who have physical stores, with the goal being to drive feet in store. There are no pure play online retailers listed on Dealfinder.”
Shopping research on the move requires a mobile application. Du Plessis says there is a mobile web-app that runs on feature phones and smartphones. “We will also be launching a iOS and an Android app in the near future,” he says.
