Subscribe

Vouchercloud SA doubles user target

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 29 Jul 2015
More features and more retailers are on the cards for Vouchercloud, says SA MD Lyndon Munetsi.
More features and more retailers are on the cards for Vouchercloud, says SA MD Lyndon Munetsi.

Vodacom's location-based deals app, Vouchercloud, has doubled its target for users in South Africa after being in business for less than 18 months.

Vouchercloud originally aimed to reach one million users in South Africa by March 2015, but the company says more than two million subscribers now access Vouchercloud using feature phones. A further 650 000 customers have downloaded the app via smartphones and another 170 000 access deals via the Web site monthly.

Vouchercloud is a location-based deals app, which seeks out the best deals in SA and delivers them to a cellphone, allowing users to redeem either digital or printed vouchers at participating retailers. The app can be downloaded onto smartphones but there is also a mobile Web version for feature phones and a USSD service for the most basic phone.

The free product was unveiled locally in January 2014, making SA the first emerging market to launch Vouchercloud, and the sixth overall, following strong uptake in Europe.

Since its launch in the UK in 2010, Vouchercloud has become the leading consumer app in Europe, with over six million active users in the UK, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands. The company says up-take in South Africa has been even stronger than that seen in Europe over the equivalent period.

Vouchercloud SA MD Lyndon Munetsi says the high number of local customers demonstrates the popularity of the product.

"We believe we've hit the sweet spot among South African consumers looking to save money in a user-friendly way."

Munetsi says Vouchercloud has delivered R500 million in savings for local consumers so far. Savings are generated in three broad categories: food, fun and fashion. Over 70% of vouchers redeemed are for groceries across all LSMs, followed by deals offered by the major clothing stores and brands.

Vouchercloud was launched by Vodacom but is not exclusive to Vodacom customers, giving the operator the opportunity to advertise its products directly to users on rival networks.

"Even though we are a Vodacom product, the service is accessible by everyone in South Africa who has a cellphone, irrespective of network or service provider.

"However, the key differentiator is that a Vodacom consumer will get a better deal than a non-Vodacom customer in terms of the discount offered," explains Munetsi.

"We've added a geo-fencing feature that alerts the user to a particular new deal in the area through an audible alert on the phone, accompanied by a click-through option.

"Down the line we are planning more features to keep the product fresh, and of course, we plan to grow our database of retailers even further."

Share