Locally-developed mobile and Web app SNAPnSAVE, which launched this week, reinvents the traditional savings coupon.
The Cape Town-based company that created the app is also called SNAPnSAVE, and says it makes the saving process easier and more discreet, as it lets coupon-users claim savings by simply uploading a till slip after purchase.
Once the app has been downloaded, users can browse for special offers and 'book' them. After they have bought the product, shoppers snap their till slip and upload it to claim savings.
"We've got thousands of rands' worth of cash back offers on some of SA's most loved brands," says SNAPnSAVE CEO Mark Bradshaw.
The app has seen over 1 500 people sign up already, with 50 offers available for groceries and liquor. The company says new deals will be added weekly and it plans to offer other products, such as hardware.
How the app works
1. Users search for deals in the discover section of the SNAPnSAVE app or on the Web site.
2. Once a deal is found, the user needs to book it.
3. The user then has 48 hours to buy the product and upload the till slip to the app.
4. The savings will be processed and placed in the user's e-wallet within a few days.
5. Once savings have built up, the user requests a wiCode that will act as cash when used at a participating retailer.
"Couponing is very popular in the US and Europe; however, not so much in South Africa," says Alex Band, head of marketing at SNAPnSAVE. "This is because South Africans don't often take pride in saving and don't want to been seen to be holding up a queue at the shops while they fumble with a piece of paper to save R5 on a R200 item. SNAPnSAVE is a discreet solution to this."
At the moment, customers can use wiCodes at Dis-Chem Pharmacies and Cellucity, but Band says the company will soon announce other large South African retailers that have come on board.
SNAPnSAVE, which has 14 staff members, was developed with the support of TAT Ventures, an overseas-based investment house that backs tech start-ups that develop African solutions to African problems.
Band says SNAPnSAVE will use the funds from TAT Ventures to invest heavily in media channels to build awareness for both SNAPnSAVE and its brand partners.
The SNAPnSAVE app is available for free download on Android and iOS, with a BlackBerry and Windows version in the pipeline. The service is also available on the Web.
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