The criteria for getting a brand on board was to ensure that the concerned business did not work on a frequent discounting model. There had to be price stability for the discount coupon to have a value tag. Which is why the Money Saver team is trained to show retailers how they stand to gain by signing up for the scheme, getting them to up their discount offers which are substantive from the consumer’s point of view and not flimsy like spending Rs2,500 on a meal and having just a beer free thrown in or a side dish that is not popular on the menu list.
A shopping guide that offered quality incentives to end consumers to them had immense potential of doing well, for the timing was just right. “Given the nature of the Indian consumer, in whose DNA is built in the relentless pursuit of haggling, the wow factor could be developed. Even in organized retailing, in fancy malls offering international brands, you will find the most sophisticated customer asking for a discount. It is not so much a question of the rupees that he or she would save but the satisfaction that he would get at netting a good deal that makes the buying experience more wholesome and gratifying”, says Bansal.
As they worked on setting up a supply chain of having incentivized ticketed purchases, they realized that in India there was a market for those who planned their purchases, but there was an even bigger market for those who made impulsive buying choices. You go to watch a movie and end up buying a t-shirt or you step out for dinner and return with an armload of cosmetics and DVDs. To reach out to this segment of unplanned shoppers who are seized by the moment and tempted to loosen their purse strings, they created a mobile platform.
By having a proprietory SMS-based platform on demand, they could service clients/ users who had chosen this option for availing periodic announcements through SMSs on deals that were relevant to them. So if you happen to be in an electronic store and see a Money Saver sticker on the glass door, you just walk up to the sales person and ask what the special deal for you as a Money Saver subscriber is and follow it up with an SMS to the company, who within minutes will send you your coupon via SMS, allowing you to make your discounted purchase.
This is an operationally complex task wherein Money Saver area managers build relationships, set up frequent touch points and sign up legal agreements with stores that have offered discount coupons. To ensure acceptability and good customer treatment, the stores will be visited once a week and provided with handy resources and quick user guides.
For Bahl the concept translated into a simple model that provided you an opportunity to save money on anything that you bought. While the task looked intimidating and unmanageable, he broke down complex tasks into doable sub tasks. Building platforms, testing it, running limited pilots, getting the right people, they managed to tie up with so many brands for a single initiative. All tie-ups are at a national level and since it’s a highly scalable model, it can be replicated in other cities. Deciding which city to include on their list is based on a supply-demand ratio which is how Gurgaon, Chennai and Bangalore offer tremendous opportunity.