Hybrid Visitor Centre / Daily Deal site, A Fast Mover

“Next generation” deal website launches in Auckland backing up 2 years regional
success.

In late 2010 while New Zealand’s corporate media giants launched daily
deal sites off the back of the Groupon boom in America, a small team of kiwi
entrepreneurs quietly switched on their “home brewed” solution to online deals
in the Queenstown activity and attractions market.

Two years on innovation and a hard working ‘number 8 wire’ approach have
seen Bookme.co.nz expand throughout the South Island, and into key North
Island holiday regions Rotorua and Taupo, culminating with their launch into
Auckland last month.

“understanding our market and creating our own totally unique solution have
delivered better value to both businesses and consumers which has allowed us
to grow rapidly - people can’t believe what we have done off our own back with
just two people on the ground full time, it’s been a lot of hard work but we’re
really passionate about what we have to offer” said Bookme founder James Alder

Alder claims the secret to Bookme’s success is a cocktail of several clever
features that he believes clearly differentiate from daily deal sites and make the
offering a more sustainable world first;

“Bookme gives businesses the ability to more precisely control the deals they are
offering, for example a jet boat operator can control the specific number of seats
released, and at what price they are release for on any specific day and time. This
guarantees better use of resources, filling up seats last minute or encouraging
sales at softer times. The best bit for businesses is that we are still selling their
products at full price on the times they don’t have deals running, we have some
clients now making up to 95% of their sales through Bookme at full price,”

“businesses maintain a listing on Bookme year round, and because we
aren’t trying to make our money in one day, we can look long term and
set commissions at a more realistic and sustainable level than the 20-30%
demanded by daily deal sites.

“the cool thing is because businesses are doing well out of it consumers really
win too, the more targeted approach to deals, and lower commission means
businesses can afford to run better deals like $1 Jet boat seats, or $10 Waiheke
Wine Tours. Consumers are also making a live booking when they buy on
Bookme so they know what they are going to get, with no niggle around sorting
out a date that suits after the fact, or wasting money with coupons that expire”

“Bookme also provides a much stronger information source for consumers, not
only because a full range of products are available year round, we have also
innovated with our own unique review system – you can only review online
with Bookme if you have “booked, paid, and participated” through the site, so
consumers know the reviews they are reading are authentic. Another cunning
aspect to this is that we can prompt people to leave a review on a product they
have booked, so as a result we are outperforming review giants like Trip Advisor
in terms of the number of reviews we are generating for our clients in all our
established NZ markets”

“the range of quality information makes Bookme relevant to a much wider
market than just your kiwi deal hunters too – for example if you ask a
backpacker traveling around New Zealand what websites they’re using, chances
are Bookme.co.nz will be in the mix”

Far from complacent off the back of early success Alder acknowledges that there
is a narrowing window of opportunity to make the most of Bookme’s first mover
advantage.

“with the launch into Auckland we know we are way more up on the radar, and
like all good kiwi innovators we expect an Aussy will be here to try and claim our
hard work for their own soon enough.

We’re pinning our ears back and preparing our families for another full on
couple of years, we really want to prove that you can still make it here with
clever ideas and a lot of hard work”

Bookme’s two owners and NZ full timers,  James Alder from Gisborne , and Nick Reekie originally from Southland, have a collective 32+
years experience in the New Zealand tourism industry.  Both are born and bread advocates of all that New Zealand has to offer as a tourism destination,  and combining this genuine passion with an intelligent web platform delivers enormous synergies for growth.

“we’re learning new things all the time, but being involved in the tourism
industry for as long as Nick and I have certainly gives us a head start in terms
of where the opportunities lie, it is also an industry with a long history of
innovation and world firsts that have helped to bring New Zealand to the world
- bungy jumping and Jet boating are great examples of this and we are motivated
by the hope that we can, in a modern way, follow in those footsteps”