Bridging the Trust Gap: Just Save

The retail shift from the high street to online shows no sign of slowing and ecommerce records are again expected to be broken on Black Friday and over the Christmas period this year. With consumer choice at an all time high, retailers are fighting for market share and many of them turn to voucher code websites to help. Building loyalty, converting baskets and driving a high volume of incentivised sales are all possible when online retailers partner with voucher code sites but the implementation often leaves a lot to be desired.
Research undertaken by the recently launched voucher code site JustSave.co.uk showed that 78% of voucher code site users don’t trust voucher code sites to have working discounts. This lack of trust in an industry worth £100 million a year in the UK is damaging the relationship between consumers, voucher code sites and ultimately retailers.
A London-based entrepreneur has raised £150,000 to kick start a business that bridges the trust gap through a discounts hub that focuses on “discounts that work” and is powered by artificial intelligence. Chris Ball, 26, was spotted by Peter Jones of Dragons Den fame when he was 17 and invited to be a member of the Dragons first ever enterprise academy. Graduating as the alumni who was “most likely to become a dragon”, Chris has channelled his knowledge of the online retail space to launch JustSave.
Retailers of all sizes offer discounts via voucher sites so whether you are looking for a getaway with Hotels.com, a takeaway from Dominos or day out at a local petting zoo then you can make a saving. Die-hard discount hunters never buy anything at full price as it is now possible to research and find every day goods as well as high ticket items for less than the advertised retail price.
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With the launch of an easy-to-access savings platform that creates a personalised view of the offers that are relevant to a person’s interests and shopping patterns with an accompanying guarantee that the deal will work as advertised, this startup believes that both consumers and retailers will benefit from this approach to the industry.
The vision above is possible due to an investment in technology that has been advanced in recent years, most notably AI and the ability to process vast amounts of data quickly and inexpensively. This processing has touched most industries from ecommerce to car manufacturing but is only now coming to the data-driven discounting sector.
Chris Ball commented, “The industry is dominated by 3 big players and innovation has been lacking. We have listened to consumers and industries annoyances with the major market makers and invested in offering a frictionless experience rather than one that frustrates. Artificial Intelligence is starting to play a role in all aspects of commerce and our application of it is a first for the online discounting market. I want to offer online discounts that just work.”
This is going to be an interesting industry to follow as the big online retail issues are tackled; attribution of sales in the performance marketing channel, connecting the dots between offline and online transactions, the use of cookies, browser technology and the personalisation of discounts and offer styles as a result of the insight vast data pools can provide.