Online shopping is breaking out all over. Hayley Hannan meets the man behind one of the hottest new discount websites.
The IdeaHQ office is a flurry of work and renovations. Business continues during the expansion because, as Shane Bradley explains, the competitors will catch up if you slow down. Mr Bradley is the founder of IdeaHQ, the company behind one of the latest internet daily deal sites, GrabOne. It offers 24-hour discount deals on things to eat, see and do around Auckland. Additional deals are also offered for 12 cities around the country. Many similar sites have appeared, offering heavily discounted goods and services, although Mr Bradley says GrabOne leads its niche.
The site launched on July 8 and sold $4 Event Cinema coupons at the rate of two a second. About 20,000 people signed up within 36 hours. Mr Bradley has hired two new staff each week since the launch to keep up with the expansion.
The 33-year-old appears suited to the rapidly moving industry. Moving fast, and talking faster, he's a blur of ideas, figures and plans. GrabOne is based on the American groupon scheme, which has become the most copied model - an estimated 280 American versions alone. Barriers to entry are low. Anyone with internet access and motivation could have a crack at it.
I'm curious to know how the website makes money. Commission is on the sale of a coupon, says Mr Bradley. All the website is selling, he explains, is a "bit of paper".
GrabOne is one of a string of businesses the entrepreneur has set up. Mr Bradley left his Rotorua school aged 16 and has since founded an aluminium joinery company and a maintenance business, among others. Some have worked, some haven't. He says he wears his failures as "badges of honour". IdeaHQ juggles GrabOne alongside websites Get Frank, Flicks.co.nz, AdHub and sella. Mr Bradley sold finda to APN in 2009.
A GrabOne Bottle site selling daily wine deals was launched on Monday, and further specialised sites are on the way. "To be honest, we're just getting started."
While GrabOne focuses on experiences, other sites offer 24-hour opportunities for heavily reduced goods. David Bond, a Waimauku vet, has used various deal sites for a year. He says the ease of buying and the deals coming straight to his email inbox keep him going back for more. His wife, however, is "getting a bit worried". "I'm normally very circumspect with what I buy but most of the stuff that I have bought has been necessary and has been cheap," he says, then adds with a laugh, "I can control my spending."
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