A Newcastle tech firm hopes to revive the fortunes of the High Street with an app rewarding online influencers with big discounts.
New start-up Snapsaver has devised the app which rewards online influencers with 50% discounts at restaurants, bars and retailers, for taking snaps of their food or products.
A successful pilot saw Snapsaver link up with 40 restaurants across the region, offering discounts off their food bill if they posted a picture of their food to Facebook.
Now, following investment, Snapsaver is poised to officially launch in the North East, with plans to roll out the app to the North West and London by the end of the year.
The tech start-up, run by Jack Nunn and Ian Moore, has signed almost 200 businesses in the last seven weeks, fuelled by a daily vlog documenting their journey, including the likes of Pizza Express, Chaophraya, Beeronomy and businesses at Stack Newcastle .
The firm’s founders say the app could help to revive the fortunes of the High Street.
Mr Nunn said: “I’ve been concerned about the future of the high street and retail centres for some time now. Footfall and sales figures continue to decline compounded by the year on year growth of online retail and food delivery services.
“Snapsaver has been specifically engineered to drive new full paying customers to bricks-and-mortar businesses by utilising word of mouth and social proof on the world’s biggest social networks.
“On our invite-only platform we list exclusive 50% off discounts from our partnering businesses. Influencers can claim these discounts in exchange for a check-in and social media post.
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“The net result is curated social media posts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter with up to 17 times more reach compared to organic business page posts. In addition, ‘user generated content’ is statistically 4.5 times more effective than ‘brand generated content’.
“Our partners have the ability to control the number of local influencers claiming a discount on a day by day basis, allowing them to tailor their social media exposure to combat weekly, monthly and seasonal slow spots.”
Snapsaver provides a free service for partnering businesses, which receive curated social media exposure to drive new full paying customers through the door.
The app users pay a small in-app purchase fee when claiming the discount, such as 50% off a three-course meal subject to a 99p admin fee and a valid social media post.
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Influencers can only tap into the discounts when they sign up through the firm’s website.
Snapsaver’s development has been supported by advice from Newcastle law firm Muckle LLP, whose tech lawyers advised commercial matters including supplier agreements and app terms and conditions.
Sam Roberts, solicitor in Muckle LLP’s digital and technology team, added: “Snapsaver is a really exciting business model because unlike all other discount apps out there, it equally benefits consumers and businesses alike.
“The world has woken up to the power of social media and it’s great to see this North East tech business harnessing the social influence of its users to help boost the region’s businesses and high streets.”
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