Exclusive | Timesdeal plans to innovate in the space: Ninad Takpere

Have you ever taken advantage of an online buying deal? If not then this is the best opportunity for you as a user to do so. For timesdeal.com the premier portal of the Times of India Group is offering buyers a never before like deals on numerous places, thereby giving users to do the best things free. In a way it is offering deals even better than the most reasonable rates. Deal include tickets to events, places to see, restaurant deals, shopping deals, and more, across nine cities in India—Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Chandigarh, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.

This is the first time Timesdeal.com has done a brand campaign encompassing the TG in print medium and online medium. While it is utilizing print to generate greater impact online display and search ads are supporting print.

Speaking to Adgully, Ninad Takpere, Business Head, timesdeal said, “our main objective is to shake up people and make them realize that timesdeal.com has changed the deals model. All the deals on timesdeal.com are now free! This is an aggressive step taken by us to do away with the biggest revenue stream. We want consumers who have been in the habit of buying deals from group buying/deal sites to realize that they do not need to buy deals any more but they are actually free on timesdeal.com.

Normally on the consumer side, timesdeal.com keeps deals simple and affordable so that users get the fabulous prices, on the other it ensures that the participating merchants get a platform to promote and maximise their business.  It works with these merchants to get across the best deals to its users who, when they subscribe, get a deal in their mailbox every day.

So what is different from the consumer's perspective between then and now? How does he benefit?

Says Takpere, “Earlier consumers were supposed to pay to timesdeal through credit card, net banking etc in order to get deals. Now the consumers do not need to pay anything upfront as all deals are free now. This gives our consumers more comfort about what they're getting into. They won't have to worry about committing to something they've never had before, while still knowing that these are curated deals which are real and will always be honored.”

In the process, timesdeal helps create a positive and a meaningful interaction between the consumers & merchants and create new discoveries between them. “By doing so we are able to attract consumers & merchants and build timesdeal as destination which harnesses such ecosystem,” adds Takpere.

Going forward, timesdeal plans to focus on efforts to strengthen Free deal proposition and further innovate in this space. Says Takpere, “we would like to create this as strong platform for businesses to find new consumers and for them to discover new exciting offers every day.”