A ‘wingman’ to discover great deals across 60,000 stores, SAIF Partners backed Niffler launches iOS app

Co-founded by IITians, Edul Patel, Prince Arora and Viraj Shah, Niffler aims to be a destination to find deals from offline merchants across different lifestyle needs such as food, drinks, spas, apparel, and home décor etc.They now have 3,000 offers in over 60,000 stores across six cities and the app aims to help users save money. Niffler also has tie-ups with over 100 stores in Mumbai, including brands like McDonald’s, Ammi’s Biryani, Birdys, Café, Moshes and Four Fountains De-Stress Spa etc, which provide users with exclusive offers and freebies through the app.

Niffler had recently raised $1 million in funding from SAIF Partners and was available only on Android. They claim that their user base has grown to 40,000 engaged users. Having cracked the value proposition for users they have now released an iOS app for users to further expand their user base.

“The app enables iOS users find the best deals at brick and mortar stores. Users will be able save offers they like to their wallet for easy access and also follow their favorite brands to get notified whenever there is a new offer,” says Viraj Shah.

 Features

Niffler claims that the information on their platform is updated daily to ensure that users have access to the latest offers. They have also enabled intelligent notifications and recommendations that pop up on the app when users walk into a mall or store by detecting their geo location.

-Users can avail discount coupons and deals from brands like Nike, Zara, Levis, Forever 21, and Shoppers Stop etc and they will also be able to see the store directory for various malls on their phones.

- Users can avail free and exclusive deals from restaurants and cafes near them. It also alerts users to use deals when they enter a store and reminds them about deals that are about to expire.

- Find locations where they can get discounts using their credit/debit cards. Niffler has information on offers available through all bank cards, including Kotak Offers, SBI Freedom Rewardz, Citi Bank, ICICI Bank, and HDFC Bank card etc.

If users spot a great deal or a good product on Niffler they can share it with other users through the app. Users can also invite their friends to try out the app and get 200 Niffler points worth Rs 20.

Key learnings and team building

During their beta testing stages, Niffler realized that their users looked for instant gratification and hence provided offers on the go and the ability to save them for later. They also offer an extended loyalty programme.

Viraj said:

A simple and easy-to-use app is extremely important; users must see a clear value proposition and experience it as soon as possible. Users realize the value when they save money using the app and are much more likely to retain it after that. So our aim is to try and get users to save money using the app as soon as possible.

They also realized that how users perceive the features and what they expect can be very different from what the developers and founders think, so he feels that it’s important to constantly experiment and closely monitor data to see what works and what doesn't.

Niffler currently has a team of 19, which includes an iOS developer, two in business development, and many data collectors etc. Viraj added:

We want to build a world class team and we believe our success is going to be linked directly to the quality of team we are able to build. Currently, we are hiring for tech, business development and marketing. So far hiring through referrals has worked best for us.

Others in the sector

Discount Me, Desidime, Synapse are other players in this sector who aim to make discovery of deals easier.

‘Bluebook’ is another player in this sector as well, but with the difference being that it is an actual physical book that provides offers and discounts to users.

Business model and future plans

The app is free to download and use, and Niffler is currently seeding its product and have not monetised it yet. Their goal is to reach a wide enough user base, after which they aim to monetize through B2B models by tying up with brands and retail stores.

Their future plans include expanding to more cities and getting more merchants on board. They are also considering iBeacon integration to provide more accurate results.

Website: Niffler, iOS app, Android app