Deal services like Groupon and Living Social have made huge waves during the past couple years by offering heavily discounted merchandise to users. There are plenty of horror stories about companies that have lost money by offering deals, but the websites have carved out very large markets of companies and users. Now, a new company is taking the next step in offering deals, and it’s a step that may be of interest to auto lenders.
A Singapore-based mobile application developer, Rainmaker Labs, has rolled out a device called iSenze that emits an ultrasonic signal that can be picked up by smartphones. The device can be deployed in retail outlets, and retailers can use the service to blast out deals to customers who walk into their stores. It’s a more highly targeted version of a deal service like Groupon or LivingSocial, but without the potential horror stories of deals gone bad.
The iSenze is part of a larger service called ShopGuru, which is a rewards-based system for making purchases at specific retail locations.
The application for auto lenders, however, is in deploying iSenze devices at car dealerships and broadcasting offers when customers open the doors and walk in. Or, even when they stop and check out specific vehicles. We’ve written recently about specific deals being offered on specific vehicles; the iSenze is one way to market those offers. Lenders can tout specific deals on specific vehicles, or in specific markets, and customers can be alerted to those offers when they walk into a dealership.
By waiting to offer a deal until the customer walks into the dealership instead of broadcasting it to the world, lenders can be sure that their offers are reaching likely car buyers.
