OurDeal offers cheap deals for cheap dates
Group buying site OurDeal has launched a new offering to allow its customers to hide from their date that they are using a discount voucher.
The announcement:
25 July 2011: Dating isn’t cheap these days and the rising cost of living means finding ‘The One’ isn’t just a daunting process, it’s also increasingly expensive. To help Australians on their quest to secure the all-important date, OurDeal, one of Australia’s leading group buying retailers, today launches First Date Friendly deals.
First Date Friendly deals, an industry first, sees OurDeal partner with some of the top restaurants across the country to create affordable, discrete deals that don’t single out people for taking advantage of a voucher. Participating restaurants include Capital Grill, Sydney; Steer Bar & Grill, Melbourne and Gondola’s of Noosa, Brisbane. Since OurDeal is free to sign-up, anyone can get involved.
The carefully designed mechanics behind First Date Friendly deals presents a win-win for all involved. Customers avoid the need to present discount vouchers in front of their date, restaurants avoid vouchers being displayed in front of other patrons, and the couple enjoys a great evening at a top venue. The simple process involves purchasing a deal, making a booking for table quoting a unique code, and, to avoid any awkward moments on the night, slotting a discrete credit card sized voucher issued by OurDeal into the bill to ensure the appropriate discount is deducted.
Julian Holman, founder and CEO of Ourdeal.com.au comments, “The launch of First Date Friendly is a strategic move designed to make our offers more appealing and relevant to our customer base. With First Date Friendly we hope to banish the ego-centric concerns of dating by making the voucher experience much more seamless, discrete and part of the normal dining experience. We’ve identified a significant gap in the market and look forward to watching romance blossom across the country.”
Emma Merkas, Dating Expert from ThirtyDollarDateNight.com, adds “The pressure really is on men when it comes to first dates. Not only are they expected to pay, it’s also preferred that they take charge of the date, pick the perfect restaurant, have all the right moves and be confident and suave. Not only can it be daunting, it can get expensive. After all, dating is a numbers game.”
Facts about dating in Australia
To coincide with the launch of First Date Friendly deals, OurDeal mapped trends in dating behaviour, provided by Oasis Active, Australia’s largest online dating site, against group buying purchasing habits on OurDeal’s site. The findings present an interesting picture of the Australian dating market, revealing:
• There are three guys for every two women in the market. Statistics from Oasis Active show there are 30 per cent more men on Oasis Active compared to women and 60 per cent of all members are under 35 years of age.
• Despite the shortage of single women though, old fashioned trends still remain. According to a recent poll by Oasis Interactive, 96 per cent of respondents agree that women shouldn’t have to pay the bill on a first date.
• Interestingly, 80 per cent of OurDeal’s members are female but proportionately it is the men that are purchasing more of the restaurant deals. Of this group, 25-34 year olds are more likely to buy restaurant deals than any other age group.
• When it comes to the best time to find The One, Oasis Active reveals that 7pm-11pm on weekdays is the busiest time for online dating activity.
Source: OurDeal press release
