DealTime.com, the leading independent online comparison shopping service in the U.S. with over 2.3 million unique users in November (source: PC Data), announced today the launch of its Web site for residents in the United Kingdom at www.dealtime.co.uk.
The site, which leverages DealTime.com's proprietary database architecture and patent-pending notification platform, offers UK consumers the ability to search hundreds of UK merchants for the products they are looking to buy at the prices they are willing to pay in pounds sterling. The expansion into the UK marketplace marks the first of several new international ventures for DealTime.com, which plans to launch comparison shopping sites in France, Germany, Japan and Latin America in the coming year.
DealTime UK offers consumers the same features as the US site, which include the ability to obtain instant search results for the products they are looking to buy and then the ability to track deals over time and receive notification of new deals via email, pager or its patent-pending Desktop Notifier. The UK site currently offers product categories in appliances, software, electronics, office supplies, computers, home & garden, video games and flowers and gifts, with more categories to be added soon.
"If a house has a good foundation, it can be built into a castle," said Dan Ciporin, CEO of DealTime.com. "DealTime.com's technology was built from the very beginning with global expansion in mind. Our database infrastructure is highly scalable and easily supports dynamic currency conversions and multiple languages. With this foundation, we were able to extend our services to the UK market in just a few weeks."
UK shoppers, for example, who are looking for the newest Panasonic DVD player, can select the maximum price they want to pay and DealTime UK will do the legwork, scouring the Web for all the DVD players out there. Shoppers will receive instant results listed by best price and will be notified of any special offers such as free shipping or discounts on related products. They can immediately make a purchase or tell DealTime UK to continue looking for a better price and notify them when a more attractive deal is available.
The overseas market provides tremendous opportunity for Web-based companies, particularly in the area of e-commerce. According to UK research firm Fletcher Research, Europe will represent 38.2 million Internet users at the end of this year and 84.3 million by 2002. In the UK alone, online shopping is projected to be a 3.1 billion market by 2003.
DealTime.com, with more visitors than any competing comparison shopping service (more than 2.3 million in November; source: PC Data), is a free, independent service that scours the entire Web for the products consumers want at the prices they are willing to pay. DealTime.com has the unique ability to track deals over time and, along with its Desktop Notifier and other offline notification methods, alert consumers to new matches anytime, anywhere.
With headquarters in New York City and R&D in Israel, DealTime.com is a privately held, venture-backed company with investments from Israel Seed Partners, Odeon Capital Partners, Nomura International plc., WaterView Partners, Advanta Partners, Israel Infinity Venture Capital Fund and Axiom Venture Partners.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on December 21, 1999.