• by Melynda Fuller , December 24, 2019

In 2012, Panayotis “Pana” Nikolaidis, founder-CEO of Savings United, wanted to help high-quality journalism outlets find a new way to become financially stable. His idea: help media companies turn a focus on eCoupons as a way to create an ecommerce revenue stream.

“eCoupons represents an alternative to advertising, which allows media houses to focus on their core journalistic mission,” Nikolaidis told Publishers Daily. “Our business model offers media companies a combination of benefits not readily available elsewhere.”

That includes actively participating in ecommerce and reaching new audiences at a time when over half the U.S. mobile phone population is expected to use digital coupons. Also, complementing other revenue streams, like separating their coupon site and paywall strategy.

According to Invesp, 31 billion eCoupons will be redeemed worldwide by 1 billion mobile coupon users.

After launching Savings United, Nikolaidis began to partner with media outlets like Wired, the New York Post and PCWorld to help them build their own coupon platforms.

Savings United works by using sub-directory integrations, like newspaper.com/coupons, to launch responsive templates with its partners. Those templates are tailored to match the publisher’s editorial guidelines on their respective sites, said Nikolaidis.

“We work closely with each media partner during every stage of the process, from templating to editorial tasks and even sales.  For instance, we select the featured advertisers together with each partner,” said Nikolaidis. “That way, we ensure there is a good fit in terms of the media partners’ brand, the advertisers’ demographic and the expectations of shoppers.”

Nikolaidis added that Savings United’s “objective is to help advertisers reach smart shoppers as well as to support shoppers along their customer journey so that they can make the best choice.” It goes beyond a general coupon platform, relying on a variety of other eCoupon methods, including QR codes in printed editions, email marketing and social-media activities.

Success is measured according to several metrics in combination with the level of satisfaction gauged from customers, advertisers and media partners.

Nikolaidis offered the examples of visibility in SERP, CTR, visits and on-site user interaction, level of collaboration with key advertisers and affiliate networks, number of exclusive coupons and increased commissions. He added revenue is also a main measurement of success.

“Working together allows us to think creatively and provides us with a competitive advantage in the coupon industry,” said Nikolaidis. “We have seen our projects go from strength to strength, often growing into an integral part of their digital revenue diversification strategy.”

Currently, Savings United operates in 13 countries, including the U.S., U.K., Germany, Spain and Brazil.