mKhoj, launches India’s first interactive mobile advertising service by creating a deal platform. This deal platform gives the consumers’ an access to deals from thousands of brands, retailers & merchants from across Mumbai. This deal platform solves the dilemma which consumers face all the time – is there one single place I can go to find out all the best deals in and around my locality?

The innovative deal platform enables a consumer to search for the best deals and discounts on a particular product in one’s locality – be it from a shopping mall or a branded outlet or a high street shop or the local mom-n-pop store. To access mKhoj’s services, the consumer just has to type in key search words like the ‘product’ & the ‘location’ and SMS it to mKhoj (at 6767777) – the results one then gets is a collection of the best deals for that product in and around the locality.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Naveen Tewari, CEO, mKhoj, said, “mKhoj is the shoppers ultimate friend. Most consumers seek opinions from friends and family before making most purchase decisions. Consumers are now faced with many avenues to shop from - there are many outlets stocking the same product – each offering different value propositions & offers. So how does the consumer then get hold of the best possible deal – that’s where mKhoj comes in. The shoppers will no longer have to spend too much time in searching for the right deals and will be able to save a lot of time by utilizing our services. They can do it directly from their mobile.”

The primary service will be SMS-based deal search service. The consumer has to send a query to the SMS short-code 6767777 for getting the deals. For example, if a consumer living in Malad West is thinking of buying Shoes, all he has to do is SMS “Deal Shoes Malad W” to 6767777 and he would get a list of 3-4 “top deals” in the category of ‘Shoes’ from ‘Malad West’.

mKhoj is also an apt solution for the merchants, retailers & brands who have always struggled with the expensive forms of advertising and promotions. They can now use the mKhoj platform to create Ads or promotions that can be published on mobile. mKhoj is built on the plank of affordability & is suited for all marketing budgets. Advertising on mKhoj is contextual, as only relevant consumers get the advertising. mKhoj does not push messages to mobile subscribers.

Along with over 15,000 such retailers who are part of mKhoj, there are almost 25 organized chains (retail, food etc.) that have joined hands with mKhoj to provide their deals to the Mumbai consumers. Some of them are Inorbit, Subhiksha, Cafe Coffee Day, McDonalds, Dominoes, Lakme, Metro Shoes, Fame, The Mobile Store, Tata Sky, Provogue and Kaya Skin Clinic. At any point of time, there are over 3000 active deals on mKhoj many of which change on a daily basis. Merchants can even run hourly deals using the mKhoj platform.

Mr. Naveen Tewari added, “I tell all my advertisers that – you will know exactly who could be interested in your product and you will be able to target them with customized offers via your deals & brand messages. mKhoj ensures minimal wastage of your marketing budget as the brand/retailer is charged only when a consumer sees their advertisement. That’s not possible in any other medium. We launched mKhoj at Inorbit last week and have seen remarkable response – we are observing 30%-35% conversion, which is significantly higher than any other medium. This fundamentally reduces the customer acquisition cost for merchants.”

To begin with, the services will be available in Mumbai but going forward, mKhoj will make it available in all other major metros and tier 2 cities and towns. mKhoj has already has tied up with the leading retails chains and shopping malls in the country. The mobile Ad market is expected to be over USD 11 billion globally in 5 years and India will own a significant share of it because of the sheer number of mobile phones (over 400 million by 2011) in the country.

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About mKhoj:

mKhoj is a “Mobile Advertising” company that has created, the first of its kind, a mobile based ‘deal platform’ (SMS & WAP) that helps the consumers find the best deals in and around their locality. Founded in 2006, mKhoj was conceptualized looking at the specific needs of consumers, who are busy with their schedules and need information on-the-go. It brings the most innovative & personalized mobile advertising service to the consumers and retailers.

mKhoj is a unique service, which helps the consumers find the best location based ‘deals’ on mobile (SMS or WAP). The consumer, in search of various deals, at a particular location, can now avail the mKhoj service through a simple SMS to a dedicated short code, 6767777 at the most minimal cost. mKhoj empowers the consumers to get ‘timely’ and ‘relevant’ offers from neighbourhood merchants directly on their mobile phones.

mKhoj has also created a wonderful platform for merchants to create Ads that can be published along with mobile content (SMS or WAP). Mobile Ads help merchants reach out to target consumers in the most cost effective manner. mKhoj gives its merchants the opportunity to update their Ads, run multiple promotions and inform the target consumers in no time. Currently, there are over 15,000 merchants registered on mKhoj, in Mumbai. Some of the current clients benefited by mKhoj service are Inorbit, Subhiksha, Cafe Coffee Day, McDonalds, Dominoes, Lakme, Metro Shoes, Fame, The Mobile Store, Tata Sky, Provogue and Kaya Skin Clinic.

Currently the mKhoj team is spear-headed by highly professionally qualified members including Mr. Naveen Tewari as the CEO and supported by Mr. Amit Gupta (Vice President – Operations), Mr. Abhay Singhal (Vice President – Business Development) and Mr. Mohit Saxena (Vice President – Technology). The company aims to increase its current planning and execution team of 50 members to around 600 people by early next year. The company is also funded by highly reputed sources in the venture industry that form part of the Band of Angels in Mumbai called Mumbai Angels. Some of the large investors are Mr. Praveen Chakravarty (Director, Thomas Weisel Partners), Mr. Sasha Mirchandani (Partner, Blue Run Ventures) and Mr. Manoj Maheshwari (Chairman, Aurovision).

For further details:
Mr. Naveen Tewari
Founder & CEO
mKhoj
E-mail: naveen.tewari@mKhoj.com
Ph: (022) 26717772 / 3 / 4

Vaishali Kilawalla / Jay Desai
Hanmer & Partners
Email: vaishali@hanmerpr.com / jay@hanmerpr.com
Tel: (022) 67524600 / 67524670
Cell: 9819630256 / 9820060107