The company behind successful German location-based shopping platform kaufDA has launched a similar service in Russia. The Bonial International Group has teamed up with Fast Lane Ventures to create Lokata.ru in the hopes of replicating the runaway success of kaufDA, which has reportedly seen more than a billion page views of its online catalogue since its launch in late 2008.
Lokata is an online and mobile service enabling users to make smart shopping decisions before even entering a store. Nearby shops can be identified using search filters by product category, retailer and brand.
Users can also view online catalogs detailing all products available at participating retailers. When a store discounts a product which the user likes, Lokata will send an alert.
The service has been launched nationwide in Russia and will look to match the success of kaufDA, whose network provides information on 220,000 retail outlets in Germany and attracts 32 million unique users per month.
After German media giant Axel Springer acquired a majority stake in kaufDA last year, the company’s management launched Bonial International Group to pursue similar projects abroad, the first of which, Bonial France, appeared at the end of 2011.
Lokata is a 50/50 joint venture between Bonial and Fast Lane, an investment company focusing on replicating and adapting successful Western models to the local market. The firm refused to disclose financial details about it latest project but emphasised the value of Bonial’s IT platform as well as its own expertise in the Russian market.
This article has been adapted from one first posted on East-West Digital News, the international resource on Russian IT industries.