Bidmyway is a newly launched local deals app operating in the Chicago market. As opposed to being a deals aggregator for more popular brands like Groupon or Living Social, the app offers exclusive deals made with local merchants.
What’s unique about Bidmyway is its interface and how the deals are presented to end users. Consumers “dial up” local deals using a click wheel reminiscent of the one found on old-style iPods.
The wheel is used to select the budget you have available for deals. Spin to select the amount, lock it in and Bidmyway shows you the best deals within a specified radius, ranked and listed on a map. You can then purchase the deal right from the mobile app itself.
It’s an interesting take on how mobile deals should work – instead of being presented with a single deal for a given geographic region, like a city, you filter a larger list of hyperlocal deals for those that are both within your budget and your vicinity. It’s a concept that could easily help users to better sort through the ever-growing number of deals available, so it’s actually somewhat of a shame (for the rest of us, at least) that Bidmyway launched as an independent deals broker, instead of an aggregator.
Bidmyway CEO John T. Shave says he believes that “hyperlocal mobile” is the future of the deals industry. It’s not a surprise, then, that he felt the need to build a new system from the ground-up, right down to the new deal-filtering mechanism.
He also notes that Bidmyway is the better option for merchants who need to launch a mobile deal immediately – for example, a restaurant having a slow night. Through the app, a retailer or small business owner can instantly offer a deal and post it, allowing them to attract customers right away, and most importantly, while those customers are out and about looking for something to do.
Although Bidmyway is available for download on iPhone and Android right now, as noted above, the only deals available are in the Chicago area (incidentally, also the birthplace of Groupon.) In the future, the company hopes to expand to other markets.
Bidmyway is owned and operated by local commerce company Elite Media Worx, which also runs the daily deals site EliteCityDeals. Elite Media Worx previously raised $1.35 million in funding back in April.
