iPhone alerts offer savings

Shoppers can now snap up bargains from their iPhones with the launch of a locally developed application.

The VoucherMob app, also available on Android and Windows Mobile platforms by the end of the year, allows shoppers to get discount vouchers.

VoucherMob creator Scott Bradley said smartphones such as the iPhone accounted for 7 per cent of cellphones in New Zealand but that was predicted to grow to 60 per cent by 2013.

Consumers pay for the data costs needed to get the vouchers, with retailers footing the bill for the application through a weekly subscription charge ranging from $10 to $20.

Bradley said he aimed to attract support from big nationwide retailers.

He said VoucherMob cost much less than online discount provider Vouchermate, which went into liquidation late last year owing $159,000.

He said similar applications abroad had drawn strong consumer interest.

VoucherMob has the support of the Heart of the City retailer network, which is offering a free trial to inner-city Auckland retailers until the end of the year.