Media firm sticking with online coupon scheme

Sussan Turner. Photo / Geoff Dale

It's business as usual for online discount coupon service Vouchermate despite the company being in liquidation, its radio station partner MediaWorks says.

Vouchermate called in the liquidators on Christmas Eve but the site remains operational and customers continue to be served, says MediaWorks Radio chief executive Sussan Turner.

MediaWorks, which owns a stable of radio stations including RadioLive, More FM and The Rock, formed a distribution agreement with Vouchermate three years ago under which MediaWorks sells the online voucher service to its advertising customers and then promotes the site to consumers on air.

Revenue was split between the two companies.

The liquidators of Vouchermate have said they aim to sell the business as a going concern.

Turner said MediaWorks was still assessing what the liquidation meant for it, and where it could go from here. In the meantime, its client service and salespeople were continuing as usual.

"The site is still being managed, vouchers are still being updated and changed, etcetera. We've got clients that bought into Vouchermate and certainly we don't want to at this point be letting them down."

However, MediaWorks understood there was time pressure to get the situation resolved.

The liquidators say Vouchermate tried to adjust to tougher economic times but was stuck with substantial fixed overheads.

"Shareholders injected further funds ... and expenses were reduced, but ultimately this was not sufficient to enable the company to shift to the next level of income required for its continued viable operation," they said in their first report.

The company owes an estimated $159,000 but there was a strong possibility unsecured creditors would get a payout.

However, this depended on a successful sale of the company's assets.

The director of rival online voucher provider Ezycoupons, Tony Vercauteren, believed the Vouchermate business model was wrong.

He said around the world use of traditional paper coupons still outstripped the online versions, and his paper coupon business Superdockets - the discount offers on the back of supermarket dockets - subsidised his internet service.

Vouchermate had 10 staff, whereas his business, which put through a billion coupons a year including traditional coupons, also had 10.

"I fail to see how any internet business needs that many staff."

He also believed Vouchermate had been charging too much, with annual subscriptions starting at about $1400.

That was too much for a small business that would be wanting measurable results.

Customers were also only interested in certain varieties of deals.

Accommodation, restaurants, fast food and entertainment worked well, whereas business-to-business services did not. The right content was important for attracting consumers.