SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - December 09, 2014) - The team behind Locality, a price-comparison site for local services, has launched their first vertical-specific online booking product, MassageNow. MassageNow is a new mobile app and website that lets consumers book same-day massages at luxury spas for up to 50% off. The company is starting with massage services because it's one of the most popular services requested on Locality. The vision is to eventually enable simple, online booking for every local service.
MassageNow has pioneered a simple but innovative online booking model where users get a listing of available massage appointments nearby, and can easily book one through the app or website. Unlike daily deals or vouchers, which often result in overwhelmed merchants and lack of availability for customers at their preferred times - MassageNow enables users to instantly see and book same-day appointments. By not revealing the spa name in advance, MassageNow is able to work with high-end spas and studios that don't otherwise discount and offer tremendous value to MassageNow users. Once booked, the user receives the spa name and exact location for the massage.
"One lesson we've learned with Locality is that consumers hate spending the time to research the best local spas only to call around to find an available appointment," said Jay Shek, CEO of Locality. "MassageNow simplifies the entire booking process down to a couple of clicks. You simply select your desired time and location, and we send you to a great massage for an awesome, discounted price. The convenience and pricing make massages more accessible to people than ever before."
According to the American Massage Therapy Association, studies have shown that massage therapy provides a host of benefits, helping with anxiety, depression, blood pressure, sleep, athletic performance, and general pain management - notably easing lower back pain. While everyone can benefit from massage, less than two out of five adults regularly get a professional massage. Despite this, in the U.S. alone, massage was a $10B industry in 2013. By making massages more accessible and affordable, MassageNow aims to open up the benefits of quality massage to a larger base of potential users.
MassageNow is built on the same unique, proprietary local business data gathering platform as Locality. Just as Locality was the first to systematically gather pricing information from local businesses, MassageNow aggregates real-time, same-day appointment availability information from a growing network of spas. For spas, MassageNow offers an effortless yield-management solution to fill their same-day, empty appointment times (a service provider's equivalent to perishable inventory). MassageNow is currently live in San Francisco, and coverage is rapidly growing.
"Consumers are increasingly accustomed to using services like OpenTable and HotelTonight to get instant availability and make same-day bookings, but the long tail of local services continue to rely, primarily, on over-the-phone bookings. In most cases, customers resort to calling multiple providers, playing phone tag, and wasting time on hold," said Jared Fliesler, general partner at Matrix Partners who led a $4.3M funding in Locality last year. "MassageNow helps local service providers to grow their businesses, fill unused capacity, and connect with customers in a way they've never had access to in the past."
Fine spas and massage studios who are interested in partnering with MassageNow, please contact us at hello@massagenow.co.
MassageNow is available now in San Francisco via iPhone app and website.
Links
iPhone app: massagenow.co/ios
Website: massagenow.co
About Locality
Founded in 2011, Locality has developed the industry's most comprehensive local search experience, covering 60 different services available in more than 10,000 cities. Locality's proprietary data collection system helps consumers find the information they seek to connect with merchants that best meet their needs. The company is funded by Matrix Partners, Lightbank, ffVC, Cowboy Ventures, and Founder Collective. It is based in San Francisco. To learn more, please visit www.locality.com.
About Matrix Partners
Matrix Partners backs passionate entrepreneurs who have the vision and unstoppable drive to make a difference in the world. Our partners have lived the entrepreneurial journey and we stand behind our founders offering personalized guidance and services to maximize their success. From our beginnings with Apple Computer, Sycamore Networks and Veritas, to more recent investments in Oculus VR, Zendesk, Hubspot, JustFab, Gilt, Meteor and more, we've earned the trust of each founder we've supported. Find us in Palo Alto, Cambridge, Shanghai, Beijing, and Mumbai, at matrixpartners.com or @MatrixPartners.
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