Location-based apps are great tools to find places nearby with happy hours and promotions on. Of course, these apps are handy when simply looking for nice bars or restaurants nearby. But location is not necessarily the only parameter when screening out irrelevant options. There’s no benefit in recommending users a bar in the morning, when they’re actually looking for a brunch or afternoon tea, even if the bar is just next door. A new happy hour app aims to further narrow down the recommended items, and simply get you down to what you needed right now.
Olifun is both a proximity- and time-based app for users to find happy hours, brunches, ladies nights, lunch sets, dinners, and special promotions nearby right when you want it. In addition to leveraging location data, Olifun enables users to sort by time for venues that are available now, later in the day or tomorrow.
Clicking on any of the recommended items gives more details, such as address, location on the map, phone number, as well as typical price range and other tips.
Happy hours won’t be happy for long without friends. After choosing a bar or restaurant to go to, Olifun users can invite friends to join them via WeChat, Whatsapp, email, or SMS.
Since the app is currently only available in English, it offers a convenient feature of showing Chinese and English location addresses to taxi drivers. Olifun is available as iOS app and a WeChat public account, while an Android version is on the way.
The app currently has over 500 venues and 8,000 events listed, according to a company representative. Although they did not disclose user numbers, Olifun claims to have a high user retention rate – half of all users will use the app again.
Right now, Olifun works only in Shanghai, but it is planning to branch into more Chinese cities in the following six months, and into the Asia-Pacific (APAC) over the next twelve months. The startup noted that the happy hour market is rich with potential, with 53 million young English speaking drinkers in the APAC region.
As an project which has just graduated from Chinaccelerator, Olifun is looking for new funding to acquire users and improve the product.
Editing by Mike Cormack (@bucketofongues)
