Hawaiian Group-buying Site Launches in Indonesia as Maiplay

Hot on the heels of Groupon entering Indonesia through its acquisition of Disdus, in comes another collective buying site looking to grab a share of the pie. Maiplay officially launched its Indonesian service today at the posh Dragonfly club in Jakarta.

Maiplay has been operating since 2009 in the United States as PlayHawaii, offering deals across hundreds of merchants in various categories including restaurant/bar, spa/salon, sports, activities, shipping, entertainment, another services. In Asia, the company is backed by ten private investors (rest of line removed). It operates in Singapore and Indonesia, with Jakarta and Bali as the inaugural Indonesian cities.

Maiplay co-founder and CEO Jon Sugihara and co-founder and President Andrew Roth flew down to Jakarta to host the launch and addressed the press, business partners, friends, and colleagues. Sugihara outlined the vision of the company as well as the potential of the Indonesian market.

Sugihara said, "We are committed to produce offers and programs from the best merchants and outlets in Indonesia. We are not just a daily deals site, we provide ways to keep customers involved with the business after redeeming the deal."

"Through our exclusive rePLAY offer, customers will receive additional offers and incentives to return and continue their relationship with Maiplay," he continued.

Roth adds that Maiplay continues to work with partners following the conclusion of the deals period to evaluate their promotional efforts and ensure that they achieve the objective of their collaboration.

Separately, Sugihara explained to DailySocial that he recognizes the fact that there is a problem affecting several other group buying or daily deals sites and that is the lack of returning customers to their merchant partners.

He acknowledges that many group deal customers are deal hunters and they tend to visit, for example, a restaurant, only when there is a discount offer. As a result, this pattern creates a discontent on the side of the partners as cost of customer acquisition rises with few if any returning patronage.

Sugihara further emphasized that the deals they enter with their partners are not one off deals as partnership agreements would last for several weeks, sometimes months, and they work on offering a variety of offers and incentives for returning customers. Their retention program involves encouraging customers to share their favorite deals and invite their friends to join the site which will net them points and credits towards Maiplay's Black Card membership.

Maiplay's payment partners include KlikBCA, PayPal, Mandiri, Visa, BNI and Unik, providing customers flexibility in payment method options.

update : we were asked by Maiplay to remove investors' name