Web & app development for "J-Deals"

J-Deals is a deals platform connecting travelers in Japan with local businesses — on web and mobile. For travelers: nearby discounts surfaced instantly. For shops: reaching tourists without ad spend.

The goals: reach both travelers and local businesses to grow awareness and usage; build an experience that is fun to use, fun to look at, and genuinely useful; and seamlessly integrate real-time notifications with location-based personalization.

Instead of assuming, we asked real users blunt questions: what kind of deal makes you stop scrolling? What annoys you most when hunting discounts abroad? The answers set the direction:

• The language barrier is the biggest blocker — multilingual support is mandatory, not nice-to-have
• Location-based offers are loved — but clarity decides whether they get used
• Mobile-first above all — every usage moment happens mid-trip

We designed a location-first experience where nearby deals surface through map and notifications, a multilingual UI travelers can use without Japanese, and a simple back office for shops to publish deals. Real-time notifications are the core — with deals, timing is the value.

After launch, a Shibuya shop owner told us new customers arrived showing the app from day one, and travelers described it as "a local guide in your pocket." The two-sided engine — travelers finding deals, shops reaching travelers without ad spend — is turning.