Note: Lovin’Local has closed, with their effort to build a new dining rewards programme stymied by the COVID lockdown in late 2021. We’ve kept this article on the off chance they make a return at some point.

Lovin’Local is a new online platform created to fill the gap left by Zomato when they exited the New Zealand market in 2020.

Their focus is on Auckland however I am sure they will grow to the other major New Zealand cities if they are successful here.

Cafes and restaurants can register their business on the site for free (for a limited time), and put offers in front of those savvy enough to be searching the internet for a good deal on food or drinks.

They don’t have an app that you can download just yet, but their web app is more than sufficient at this point. The Lovin’Local website says that Apple and Google Play Store apps are coming soon.

This post serves as a quick guide to Lovin’Local and will be updated over time as their product evolves.

Searching for offers

It is very easy to search for nearby offers. You can either share your location or manually input your address.

The cards for each partner give a hint as to what offers are available.

When you click through, all offers are displayed at the bottom of the page.

Just like the discount offers that used to get offered on Zomato, you pay via the app, which automatically calculates the discount.

From my experience there are still plenty of businesses that have signed up but then have never had a customer use the app, so they don’t quite recognise it or understand how it is used. Hopefully over time staff training improves - this is likely as a result of being so easy for businesses to join, but not have had any one-on-one onboarding.

Lovin’Local currently only accept Mastercard and Visa - which is a bummer because I love to pay with American Express.

Earning Points

You can earn Lovin’Local points for every $1 you spend with any of their partners. You’ll also earn 50 points each time you leave a review after a purchase.

Eventually you can earn enough points to redeem for vouchers that can be used with any of their partners.

Coffee Pass

This is an ingenious idea. You can buy a coffee pass for $19.99, and get five large coffees at hundreds of different cafe partners. I managed to snag one at the low price of $9.99 as a join offer, which worked out to be $1.99 per coffee - incredibly cheap for Auckland!

I’ve been using mine at Yun, who make a great Ginger Latte.

Lovin’Local are smart and have also integrated an ‘auto-renew’ feature so that the coffee pass tops up as soon as you’ve used your five. You can turn this off manually.

Lovin’Local Premium

While not offered at launch, they have introduced a new Premium membership option. After a 14 day free trial, your credit card is billed $89.95 annually for Premium Access.

Personally I feel that this price is a bit steep considering you can buy the Entertainment Book annually for about $65 and this is also an app version now.

Signing up for Premium is said to include:

• Deals and discounts (up to 75% off) at some businesses

• Invites to exclusive Premium experiences

• Private access to Premium Only Offers that are available every single day of the year

I’ve signed up for the trial, and I’ll keep an eye on what my savings are over time to determine whether it’s worth it for others.

Summing Up

There are so many ways you get a great deal on dining these days, whether it’s web apps like Lovin’Local, using the Entertainment Book, or making a booking on First Table.

There is really no excuse to not be saving when eating out, or at least picking places to eat and drink based on the offers available.

The Coffee Pass is a particularly good idea, especially for those who love to try new cafes and don’t always visit the same one.