BuyClub.ch

What BuyClub.ch does

BuyClub.ch is a daily deals and voucher platform serving the international expat community in the Geneva and Vaud regions of Switzerland, with subscription coverage extending to Zurich. Founded in 2010 under GenevaOnline SARL (established 2007, which also operates glocals.com — Switzerland's largest social network for expat managers), the platform launches one limited-time offer each day on local restaurants, spas, hotels, ski resorts, and activities, offering discounts of 30-50% off merchant full prices. The company has built a claimed base of 100,000+ members and has connected them to 2,100+ local businesses, enabling cumulative member savings of CHF 15 million+ since inception, according to company-reported figures.

The underlying technology is a self-serve e-commerce platform with a digital voucher management system, email marketing automation, and a merchant partner portal. Vouchers are purchased online and redeemed at partner locations; the platform supports SSL-encrypted payment processing via Stripe (credit card) and TWINT (Swiss mobile payment), with card data routed directly to Stripe's vault and never stored on BuyClub servers. The company has built a mobile app for merchants to verify vouchers via QR code scan or manual entry, and collects post-deal customer satisfaction surveys. The platform is mobile-responsive and integrates social login via Facebook. The core technology stack is conventional e-commerce rather than AI-native, with no disclosed machine learning, recommendation algorithms, or proprietary models.

The business model is commission-based: BuyClub acts as an agent for partner businesses, retaining a commission on each voucher transaction while the underlying sales contract is concluded directly between the customer and the partner merchant. Pricing is transaction-based for consumers (free membership, pay-as-you-go voucher purchases) and "risk-free" for merchants (no upfront advertising costs). Marketing runs primarily through daily email notifications to location-segmented subscribers, complemented by a 13,000-follower Facebook presence and earned media coverage in major Swiss outlets including Le Temps, Tribune de Geneve, 24 Hours, WRS, and Bilan. The company is family-owned by brothers Oded and Nir Ofek, has no disclosed external funding, and operates with a team of 8 people spanning 11 nationalities.

Name

BuyClub.ch

Legal name

GenevaOnline SARL

Website

https://buyclub.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

BuyClub.ch is a Swiss daily-deals and voucher platform serving 100,000+ expat members in Geneva, Lausanne, and Zurich with exclusive discounts of 30-50% at 2,100+ local restaurants, spas, hotels, and activities, earning commission on each voucher transaction.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Geneva

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Voucher Commission: BuyClub acts as an agent for partner businesses, selling vouchers at exclusive discount prices. Revenue comes from commission on each voucher transaction. When a customer buys a voucher, a sales contract is concluded directly between the customer and the Partner; BuyClub retains a commission.
2. Daily Deal Commissions: Each day features one limited-time offer. BuyClub earns commission on all voucher sales during the deal period. Merchants guarantee exposure to expat clients in exchange for the deal structure.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

BuyClub.ch is a daily-deals and voucher marketplace that helps expatriate residents in Geneva, Lausanne, and surrounding Vaud region discover and purchase discounted vouchers (typically 30–50% off) for local restaurants, spas, hotels, ski resorts, and activities. The platform launches one limited-time offer per day via email, processes voucher sales online through Stripe, and earns commissions on each transaction while partner merchants redeem the vouchers at their physical locations.

Product overview

BuyClub.ch is a daily deals and voucher platform for the expat community in Geneva and Vaud, offering exclusive deals on local restaurants, spas, hotels, ski resorts, and activities. The core product is a daily limited-time voucher offer (one new deal per day) with discounts up to 50%. Supporting products include a digital voucher management system (My Vouchers), email notification alerts for new offers, a merchant platform for local businesses (BuyClub for Business Owners), a merchant mobile app for voucher verification, user account management, and an annual curated list of expat-favorite places. The company is owned by GenevaOnline SARL, which also operates the Glocals social network for expat managers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Daily Deals (Vouchers) Daily limited-time voucher offers (one new deal per day) providing up to 50% off at local restaurants, spas, hotels, ski resorts, and activities in Geneva and Vaud. Members purchase vouchers online through BuyClub.ch and redeem them at partner businesses.
• BuyClub for Business Owners (Merchant Platform) Web platform that allows local Geneva and Vaud businesses to advertise exclusive deals to BuyClub's expat audience, with no upfront advertising cost and exposure to 100,000+ targeted subscribers.
• BuyClub for Business Owners App Mobile application for merchants to verify and accept BuyClub vouchers by scanning QR codes or manually entering voucher details, and to collect usage data for payment reconciliation.

Quantifiable outcome

• Members have saved over CHF 15 million since 2010
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Stripe.comcoreTechnology or IntegrationStripe processes all payment transactions on BuyClub.ch. Credit card details are encrypted and transmitted directly to Stripe's secure vault, never stored on BuyClub servers. This is a critical payment infrastructure partnership enabling the voucher transaction model.
• Cloudflare.comcoreTechnology or IntegrationCloudflare provides encryption and website security services for BuyClub.ch, protecting customer data and transactions.
• 2,100+ Local Businesses (Merchants)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRestaurants, spas, salons, hotels, fitness studios, and activity venues throughout Geneva and Vaud that offer daily deals through BuyClub. Merchants benefit from guaranteed exposure to expat clientele without upfront advertising costs. Examples include: 19th Avenue Hair Salon, Gilles Berthoud Massage, Trip Trap Escape Rooms, Namura Restaurant, Clinique Vitalise.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• LivingSocial: LivingSocial was a major direct competitor to Groupon in the daily-deals space, offering similar time-limited local vouchers. While substantially scaled back, it remains the closest historical analog to BuyClub's voucher marketplace model.
• WagJag: WagJag is a Canadian daily-deals platform offering local vouchers for restaurants, spas, and activities. The same single-deal-per-day, email-driven, merchant-commission model applies directly to BuyClub's operations.
• Groupalia: Groupalia is a European (originally Spanish/Italian) daily-deals voucher marketplace operating the same time-limited discount model as BuyClub. It serves as a regional analog in markets adjacent to BuyClub's Swiss footprint.
• Groupon: Groupon is the global pioneer and largest operator of the daily-deals voucher marketplace model that BuyClub operates. Both businesses sell time-limited vouchers at 30-50% discounts from local merchants via email and self-serve e-commerce.
• Pepperdeal: Pepperdeal is a German/Austrian daily-deals voucher marketplace. It operates the same voucher-redemption, merchant-commission model as BuyClub and represents a comparable DACH-region daily-deals operator.
• DEINDeal: DEINDeal is a Swiss daily-deals platform offering discounted vouchers for local restaurants, wellness, and activities in major Swiss cities. It is the closest Swiss-headquartered direct competitor to BuyClub, operating the same voucher model in overlapping Swiss cities.

Broad incumbents

• GetYourGuide: GetYourGuide is a global experiences and activities marketplace that competes with BuyClub in the activity-voucher segment. It operates at a much larger scale but competes for the same expat and tourist activity-discovery wallet.

Others

• InterNations: InterNations is the largest global expat community network. It is comparable to BuyClub's parent-adjacent glocals.com rather than to BuyClub directly, but serves the same expat audience and competes for expat mindshare and merchant partnerships.

Emerging players

• ClassPass: ClassPass is a fitness and wellness credits platform that, like BuyClub, sells prepaid access to local wellness and activity businesses. It overlaps with BuyClub's spa, fitness, and experience categories though via subscription rather than daily vouchers.
• TheFork: TheFork (LaFourchette) is a restaurant discovery and reservation platform with promotional offers. While broader in scope than BuyClub, it competes for the same restaurant-voucher transaction use case in Swiss cities.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/buyclub
• Xx.com/buyclubdotch
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/buyclub.ch

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about BuyClub.ch