Advertising tech startup Nirmy offers novel way for businesses to be discovered instantly

Mobile app automatically surfaces individual, self-onboarded businesses in the form of animated “brand tiles” based on the user’s dynamic location.

Nirmy (pronounced “near me”), a new image-based business search and discovery app, introduces its GPS-driven advertising platform that generates effortless awareness of restaurants, retailers, professional service providers and any business with a brick-and-mortar location. To appear on the app, businesses sign up at business.nirmy.app and follow the simple steps from there. In addition, Nirmy is currently offered to small businesses at no cost.

Nirmy’s distinct, graphical interface sets it apart from incumbent search platforms.  When users launch the app, it detects their location and immediately displays a grid of “brand tiles,” enticing images representing businesses near them based on distance. Scrolling through this grid of brand tiles allows users to discover businesses instantly, resulting in a potential impulse visit.

Statistics related to smartphone business searches follow: 

• From 2013 to 2017, there was a 900 percent increase in “near me” searches on mobile devices; today, 82 percent of smartphone users conduct “near me” searches.
• Local searches lead 50 percent of consumers to visit businesses within one day, and 28 percent of “near me” searches result in purchases.
• This year, mobile searches for local services are expected to lead to $1.4 trillion in local sales.
• A recent Google study found smartphone users conducted “near me” searches in a variety of popular categories: 84 percent of users search for food, 56 percent for entertainment, 50 percent for banking, 41 percent for fashion and beauty and 38 percent for personal care.

When users tap on a Nirmy brand tile, it opens up to its expanded view, where they will see at a glance all the business details they need to know, plus more images and any promotions or deals currently offered. A tile’s expanded view features a swipe-able call-out window businesses can use for endless purposes, such as displaying product or branding images, sale event ads, grand opening announcements, POS-trackable coupons and interactive call-to-action graphics (e.g., “tap here to book an appointment: or “tap here to order for delivery”).  Nirmy is well suited to businesses of all sizes and types, from locally owned establishments to major national chains.

‘As businesses and consumers come out of hibernation, Nirmy offers a delightfully novel and cost-effective way for establishments to be discovered and visually entice more customers,’ said Mick Riego, founder and CEO of Nirmy. ‘Entirely self-managed by the business, Nirmy balances the consumer’s desire to discover goods and services near them with the business’s goal of attracting new customers and engaging with existing ones in a dynamic way.’

There are three ways to find a business on Nirmy:

• Scroll to browse for serendipitous discoveries
• Blazingly fast keyword search
• Or filter search using 5 categories (Eat/Drink, Shop, Services, Fun or Online)

Other notable features that distinguish Nirmy from other business search platforms include: 

• Image-based tile interface. Tiles are available in three sizes.
• Brand safety. No crowd-sourced content like photos or reviews are hosted.
• GPS-only search results algorithm. No premium or sponsored ads overtake ‘near me’ search results.
• Instant SEO. Businesses self-assign keywords for which they will be instantly surfaced; keywords may be updated any time, effective immediately.
• Creative and functional freedom. A business profile on Nirmy accommodates a variety of business-generated content like link-embeddable interactive graphics, product images, brand ads, coupons, trackable QR codes, videos, virtual reality try-ons, and unlimited URL links throughout. Plus, businesses can integrate their online booking and preferred food ordering platforms seamlessly.