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- guardian.co.uk, Wednesday February 7 2001 12.21 GMT
If you are happy to have Lastminute.com's almost constant barrage of emails clogging up your in-box, from this week you can start collecting text messages from the company as well.
Lastminute.com is to notify consumers about offers by text message for the first time in a deal with mobile phone service company 12snap.
The news comes a week after 12snap announced text messaging deals with McDonald's and American Express.
Customers become a "lastminute.com snapper" by registering for the interactive service on a co-branded site www.12snap-lastminute.com.
Registered users will receive a text message at lunchtime detailing that day's offers, which are exclusive to the service users and will not appear on the website.
The customer is told what time the offers will become available - later that afternoon or evening - at which point they can call to buy.
Some offers will be fixed price and some will allow customers to bid for the deal on offer.
If a bid is unsuccessful, the customer will be notified by a text message and will be invited to submit a new bid.
The service launches tomorrow and for an initial period there will be two one-hour snapper sessions a week.
This means users will get a prompt text message with the deals twice a week - each time having an hour later in the day to respond.
A spokeswoman for 12snap said the service would expand if successful and could become a daily service.
"We could do this every day, it is likely that this will become a more regular service," she said.
A series of competitions will help launch the service - a Valentine's Day promotion gives customers the chance to win a pink Benilli scooter.
Other prizes will include first-class tickets on Eurostar and a luxury weekend break in top UK hotels.
The jointly branded service - messages will have both company's names attached to them - is also set to roll out in Germany and Italy, the other territories where the company has offices.
