
The BBC asks if daily deal sites have had their day? - craigmc
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15574954
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sanj
What I would like is the anti-Groupon.

Right now, every time I see a place that I currently frequent show up on
Groupon I cringe. It means that my favorite restaurant or coffeeshop is going
to be mobbed by cheapskates looking to save a few bucks. It means that the
staff is going to be harried and tired. It means that I won't be able to get a
reservation for a few months.

I want a way for these places to say "Hey -- regulars! We love you! Come back
and spend time here so that we can avoid daily deals. We'll be happier and so
will you!"

~~~
pavel_lishin
If you're a regular, aren't loyalty cards - you know, hole-punch-tracked
rewards, etc. - enough? How much web connectivity do you need from a place
that you actually frequent?

~~~
GFischer
Some (MMOT) classmates are trying to do that (loyalty cards for small shops
plus online advertising).

The main block is actually apathy from the storeowners - they don't believe
they need it, most of them are conformists and traditionalists, not
enterprising or risk-takers.

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S_A_P
I think deal sites absolutely cater to "bottom feeders" who may be just
looking for deals. I think it is the wrong way to attract a loyal following. A
major point of this article made was with the 99£ oven cleaning for 19£. Who
would pay 19 and then repeat and pay 99?! That's nuts, and the only way to get
most of those customers to not feel ripped off is do another groupon or offer
some similar huge discount.

~~~
pavel_lishin
I think the cleaning business is probably hoping for referrals.

~~~
S_A_P
And that is true, but referral making is largely akin to a pyramid scheme. I
also think that if the referrer is talking about their 19 pound groupon, the
refer-ee would likely balk at the price as well.

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djhworld
I signed up to GroupOn (UK) earlier this year

I unsubscribed from their emails after a month as all the offers just seemed
to be either

a) Cosmetic treatments b) Health checks from private clinics

I'm a 24 year old male, why do I give a shit about any of those things?
GroupOn needs to target their offers more

~~~
ra
Groupon and their clones are basically the equivalent of coupons on the back
of a supermarket receipt.

Nothing new here.... but it has been very profitable.

~~~
jgroome
...for Groupon! Not so much the retailers though.

~~~
Tyrannosaurs
Not for Groupon (which loses money) but some of it's investors have done OK
out of it - so far.

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jmj4
I think a lot of people misunderstand what Groupon offers a business.
Basically it's advertising, but in a way that makes it affordable for small
businesses. The company offering their deal, is putting their name out there,
and only has to pay for it when someone walks through the door an makes a
purchase.

Tradition advertising means paying for your brand to be seen. Magazines,
newspapers, ect can target markets, but not to a very large extent. Google,
Facebook, ect can target their market better, and businesses only pay when
someone clicks (ie shows a bit of interest in the company). This is why they
are stealing traditional advertising revenue. Groupon took this one step
further, and made it so that businesses only pay when a customer walks through
the door. This opened up advertising to much smaller businesses, Mom and Pop
shops, since there is no upfront cost.

You'd think that Groupon would be trying to target their deals better. Have a
"select your interests" when you sign up. Yipit is doing this, and it's a
pretty cool take on it. That type of service adds a lot more value then a
generic daily deal.

~~~
yuvadam
It _would have been_ advertising if it had a longlasting effect.

Consider that once you do a groupon for a 20% < discount, it is going to be
_very_ hard to get that customer again for the full price of the product. So
what do you get from the supposed advertisement? A single customer that may or
may not give you his business again.

That's not advertising. That's what's crassly known as 'opening your legs'.

~~~
AznHisoka
That's exactly what advertising is. You're paying for exposure and a chance
that you can convert him to a lifetime customer. You can say the exact same
thing about Adwords, and display advertising. You pay for each click that may
or may not give you a single sale, let alone a lifetime customer. You pay for
an impression that may not influence a customer's buying decision in the
future...

Groupon may be a bad form of advertising for most businesses.. but it's still
advertising.

~~~
yuvadam
You are absolutely correct. But Groupon doesn't give that impression. The
impression you get from a Groupon is "I got this really good deal for $10, why
would I want to return for $20?"

In a classic ad the full price is stated upfront. You convert your customers
on that, not on a completely unsustainable one-time deal.

~~~
AznHisoka
Yep, you are right. It dilutes your brand. It's a reason why most luxury
brands like Prada and Louis Vuitton stay away from flash sites like Gilt and
RueLaLa as well. It's also why Apple rarely has sales on iPods or iPhones.

By giving out discounts, you're training people to expect deals forever, and
that's unsustainable.

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gaustin
From TFA: 'a [GroupOn] spokesperson said it was "difficult to give an accurate
figure" for how many businesses are repeat users of the site.'

Really? I would have thought it would be pretty easy to run a query on their
accounts and find out a nearly exact number.

~~~
acangiano
I think it's one of these situations where it's not difficult to calculate,
but it's difficult for them to release the figure. I suspect it would clearly
indicate the malcontent of small businesses. "0.5% are repeat users" doesn't
really bode well for you if your company is looking at an IPO.

