Coupons Gone Social
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- Date Submitted: 04/13/2011 03:07 PM
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Coupons Gone Social
Not long ago coupon inserts on Sunday’s newspapers were the easiest and probably most common way to save on thousands of products and services from free Big Mac’s at McDonalds to casual dinners at Olive Garden. But today the social media phenomenon has revolutionized the coupon industry. Sites, such as Groupon.com, provide to their subscribers a daily offer on restaurants, spa treatments, movie tickets, etc. via email or smart phone. Then they rely on social media to spread the deal. If a certain number of people sign up for the offer then deal becomes available to all, if the predetermined minimum is not met no one gets the deal that day.
From a marketing standpoint this could be one of the most effective ways to really benefit from all the social media fever that has taken over the retail industry. For businesses is a great way to really convert “likes” into bucks. Business owners not only benefit from higher volume but they are also creating buzz about their products and services in the social media world. On the other hand consumers are taking advantage of great discounts without the hassle of clipping coupons and saving them on their wallets for months to later discover that they had expired weeks ago. The idea is definitely convenient, easy to use and could really save customers money. In fact, today on Groupon.com for $30 you get five Vector tanning-bed sessions or three spray tans at AbsoluTans, which has a value of up to $75. Ideal for the cold gray days were are having in Miami.
The business plan behind these sites seems to be very successful. According to a recent report on Bloomberg the top provider of online daily discounts, Groupon, has pushed into hundreds of new cities and doubled its subscriber base over the past three months. That has helped its valuation soar since December, when it turned down a bid from Google Inc. (GOOG) for $6 billion. The company now has 70 million users and reaches more than 500 markets, up from...
Not long ago coupon inserts on Sunday’s newspapers were the easiest and probably most common way to save on thousands of products and services from free Big Mac’s at McDonalds to casual dinners at Olive Garden. But today the social media phenomenon has revolutionized the coupon industry. Sites, such as Groupon.com, provide to their subscribers a daily offer on restaurants, spa treatments, movie tickets, etc. via email or smart phone. Then they rely on social media to spread the deal. If a certain number of people sign up for the offer then deal becomes available to all, if the predetermined minimum is not met no one gets the deal that day.
From a marketing standpoint this could be one of the most effective ways to really benefit from all the social media fever that has taken over the retail industry. For businesses is a great way to really convert “likes” into bucks. Business owners not only benefit from higher volume but they are also creating buzz about their products and services in the social media world. On the other hand consumers are taking advantage of great discounts without the hassle of clipping coupons and saving them on their wallets for months to later discover that they had expired weeks ago. The idea is definitely convenient, easy to use and could really save customers money. In fact, today on Groupon.com for $30 you get five Vector tanning-bed sessions or three spray tans at AbsoluTans, which has a value of up to $75. Ideal for the cold gray days were are having in Miami.
The business plan behind these sites seems to be very successful. According to a recent report on Bloomberg the top provider of online daily discounts, Groupon, has pushed into hundreds of new cities and doubled its subscriber base over the past three months. That has helped its valuation soar since December, when it turned down a bid from Google Inc. (GOOG) for $6 billion. The company now has 70 million users and reaches more than 500 markets, up from...