This NPR article about Groupon discusses the reasons for the rapid rise of sites like Groupon and LivingSocial, pointing to the recession and the "gamification" of our day to day lives. The idea being that consumers are so used to playing games online that any aspect of real life devoid of point systems and levels can start to seem hopelessly mundane. However, if while shopping consumers can hungrily hunt down the best deals, it might be possible to alleviate some of the boredom associated with doing anything besides playing Angry Birds. I think this is a really fascinating concept and I wonder if such deep discounts will start to become the norm or if the potential downsides will start to outweigh the positives.
Sites like these have many applications and the power to help or hurt (Groupon takes 50%!) the parties involved. The article lists a few success stories from very small businesses who attracted a great numbers of customers for the first time through a Groupon deal. When a new or small business has nothing to distinguish itself, a great discount from Groupon can be what puts it on the map. Alternatively, there are stories of businesses that get overrun by customers due to a coupon deal and are physically unable to stay open. The article also discusses how really active Groupon users are so concerned with scoring the best deal that they never develop loyalty to any of the businesses they discover through the site. This poses a difficult challenge for businesses who want to include coupons in their marketing mix, yet may end up losing money on the deal and not actually attracting any repeat customers.
Amazon jumped on the bandwagon yesterday with AmazonLocal, but it looks like they don't have NYC area deals yet.
I am really curious to hear what the class thinks about these sites and what role they should play in digital marketing.
No comments:
Post a Comment