Sales? Deals? I’m all for them! I’m a bargain hunter to the end and my budget depends on money well spent. Although I’ve always been someone to look for discounts and sales, I’ve been a moderate fan of coupons. Now that we’re looking towards a technology filled future, it’s only right that our coupons go high tech and digital too. It seems that at least electronically, coupons have been quite popular through sites like Groupon. Groupon has become a familiar name within consumers in today’s market. In an economy like ours who doesn’t enjoy getting things for less?
Groupon has managed to start something great by giving consumers a chance to do and buy multiple things including ones wouldn’t normally do or buy on a regular basis. This ingenious idea has been growing ever since its start in 2008. However, although this seems like something that will only keep prospering in the future, it’s hard to to be 100% sure. Groupon has been recently valued at a staggering 25 Billion, yes with a B, shortly after passing on Google’s offer of $6 billion dollars to buy it out. It’s incredible to think that a company can be worth that much in today’s economy. It’s hard to believe that a company based on selling things for a significant amount less could be worth so much. As stated on E commerce times, It’s as Matt Britton CEO of Mr. Youth, a marketing agency focusing on word or mouth and social media interaction said, “$25 billion seems excessive because there is a disproportionate amount of risk with the Groupon model.”
Although Groupon will continue to see growth it still needs to continue to stay on top of the competition as many have replicated the business model and are gaining just as much exposure and use. LivingSocial and Couptessa, are quickly becoming “groupon clones” and also give consumers the opportunity to safe big on purchases and services. Groupon needs to focus on segmenting as many local companies with the same business model are sprouting up all over the country. In various cities like Des Moines with Townpoints and Boston with Boston.com, many are already looking to pinpoint its local community making sure that aside from getting traffic to the business they create loyalty. Obviously offering things that are nearby, useful and more common could prove to be more productive in the long run than those special, once and time sensitive offers that you have to jump on doing.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see if groupon can continue to grow and have more advantages than just a head start. I’ll have to wait to see if I really wait for online coupons before I go about my daily life as a consumer. I guess one thing could be sure, we can kiss the sound of scissors cutting paper and welcome the sounds of more clicks and typing when it comes to wanting to save some money.
Read on here:
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/72098.html?wlc=1301877005
http://www.dailydealmedia.com/is-the-802groupon-bubble-about-to-burst/
