Using GroupOn?

I'm curious if any local businesses have used GroupOn and have tracked the value from it.

From what I know, GroupOn takes 50% of the sale price of the items, so a 50% discount ends up being a 75% discount from the retailers perspective.

I've seen some mixed reviews of GroupOn, and I'm curious to see what results local businesses have had. The only time I've used GroupOn is for 32 degrees, because I knew I would go there anyway and was already a customer.

Locally, we have not had any experience with Groupon, but our Florence KY store has used it recently and enjoyed tremendous success with it. Sales were significantly increased on Groupon days and the influx of new customers was appreciable.

Browning's did a groupon -- we sold over 800. You can negotiate more than the 50/50 mentioned above, btw. I have found lots of groupon users have told me that they would never have tried us, had they not bought the groupon, but will be back. It gives people who are hesitant a reason to try a new restaurant at a low price, and for many people, that is the only way they will go out of their way. I was very pleased w/ the response, and it certainly seemed like a great deal for us.

After the first of the year when we start operations Groupon was my very first paid advertising choice. My wife and all of her friends look at it at midnight when the new daily groupon comes out. It reaches a fairly sturdy market around here and people love a deal.

Craigslist, Twitter and Facebook are free options to get the word out there, a lot of free advertising can be done on social networking sites but Groupon has a unique advertising idea and clearly people looking at coupons online are interested in trying new things. We use the Groupon app for our iPhones and I believe they have an Android based app as well so that gets the message out there.

I haven't heard of any business success from it until now but from a different perspective I know a ton of people checking it every day. So from the consumers end I know its getting traffic.

I agree w/ the above poster about how it drives traffic to businesses. I get groupon and living social to my inbox daily and I have seen some truly great deals on things I normally wouldn't purchase (teeth whitening, massages, facials, etc.)

We also used Try It Local-- which is through GLI. If you haven't signed up for those coupons, please do so! Great local companies , and it isn't as well known as Living Social or Groupon.

Here are a couple of headlines concerning Groupon.....looks like this is serious business

Bloomberg headline...."Groupon Prankster Mason Not Joking in Spurning Google's $6 Billion Offer"

Marketing Pilgrim writes....."Overwhelmed by the response, Groupon’s servers faltered, but never failed yesterday as bargain hunters clamored to pay $25 for $50 worth of merchandise at national retailer Gap. Julie Mossler, Groupon’s Consumer Marketing Manager, told Social Times that 441,000 deals were sold. If Groupon splits the revenue with Gap — as analysts speculate is their standard take, but Groupon would neither confirm or deny — Groupon may pocket $5.5 million."

There was an interesting segment on Groupon on yesterday's Sunday Morning. It mentioned this blog in which one restaurant regretted its decision to utilize the service: http://posiescafe.com/wp/?p=316

Here is a link to the video of the Sunday Morning clip: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id= ... ontentBody

It's about 8 minutes, and also gives some positive experiences. I think a lot of focus tends to be given sometimes to the businesses that offer deals they can't keep up with and end up suffering for it. Like one of the merchants in the video says, for him it wasn't about the money, it was about building and keeping a new clientele. I think that's the primary purpose of this advertising method.

I'm curious if any local businesses have used GroupOn and have tracked the value from it.

From what I know, GroupOn takes 50% of the sale price of the items, so a 50% discount ends up being a 75% discount from the retailers perspective.

I've seen some mixed reviews of GroupOn, and I'm curious to see what results local businesses have had. The only time I've used GroupOn is for 32 degrees, because I knew I would go there anyway and was already a customer.

We are going to venture out into the GroupOn world here shortly, so far have heard more positive than negative.
Am a numbers geek and will track what it brings back to the restaurant. Stay tuned.

From a consumer point of view:
I've purchased quite a few, almost exclusively from places I've never been to or haven't been for years. I definitely bring more business than the coupon value, and probably half of the places I will visit again. A significant advantage for restaurants is that Groupon has a 100% money back guarantee, so I know that if a place closes before I use it, I can get my money back- thus I'm more willing to buy. I will no longer purchase restaurant coupons any other way ( louisvillehalfoff.com, etc) as I've been burned twice.

From a business /Marketing point of view:

It can be a great program for you to increase awareness and bring in extra traffic- IF you are careful on implementation. I know a local independent ( retail) business that expected to get 200-300 takers, did not specify a limit ( and a number of people bought several and got 1300 . At a retail markup of 50% that's a huge loss and they really regret doing it. So do it carefully, set a limit that you can live with profitability -wise, and be very complete with your exemptions. Seviche, for example, required notification and a reservation when using the Groupon- which allows you to plan for/set capacity limits so a huge rush of people doesn't result in some very unhappy customers. Obviously, CQ has different needs, but you know your audience, Alan and if you think thru the possibilities before implementing, I think it could be very effective for CQ- particularly off-season.

Deb

Something that occurred to me while considering Groupon is not ignoring the value of the people that DON'T buy. There are still thousands of people that will check out your website and get the seed of your business name planted in their brains.

Getting your name out there like this when you are a start up is a great idea. Especially for a service that doesn't require any money down. So even if your Groupon only sells 300 and you were anticipating 3,000, thousands of people now know you as an option when they previously had no knowledge of you.

So when you view that perspective as well, the money lost on the redemption of the coupons becomes a little more valuable.

I check the site daily and have made many purchases including a skydiving trip today for half off!

I check the site daily and have made many purchases including a skydiving trip today for half off!

Do you only get half a parachute?

( Sorry, couldn't resist...)

Deb