Groupon

Cirrus

Cirrus

Arowana blogger
I remember telling my wife a few years ago that I saw real potential for the group buy method to be harnessed on the internet across all sorts of product categories beyond fish - home appliances, cars, stereos, you name it. The trick would be to come up with a way to harness social media such that like minded people could save money buying things of common interest.

Well, lo and behold, looks like there was some serious money to be made in that idea after all:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/18/business/18sbiz.html?src=me&ref=business

The article above makes for a fascinating read.

Too bad I lacked the computer smarts or inclination to figure it all out. :rolleyes:
 
Marowana420

Marowana420

New Member
my wife's frozen-yogurt shop just finished the groupon thing yesterday!!! the discount was 50% and groupon takes 50% of what they sell. so at the end of the day you only end up with 25%, :eek:

i guess if you treat it like an advertising expense and have confidence in your product for customers to return, groupon should work for your business. at least that is what she tells me:)
 
Cirrus

Cirrus

Arowana blogger
I wonder if it is possible to move the "groupon" idea into more "niche" markets for higher end products. For example, imagine there were 5-10 of us on this forum looking to get a new car. If we could agree to all get Hondas or Acuras, just imagine the kind of discount we could get if we bought the cars in bulk.

The 50% taken by the Groupon guys seems a bit much in my opinion. I bet that within a year it will be down to 25% due to competition. I have noticed other social media group-buy/coupon marketers getting into the sector.

I predict group buys set up via social media are only beginning and are going to revolutionize our whole economy over time.
 
Cirrus

Cirrus

Arowana blogger
I notice that www.groupbuy.com and www.groupbuy.ca are registered; in the case of groupbuy.com, it looks like they are an internet startup getting ready to launch any time; I just registered with them for fun, will be interesting to see how they choose to develop their business plan.
 
Marowana420

Marowana420

New Member
yes there are alot of new companies that are similar that offers better %. i was approached by 1 named "Teampon"...lol
 
R

RTG_Gerry

Super Moderator
There was a group of guys on Dragon Den a few months ago looking to set up something similar. They were shot down because of Groupon and because the dragons thought pretty much anyone could organize sites like this. Well Groupon is being bought by Google for Billions after only 2 years in operation. Crazy.
 
Cirrus

Cirrus

Arowana blogger
Here is my guess of where this is going.

You probably already notice how Google is getting better at targeting their ads at you based on your past search histories, geographic location, and websites visited. This is only going to increase. Now Facebook is talking about going even further and targeting ads at you inside Facebook that are based on your entire profile as a person on the Facebbok site (your likes, dislikes, etc.). This goes beyond anything Google can do at the moment, and is a marketer's dream.

In buying Groupon, Google will be able to combine their ability to target ads with the Groupbuy format. Thus, rather than yogurt cones or burgers, they could move onto any items of interest to anyone. For the purposes of our hobby, it could mean Groupons targeted directly at you for fish food, light bulbs, filters, whatever. Discounts for the consumer will be provided, probably somewhere between wholesale and retail; in other words, just like in a group buy.

I see Google taking on Ebay and Amazon with this approach. Google could become a retail/distributor in its own right over time and/or deal with affiliates sellers the way that Amazon and Ebay do. The good thing for the consumer is that it will lead to lower prices.

Having been involved in organizing online group buys for five years now, I know the potential for the method to really shake up existing business models. Thus, it could be the old dilemma of what is good for the consumer versus what is good for small business; I think the trend is going to be to more Big Business (Heh, imagine if Google were to buy Cosco down the road and offer their Groupons through them! :eek: ).
 
Cirrus

Cirrus

Arowana blogger
I'd say tropical fish hobbyists in Canada have been ahead of the curve on using social media for some time now. Interesting to see Walmart waking up to the fact:

Other than competing on prices and products, Duke said Wal-Mart is focused on leveraging technology -- especially social networking -- more aggressively to drive sales.

"Social networking is much more a part of the purchasing decision," he said. "Consumers are communicating with each other on Facebook about how they spend their money and what they're buying."
Click to expand...

http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/27/news/companies/walmart_ceo_consumers_under_pressure/index.htm

The question is, what other areas of the economy can we leverage social media to drive down prices for consumer goods? Has anyone looked into buying a car(s) via social media? Home appliances? It really seems the time is right for convergence with social media and group buying. It is the only way to get prices down and consumers spending.
 
Cirrus

Cirrus

Arowana blogger
Groupon is not doing well in my opinion. Too many 2 for 1 yoga/facial/massages...all valued at initial rates that are inflated by 100% to start with...meaning a 50% discount just makes it fair priced.

So much for Groupon upending the retail world by selling Honda/BMW/Mercedes in group buys of say buy 10 get 1 *free.

Sooner or later someone will figure out a way to do it, it just doesn't look like it will be Groupon:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...price-three-weeks-after-initial-offering.html
 
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