Group Buying Melissa de The Daily Deal Phenomenon Check my Social Media blog: melissadeandrade.com

What is a Daily Deal website? Sales tactic that uses collective buying power to offer limited time discounts that are valid only once a certain number of vouchers are sold Voucher Price | Discount | How many bought | Time left | Rules | ** The more customers engage their friends, the more benefits they get (including free vouchers or even more reduced prices) melissadeandrade.com

INDUSTRY Oversaturated The daily deal aggregator Yipit now sifts through 30,000 deals a month from some 650+ daily deal sites Group buying is a strong business But... MERCHANTS Not always profitable 56% of businesses made money from daily deal promotions, while the rest either lost money (27%) or broke even (18%) CUSTOMERS May be suffering from daily deal overkill, Groupon remorse or daily deal regret melissadeandrade.com

If group buying is oversaturated, how to differentiate? melissadeandrade.com

Personalization is the key! melissadeandrade.com

Focused on small, good brands for moms -$150 million in revenue expected this year -4 million members and 40,000 units sold from 700 different items a day melissadeandrade.com

Focused on deals for men - Bring relevant deals to subscribers - Bring audience that’s relevant to merchants melissadeandrade.com

What about the merchant? melissadeandrade.com

Not Always Profitable for Merchants 75% off deal on a dozen cupcakes Expected a few hundred orders 8,500 people took the deal They lost thousands of dollars Each sale meant a $4.50 loss They had to pay $19,000 for extra staff and shipping charges for the 102,000 cupcakes. melissadeandrade.com

If group buying is not for every business, how should one know ? melissadeandrade.com

Group buying brings:  Big advertising boost  Increase visibility  Exposure to many new customers  A way to test a new product or service  Extra inventory can be moved quickly. Some hints to consider Group buying can be part of your marketing strategy but it should not be ALL your marketing strategy melissadeandrade.com

Enhancing Groupon experience for the merchant ChallengesRecommendations Groupon does not build loyalty Build loyalty yourself! - Build a unique experience for Groupon people - Use social! Motivate them to follow you on Twitter or like you on Facebook for further promotions - Use social! Ensure they provide positive feedback on social media tools. Group buying is a tremendous opportunity for positive ratings Groupon buyers are bargain shoppers Offer you own discounts! - Have an additional product with special price for Groupon people - Offer 50% off to bring in someone new (who will pay either full price or a slightly reduced price) Groupon does not make financial sense Evaluate and negotiate! - Think: Is Groupon for your business? - If so, use marketing budget to invest in group buying - Push daily deal services to accept a smaller cut of voucher sales - Shorten the redemption period, so that the business can plan carefully for the rush of new customers - Offer loyalty programs via text message, , Twitter, Facebook melissadeandrade.com

Voucher Price | Discount | How many bought | Time left | Rules Promote Deals yourself! melissadeandrade.com

References Group Buying White Paper - Harvard Business Schools buying-white-paper buying-white-paper Considering Offering a Groupon? Read This First. nsidering-offering-groupon-read-first Group Buying: Key To Your Business's Social Media Strategy nsidering-offering-groupon-read-first ball/group-buying-is-key-to-yo_b_ html ball/group-buying-is-key-to-yo_b_ html Beyond Groupon: Daily Deals Evolve, New Competitors Emerge upon-daily-deals_n_ html upon-daily-deals_n_ html Group Buying Versus Traditional Lead Generation ball/group-buying-versus-tradi_b_ html ball/group-buying-versus-tradi_b_ html Retail Software: Your Groupon Advisor ail-software-your-groupon-advisor / ail-software-your-groupon-advisor / Pros and cons going Groupon jorgensen/379110/pros-and-cons-going-groupon jorgensen/379110/pros-and-cons-going-groupon Groupon: winner or goat 68/groupon-winner-or-goat Google Offers vs Groupon vs Facebook Deals 68/groupon-winner-or-goat media/google-offers-vs-groupon-vs-facebook- deals/ Will Groupon really boost your local business groupon-really-boost-your-local-business/ groupon-really-boost-your-local-business/ Group buying local business local-business local-business How daily deals are losing their allure for business and consumers alike daily-deals-are-losing-their-allure-for-businesses- and-consumers-alike daily-deals-are-losing-their-allure-for-businesses- and-consumers-alike melissadeandrade.com