Although I have been hearing about Groupon for a long time (and hearing great things), I had never tried it. I signed up for the emails and have been watching what they have to offer on Twitter. Every now and again I would be mildly interested but never took the plunge. Today was my first time.
What is Groupon? As best as I can describe it, it is a deal site that features one local deal each day that a certain number of people must commit to before everyone gets the deal. They aren’t really “coupons” per se but more like vouchers. They have been very succesful and have been able to dominate with SEO it seems, I’ve seen them range from restaurants to oil changes to concert tickets. The deals are generally at about 50% off. It is a great way for local companies to get a lot of exposure very quickly. If a person wants the deal, they are going to tell all of their friends just so that the minimum number of Groupons are purchased for that deal. And one of the fundamental principles of marketing is urgency. By only listing the deal for one day, people feel more compelled to purchase.
I bought my first Indianapolis Groupon today for Holy Cow Cupcakes. My family tried them at Scotty’s Brewhouse a few weeks ago and we had been thinking about driving to Carmel one day to buy a dozen to try out their other flavors. I had even visited their website to check out flavors. So when I saw the Groupon, it was not only a reminder about the company but also the final push I needed to try it. The cupcakes are usually $24 a dozen but I was able to purchase a Groupon for $12. The checkout process was easy and within a few minutes I had an email allowing me to print off my Groupon. The only thing that would have made it better was if I was able to use PayPal to check out.
Have you tried Groupon yet? What was your experience? Talk amongst yourselves because I have some yummy cupcakes to go pick up!
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