These days, treating ourselves to something nice is more important than ever. Most dismiss the opportunity or the desire, to protect their wallet. Gratefully there is a cool way to afford those extra things and even necessities in everyday life! Companies such as Groupon, feature discounted gift certificates usable at local and national companies. With “deals” on everything from haircuts, house cleaning services, oil changes and car detailing, clothing, nail services, restaurants, and even adventure packages; there is a deal to fit everyones interests. There are certain businesses to which Groupon will not offer its services, including shooting ranges, abortion clinics and strip clubs.
There are multiple types of Groupons! All available at Groupon.com
Daily Deals
Daily, clients receive an email with deals that are available at a discount ranging from average 50%-80% off regular price, sometimes even more! Those deals are available for purchase, for a limited time. Most are 1 day specials - some available up to 4 days (depending on the companies deal with Groupon). If a certain number of people “buy” the offer, only then the deal becomes available to all; if the pre set minimum is not met, no one gets the deal that day. Daily deals are purchased, and then can be used only the next day until the expiration date (there will sometimes be predetermined expiration dates listed in the deal fine print, some deals have no expiration). It is very important to read the fine print because there are sometimes limitations on how many of that deal may be purchased by one household, expiration dates, and other facts VERY important to look at before purchase. After purchase, a voucher is provided by Groupon, which the user prints out and later on presents to the company/organization that “gives” the deal.
Now Deals
Daily Deals are for future use, only after the day of purchase - Now Deals however, are for use only the day of purchase at the time listed. Now deals are not emailed daily, instead the user must go to the Groupon website or phone app and input a nearby location to view what is available discounted that day in the area. There is a very large range of services and companies that are available for the daily deal. Groupon categorizes the Now Deals by posing an opening thought “i want to..” and then provides groups of deals titled “eat something”, “get pampered” “eat a treat” “get drinks” “have fun” “go shopping” just to name a few. User selects what they are interested in, and are then is given all the deals in that category available that day in the specified location. When viewing a specific deal, there are specified time frames when the deal is “redeemable”, so only in that time frame may the user use the deal purchased. To use the deal, all that is necessary is purchase, and then to either bring a hard copy of the voucher, or if the user has access to the Groupon app - they can just present their voucher via phone! After purchase, if the user changes their mind and does not go during the time frame to redeem the deal, they just don’t get charged for it, and it’s as if it never happened.
Getaways
Groupon Getaways are partnered with Expedia, and provide users with discounted vacation options. International and local - getaways are usually at a 50% deal. As always, depending on the deal, different specials are included in every deal. Some include a massage/relaxation package, others gondola rides, others a trek into the Peru mountains. Getaway deals are available for purchase for a longer time, usually a couple days to a week.
How Groupon profits
Groupon makes money by keeping approximately half the money the customer pays for the coupon. So, for example, a $60 haircut could be purchased by the consumer for $30 and then Groupon and the retailer would split the $30. So the salon would receive $15 from Groupon, for the valued $60 haircut.
Competitors
In January 2011, reports surfaced that Google was planning to launch a competing product, called Google Offers, follwing its failure to purchase Groupon for $6 billion. In April 2011, Facebook began testing social-buying (Groupon-like) program. This move by Facebook was speculated to be a competitive threat to Groupon. Living Social is a company very similar to Groupon and is considered one of the biggest competitors.
Lingo
Groupon's promotional text for the “deals” has been seen as a contributing factor to the popularity of the site, featuring creative and captivating descriptions. Bits of humor, can always be observed. One Groupon deal introduction - “Studies show that the human body produces adrenaline in response to high speeds, physical threats, and getting called on-stage on The Price is Right. Experience the next-best thrill with today's Groupon: for $19, you get one 15-minute kart-racing session, license, and head sock at PGP Motorsports Park in Kent (a $38 total value).” Always something different!
Using Groupons can be very beneficial to people willing to do a little digging.
According to Tatyana's article, I feel that it is really easy to understand what she want to explain for her audiences. She uses several clear examples which are easy to know. I also think this article cover a wide range but not out of topic in a good way.
ReplyDeleteHowever, when I read this introduction, I couldn't understand what this author going to say until I read the body paragraph. In my opinion, this article dose not looks like wikipedia text format. On the other hand, it seems like a magazine or news article for me. The whole article is focusing on the purpose and effect of what this company do for this society. Therefore, I think this format is more like a news or journal.
In addition, I suggest that wirte about how this company establish and who is their leader, etc. History and leader a company for me is important to know when we are going to introduce a institution or company. Also, can write about their perspective about this society. In other word, why the chose this way to do.
In general to say, I still think this is really good article to read, but I really expect to know more about this company. Moreover, if this author can provide some pictures of Groupon. That will be more credible information for audiences.
The opening paragraph of this blog is powerful and well written. I was able to know with in the first couple of sentences, with out looking at the title, what the topic of the context is. The organization of sentences and complex words used make the first paragraph intriguing and easy to read.
ReplyDeleteWhile I was reading the second paragraph though, I became confused on how the process of "buying" Groupons work. I suggest maybe being more thorough on the explanation of how this process works. My question I have is, do we purchase the Groupon and then use it?
Another suggestion I may add is going from talking about the Groupon process then immediately to talking about google and their idea and then back to Groupon. By doing this, I became confused because the ideas went back and forth. Instead of having a paragraph containing information about a possible competitive company against Groupon, maybe there could be a paragraph about how Groupon started. For example, who created it, how long has it existed, etc.
Overall, I understand the context and organization of the information provided but for readers, I think it would be easier to comprehend how Groupon works if there was a more thorough explanation. An example of this might be a step by step process of how Groupon sells to companies.
In conclusion, this blog is very well written but needs a clearer explanation of the entire process of how Groupon works. Awesome job though! I love Groupons!
Tatyana,
ReplyDeleteYour piece is well written and engaging to your audience from the beginning. However, I feel as if you text is lacking depth. Considering the class conversation we had regarding layering your text, could you provide more information to execute your goal? For example, the questions I have for you are: Why is it important for us to treat ourselves? If the businesses that use groupon only get 15-25% of the retail price, why is it beneficial for them to partner with groupon? Can you provide an example of what promotional text groupon uses in order to support your statement? How/why does groupon use this text?
I think it is great that you are focusing on groupon, however your title suggests that you may be addressing a more broad topic. If it is your intention to focus solely on groupon, I would encourage you to consider changing the topic. If your intention is to recognize coupons in general, I would encourage you to add more content about other coupon companies such as living social. You briefly mention living social, but I am unclear as to how this supports your text. It seems to be added as an afterthought. Consider this: what if your reader has never heard of groupon OR living social? How does adding one sentence about living social supplement or detract from your wirting?
In general, I think this is a great piece, but could be more successfully executed by adding more supplemental information.
From: Rebecca Slotta
Serena (I don't know why it uses my last name)
ReplyDeleteFrom the first paragraph, I found your information well organized and very direct. I couldn’t tell exactly what this article was about when I read the title, but it still gave me a small hint to keep me interested. It was easy to realize who your audience was, and you told them what they wanted to hear. Although, I do agree that your description of how Groupon works poses a few questions. Your use of an example clarified any confusion I had about how it works.
I worked at Old Navy, and Groupon left our store destroyed after two weeks of dealing with people coming in with their coupons. From this experience, I would suggest mentioning that although stores don’t make as much profit, it helps bring in a different crowd and keeps them coming back.
I found your text to contain a bias, while still informing. An example was when you wrote, “Gratefully there is a cool way to afford those extra things and even necessities in everyday life!” I thought this sentence could have been worded a little bit differently, to just mention Groupon’s extremely uncommon deals. This sentence is supporting the use of Groupon, instead of making a statement.
After reading many different articles, I noticed that a few are more appealing to the eye by titling sections. In your case, I don’t find it necessary because the first sentences of each paragraph let your readers know what you’re going to talk about.
The only thing I would suggest adding in would be more background info on the creation in general. Other than that great job!
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ReplyDeleteI liked this article. It's very easy to understand and probably because the sentences are short and simple. It is also very informative. If I didn't know anything about Groupon and what it offers, this article would most certainly explained it all. And I am sure this information would be useful to a lot of people since the economy is in such a bad shape; everyone is trying to save some money wheverever they can. There is not very many things I would change on this article. Maybe I would capitalize the name of the article, but other than that everything looks great. It is well organized and the content is very useful. Great job!
ReplyDelete