Submitted by Melissa Wildstein on | 0 Comments
Last week I started doing the unthinkable. I clicked ‘Unsubscribe’ from Groupon. And from Living Social. And from Gilt Groupe. And from Bloomspot. And from BuyWithMe. And from JDeal (yup, there are Kosher deals to be had)! And there are others that I’ve relegated to ‘Trash’ status automatically without even bothering to Unsubscribe.
Turns out that I’m not the only one who’s gotten overly fatigued with the daily coupon. And people are questioning who’s really getting the ‘deal’ here anyway.
Surely the customers are getting a deal... These coupons allow customers to buy a product or service at often 50-70% off – but stats say that less than 60% of these coupons are ever redeemed. So, instead of someone getting a free coupon from a website or the good old ValUPak, they pay upfront for a coupon that they aren’t using. (I admit, I fall into that category. I bought a kickboxing session something in NY and then never actually signed up for the class or redeemed my certificate.) But, I'm sorry what kind of deal is that?!?
Well, with all of that money being paid upfront for coupons that aren’t necessarily redeemed, surely the merchants that participate are raking it in. But we’ve heard mixed reviews from users – some who state that it’s been the best experience ever and other who grumble that not only didn’t they gain a new customer following, but that they actually lost money.
My question isn’t really whether the coupon sites are good or bad for business or consumers, but rather whether the fact that there are so many of them out there has caused an oversaturation that renders the consumer sick and tired of seeing their inbox crammed with ‘coupons’ for the newest sushi bar or spa center down the street.
There are 167 Daily Deal sites out right now according to localdealsite.com. What do you think? Is the Daily Deal the new equivalent of the ValUPak? Is it starting to get thrown into the proverbial recycle bin too? My vote is 'yes'....
