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> I stopped using groupon because of the near-universal resentment I felt from the employees of the stores selling the groupons. Clearly, these businesses weren

by nadams 11y ago

> I stopped using groupon because of the near-universal resentment I felt from the employees of the stores selling the groupons. Clearly, these businesses weren't getting the value they thought they would get I think that's just a misunderstanding on the stores part. A groupon is just another form of advertising (which costs money) - but businesses believe that by offering groupons they will come out ahead. I've personally gone to places I wouldn't have normally because of groupon and usually spent extra.

wpietri 11y ago
If it is a common misunderstanding on the stores' part, I think it's Groupon's job to manage that. If an organization is set up to sell the product to the wrong customers, that organization should fix their sales process. But I suspect it's a correct understanding on the part of the employees. When I talked with servers at restaurants, their experience was that the average Groupon customer was demanding, cheap, and a bad tipper. And they were also unlikely to come back, meaning there wasn't a lot of incentive to invest in a relationship.
ryan90 11y ago
The business typically only makes 25% of what they would have. A restaurant cannot survive on that margin. And most Grouponers are bottom-feeders. Just looking for a deal. They're also the most likely to be vocal on Yelp (there was a study somewhere showing how Grouponers/Living Social people were more likely to leave bad reviews). Groupon's salespeople are so high-pressure and portray an overly optimistic view of what a struggling small business should expect. Speaking from personal interactions from several business owners who have tried daily deals here. Sure, a business needs to calculate it's ROI, but I think Groupon 1) oversells the value of 'getting their name out there' through their deals and 2) doesn't explain how bad their customers are.

by nadams 11y ago

wpietri 11y ago

If it is a common misunderstanding on the stores' part, I think it's Groupon's job to manage that. If an organization is set up to sell the product to the wrong customers, that organization should fix their sales process. But I suspect it's a correct understanding on the part of the employees. When I talked with servers at restaurants, their experience was that the average Groupon customer was demanding, cheap, and a bad tipper. And they were also unlikely to come back, meaning there wasn't a lot of incentive to invest in a relationship.

ryan90 11y ago

The business typically only makes 25% of what they would have. A restaurant cannot survive on that margin. And most Grouponers are bottom-feeders. Just looking for a deal. They're also the most likely to be vocal on Yelp (there was a study somewhere showing how Grouponers/Living Social people were more likely to leave bad reviews). Groupon's salespeople are so high-pressure and portray an overly optimistic view of what a struggling small business should expect. Speaking from personal interactions from several business owners who have tried daily deals here. Sure, a business needs to calculate it's ROI, but I think Groupon 1) oversells the value of 'getting their name out there' through their deals and 2) doesn't explain how bad their customers are.