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The article says that Groupon has inspired hundreds of clones... Why do you think some of them (LivingSocial) have taken off and others have been lost in the du

by BadiPod 16y ago

The article says that Groupon has inspired hundreds of clones... Why do you think some of them (LivingSocial) have taken off and others have been lost in the dust?

il 16y ago
It's all about how good they are at marketing and sales. I can't speak for everyone but LivingSocial is very good at optimizing their landing pages, builds great PPC campaigns and has a very strong affiliate program.
InfinityX0 16y ago
Brand name. If Wasabi has taught us anything, it's that brand name is the only thing that matters for a company.
- Mistone 16y ago
  Is that referring to Brand name deals or building a company brand? I'm guessing the latter. But even groupon is just becoming a recognizable brand. They are #1 but the dust has yet to settle. I would say thier abity to drive demand to a deal is the main reason they are so strong.
- shashashasha 16y ago
  And that it's Wesabe makes that point even more :)
melvinram 16y ago
Purely anecdotal self-examination: I've bought stuff off LivingSocial and it was because they had deals that were really fun (ex. white water rafting.) I got a number of my friends to also buy so we could all go together. I bought other things from afterwards... particularly if they were fun or social, such as skydiving. In examining my experience, I see a few factors at play: * Sell what people want to buy. * Connecting with an audience that will buy repeatedly. * Incentives to spread the deals. The activity may be social in nature (such as white water rafting) or they might have a financial incentive (get 5 people to buy and yours is free.) I'm not sure if the other knockoff's had these elements but I could see how they helped LivingSocial earn at least $1000 from me and my friends in the last year.
netcan 16y ago
The second part is (I think) relatively easy: Some startups fail regardless of the basic idea. Start 100 Amazons in 1995 and at least a certain number will fail. The first part (why are some succeeding?) is an interesting one. I'll venture a couple: (a) This business not a natural monopoly to the same extent as many online businesses. Groupon have (I think) one offer at a time. If you're in the mood for groupon, why not check in on five, see what they have today? They could of course have lots of deals but that'd be doing things differently. (b) Groupon is about localization at the city level. Their are still more cities than Groupon can take. Being the best dealoftheday site for Newcastle is an achievable goal. Maybe this is a subset of the former.
qeorge 16y ago
Living Social is the only one I've seen that has the offer volume of Groupon (always a good offer, every day). I think that's the key. I've done some modest research here, and it seems like the surest sign that one is going to die is when the deals start being every other day, than once every few days, etc. I've yet to see one recover from this downward spiral.

by BadiPod 16y ago

The article says that Groupon has inspired hundreds of clones... Why do you think some of them (LivingSocial) have taken off and others have been lost in the dust?

il 16y ago

It's all about how good they are at marketing and sales. I can't speak for everyone but LivingSocial is very good at optimizing their landing pages, builds great PPC campaigns and has a very strong affiliate program.

InfinityX0 16y ago

Brand name. If Wasabi has taught us anything, it's that brand name is the only thing that matters for a company.

Mistone 16y ago
Is that referring to Brand name deals or building a company brand? I'm guessing the latter. But even groupon is just becoming a recognizable brand. They are #1 but the dust has yet to settle. I would say thier abity to drive demand to a deal is the main reason they are so strong.
shashashasha 16y ago
And that it's Wesabe makes that point even more :)

melvinram 16y ago

Purely anecdotal self-examination: I've bought stuff off LivingSocial and it was because they had deals that were really fun (ex. white water rafting.) I got a number of my friends to also buy so we could all go together. I bought other things from afterwards... particularly if they were fun or social, such as skydiving. In examining my experience, I see a few factors at play: * Sell what people want to buy. * Connecting with an audience that will buy repeatedly. * Incentives to spread the deals. The activity may be social in nature (such as white water rafting) or they might have a financial incentive (get 5 people to buy and yours is free.) I'm not sure if the other knockoff's had these elements but I could see how they helped LivingSocial earn at least $1000 from me and my friends in the last year.

netcan 16y ago

The second part is (I think) relatively easy: Some startups fail regardless of the basic idea. Start 100 Amazons in 1995 and at least a certain number will fail. The first part (why are some succeeding?) is an interesting one. I'll venture a couple: (a) This business not a natural monopoly to the same extent as many online businesses. Groupon have (I think) one offer at a time. If you're in the mood for groupon, why not check in on five, see what they have today? They could of course have lots of deals but that'd be doing things differently. (b) Groupon is about localization at the city level. Their are still more cities than Groupon can take. Being the best dealoftheday site for Newcastle is an achievable goal. Maybe this is a subset of the former.

qeorge 16y ago

Living Social is the only one I've seen that has the offer volume of Groupon (always a good offer, every day). I think that's the key. I've done some modest research here, and it seems like the surest sign that one is going to die is when the deals start being every other day, than once every few days, etc. I've yet to see one recover from this downward spiral.