5 ms·

While it's a theoretically cool concept, the actual implementation doesn't appeal that much to me as a consumer and I'm not sure it'll really appeal to business

by nhashem 15y ago

While it's a theoretically cool concept, the actual implementation doesn't appeal that much to me as a consumer and I'm not sure it'll really appeal to businesses. Would I want to get $20 at a nearby pizza place for $10? Sure. But how useful is it if I have to wait an indeterminate amount of time (if ever) to get the deal? I'm likely to only suggest local businesses that I frequent a lot anyway, and how useful is it to them to offer discounts to mostly regularly paying customers? That being said, I do think this is moving the industry in a direction for variable prices for local businesses. Imagine a real-time feedback loop where it's 4pm and you could ask your local pizza place for a discount and they could instantly reply whether they granted it or not. It's a lull before dinner and they have some pizzas from lunch they've just kept warming up, so they grant you the discount. Or actually a kids' soccer team shows up and takes over the place so they decline the discount. This doesn't work so well with resellers (which is pretty much any restaurant), but it could definitely work with service businesses that have to pay their staff whether clients show up or not. We'll see if companies like Loopt have this vision in mind and whether they can make it possible.

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
patio11 15y ago
A friend of mine has a company in Japan which pretty much solved this. Solution: big digital billboard in mall which aggregates tweets from mall merchants. If nobody is getting their hair cut, they tweet "$5 off for next person at Cheap Cuts" from cell phone. Merchants/mall apparently think it is a gift from God.
- yaix 15y ago
  Simple and useful. Good idea.
- stcredzero 15y ago
  Solution: big digital billboard in mall which aggregates tweets from mall merchants. A virtual billboard in the form of a smartphone app might be preferable in different kinds of public spaces. It might also be a good adjunct to the digital billboard.
  - thwarted 15y ago
    If twitter added geo-location specific streaming search results, they'd have this.
  - rmc 15y ago
    A virtual billboard in the form of a smartphone app might be preferable in different kinds of public spaces. (Potential) customers need to (a) know about the app and (b) care enough to install it and (c) care enough to check it at the right time. However a big physical billboard has none of these problems. Potential customers are much more likely to see your message.
seanos 15y ago
This is a much better idea. Instead of daily deals, realtime deals. Let the business offer a limited time deal (30mins, 1hr, or until they cancel). For example, an empty restaurant or bar could post a 50% discount for customers placing orders in the next 30 mins - not only giving their staff something to do but a busier restaurant/bar gives social proof attracting further customers later once the deal expires. Would also allow them to better manage the people taking advantage of the deal, by monitoring the response rates and adjusting the discount or ending the deal as they see fit. The scarcity factor of a deal that could end at any moment might also be especially attractive to customers. Loopt would be well positioned to do this, because the customers who would want to take advantage of a real time deal would be those currently in the vicinity of the business (to avoid travelling to a deal only to find it has ended) and I believe they have that data.
- gojomo 15y ago
  Groupon is headed this way with GrouponNow: "Introducing Groupon Now: Real-time deals that attract customers exactly when you need them." http://www.groupon.com/merchants/welcome http://www.groupon.com/merchants/welcome
  - seanos 15y ago
    Interesting. Still, the realtime location data Loopt have would make this much more effective. People might not want to travel to a realtime deal running somewhere in their city, in case it ends before they arrive. But if the deal is running at a bar next door or on the street they are walking along then that problem is eliminated.
    - dodo53 15y ago
      How about combine this with book-in-advance? So say you get $20 of pizza for $10, coupon website actually runs the payment system - takes payment of $10 in advance, and then you show up to get your deal. Then limited-capacity places could do realtime deals available to limited number of people to reach but not exceed their capacity, and bargain-hunters would be sure they'd get their deal and not show up somewhere that just became full.
rdl 15y ago
There was an Internet cafe chain in Europe and NYC, run by Stelios (the EasyJet guy), called EasyEverything, back around 1999-2001. They did dynamic pricing inside the webcafe, based on occupancy. This kind of feedback through pricing, through some kind of tech channel, maybe with location based service, would be awesome.
reedcat 15y ago
I think Groupon is already doing something like this. Check out their "Now Deals" http://www.groupon.com/now http://www.groupon.com/now
dusklight 15y ago
How's this. I want to buy a new graphics card. It retails for $200. I offer to buy it for $150, the store makes a smaller margin but still profits. You might not wait a long time to get a pizza but would be willing to wait a few days to see if you can get the new cellphone or laptop at a cheaper price?
- seanos 15y ago
  Still suffers from the problem that in order to obtain the discount, a bunch of other people would have to request the discount on the graphics card in those few days. That's unlikely so I probably wouldn't bother asking for the discount (in turn, everyone else is thinking the same, which makes it even less likely).
sliverstorm 15y ago
If there was enough activity, it could be fun. Imagine for example: "Lunch today within 5 miles of X, for $8.75" You could get a lot of variety in your lunches, and if you get tired of the food offered at $8.75, bump the number up or down to get different offers!
salman89 15y ago
Two ways to pivot with this that I can think of: 1) Flash sale deals - short term sales at businesses. 2) Better monitoring of demand so that prices can be intelligently adjusted. More like market research for businesses trying to figure out what the best price point is.
joe_the_user 15y ago
I have a weekly gamer meeting that always orders a pizza. We could easily put in a deal offer of this sort. This might not be everyone but I think a lot of folks have a routine they could leverage for a pizza deal.
bugsy 15y ago
> ask your local pizza place for a discount and they could instantly reply whether they granted it or not Sure, that's haggling, it's done pretty much everywhere in the world and throughout all of history. Where it hasn't worked is with franchises staffed by dummies working out of a handbook as it's considered too risky if one lets staff have such control over prices in case they grant their friends discounts. WalMart allows their staff to set prices though and it works there. They don't haggle though. It would be pretty nice to see haggling implemented in modern strip mall sorts of places.

by nhashem 15y ago

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

patio11 15y ago

A friend of mine has a company in Japan which pretty much solved this. Solution: big digital billboard in mall which aggregates tweets from mall merchants. If nobody is getting their hair cut, they tweet "$5 off for next person at Cheap Cuts" from cell phone. Merchants/mall apparently think it is a gift from God.

yaix 15y ago
Simple and useful. Good idea.
stcredzero 15y ago
Solution: big digital billboard in mall which aggregates tweets from mall merchants. A virtual billboard in the form of a smartphone app might be preferable in different kinds of public spaces. It might also be a good adjunct to the digital billboard.
- thwarted 15y ago
  If twitter added geo-location specific streaming search results, they'd have this.
- rmc 15y ago
  A virtual billboard in the form of a smartphone app might be preferable in different kinds of public spaces. (Potential) customers need to (a) know about the app and (b) care enough to install it and (c) care enough to check it at the right time. However a big physical billboard has none of these problems. Potential customers are much more likely to see your message.

seanos 15y ago

This is a much better idea. Instead of daily deals, realtime deals. Let the business offer a limited time deal (30mins, 1hr, or until they cancel). For example, an empty restaurant or bar could post a 50% discount for customers placing orders in the next 30 mins - not only giving their staff something to do but a busier restaurant/bar gives social proof attracting further customers later once the deal expires. Would also allow them to better manage the people taking advantage of the deal, by monitoring the response rates and adjusting the discount or ending the deal as they see fit. The scarcity factor of a deal that could end at any moment might also be especially attractive to customers. Loopt would be well positioned to do this, because the customers who would want to take advantage of a real time deal would be those currently in the vicinity of the business (to avoid travelling to a deal only to find it has ended) and I believe they have that data.

gojomo 15y ago
Groupon is headed this way with GrouponNow: "Introducing Groupon Now: Real-time deals that attract customers exactly when you need them." http://www.groupon.com/merchants/welcome http://www.groupon.com/merchants/welcome
- seanos 15y ago
  Interesting. Still, the realtime location data Loopt have would make this much more effective. People might not want to travel to a realtime deal running somewhere in their city, in case it ends before they arrive. But if the deal is running at a bar next door or on the street they are walking along then that problem is eliminated.
  - dodo53 15y ago
    How about combine this with book-in-advance? So say you get $20 of pizza for $10, coupon website actually runs the payment system - takes payment of $10 in advance, and then you show up to get your deal. Then limited-capacity places could do realtime deals available to limited number of people to reach but not exceed their capacity, and bargain-hunters would be sure they'd get their deal and not show up somewhere that just became full.

rdl 15y ago

There was an Internet cafe chain in Europe and NYC, run by Stelios (the EasyJet guy), called EasyEverything, back around 1999-2001. They did dynamic pricing inside the webcafe, based on occupancy. This kind of feedback through pricing, through some kind of tech channel, maybe with location based service, would be awesome.

reedcat 15y ago

I think Groupon is already doing something like this. Check out their "Now Deals" http://www.groupon.com/now http://www.groupon.com/now

dusklight 15y ago

How's this. I want to buy a new graphics card. It retails for $200. I offer to buy it for $150, the store makes a smaller margin but still profits. You might not wait a long time to get a pizza but would be willing to wait a few days to see if you can get the new cellphone or laptop at a cheaper price?

seanos 15y ago
Still suffers from the problem that in order to obtain the discount, a bunch of other people would have to request the discount on the graphics card in those few days. That's unlikely so I probably wouldn't bother asking for the discount (in turn, everyone else is thinking the same, which makes it even less likely).

sliverstorm 15y ago

If there was enough activity, it could be fun. Imagine for example: "Lunch today within 5 miles of X, for $8.75" You could get a lot of variety in your lunches, and if you get tired of the food offered at $8.75, bump the number up or down to get different offers!

salman89 15y ago

Two ways to pivot with this that I can think of: 1) Flash sale deals - short term sales at businesses. 2) Better monitoring of demand so that prices can be intelligently adjusted. More like market research for businesses trying to figure out what the best price point is.

joe_the_user 15y ago

I have a weekly gamer meeting that always orders a pizza. We could easily put in a deal offer of this sort. This might not be everyone but I think a lot of folks have a routine they could leverage for a pizza deal.

bugsy 15y ago

> ask your local pizza place for a discount and they could instantly reply whether they granted it or not Sure, that's haggling, it's done pretty much everywhere in the world and throughout all of history. Where it hasn't worked is with franchises staffed by dummies working out of a handbook as it's considered too risky if one lets staff have such control over prices in case they grant their friends discounts. WalMart allows their staff to set prices though and it works there. They don't haggle though. It would be pretty nice to see haggling implemented in modern strip mall sorts of places.