In response to Logan Graham`s blog Marry Me, Groupon about how Groupon can create profit for a business as a response to his previous blog about how Groupon has the ability to harm a business, I am proposing the question of what variable decides if Groupon profits or harms a business.
Logan came to the conclusion that “low variable costs and an intangible good“ are most likely to lead to the best success with Groupon, but I do not believe this to be the case. I believe that for Groupon to be successful is that the business must be in a popular industry with lots of substitutes present so that the coupon for that business attracts customers to that specific business.
Also, the promotion through the coupon has to be a good deal or else customers will not bother to use the coupon and the business will loose money.
I do agree that the product or good must be an intangible good as if it is not useful to the general population; customers will not be searching Groupon for promotions on that good.
So, business owners need to examine the market of their product before making a decision to use Groupon or not.