Whether Groupon help save money is still an on-going discussion. Picking up from the ideas discussed in Paul Cubbon’s blog, indeed the deal we get from Groupon is not what we perceive it to be.
Definitely, when people hear 50-60% off deals, everyone will want to have a dip. Most of the time though, some deals brought onto Groupon simply lack the competency to fulfill this demand people were expecting when they consume similar or past products.
The way Groupon was advertised is to provide continuous deals that will eventually catch the attention of consumers. Though the concept of not achieving same utility as usual may prevent a person from taking the deal, but the perceived value of different products and services are evaluated differently from people to people, so if an introvert person were to see a deal on snowboarding, a sport for which he/she has never done, then the cost or rate for this deal will not longer by a huge factor in the person’s decision. By constantly sending updates to prescribed consumers, eventually, the consumers will spend their money here or there.
There is also the factor of whether businesses are losing money or more on our perspective, whether or not we are saving money. Successful businesses always contribute most of their profits and bonuses on margin as well as premium from their products or services. Once they lose the opportunity for that premium, say the food in a restaurant is no longer as fresh, they can still earn the profit they expected and pull it off by giving some incentive. Though for us consumers though, bottom line is we are still spending the money on products or services with not premium accounted for.