Sustainable Deals Just for You!
Mar 24th, 2012 by raissac
During our last class, we had a guest speaker named, Tamara Brooks from October 17 Media. She mentioned in one of her slides about another group buying website called ethicalDeal. Based on its name, you can tell that it’s quite different from the other group buying websites like Groupon and Living Social. They have addressed the problem of customers’ hesitations of purchasing green products because of their high prices. The companies that they partner with are local (depends on which city you’re from). They offer eco-friendly products/services, ensure they meet ethicalDeal’s standards, and then use the collective buying power of their members to get exclusive discounts on the best “green stuff” each city has to offer.
I found ethicalDeal very amusing because they practice sustainable marketing communications. Their method of promoting their deals and getting the word out is through e-mail marketing, which doesn’t require any use of paper. They also communicate in their deals on how the products they are offering are eco-friendly. For example, a body care product was described as 100% natural and organic and that it’s from BC, which means that it is local and doesn’t have to deal with transportation costs (both in terms of money and to the environment).
I also read one post in one of the student blogs that he rarely buys organic products even if he wants to just because of their high prices. With us being students, we are usually on a budget. The cheaper the product, the better for us. That’s why I think ethicalDeal is doing a good job with this sustainable group buying website. They are able to attract a wider range of customers, especially with the growing trend of more sustainable customers in the community. This will definitely attract price sensitive customers, like students, who want to take part in being more sustainable, but never really could due to their high prices. However, I’ve observed that ethicalDeal doesn’t offer a lot of deals yet daily, compared to Groupon and the rest. This could be because ethicalDeal is one of the new group buying companies and it’s still adjusting and trying to capture as much customers as they can and also creating awareness among their customers as well. I do hope that this group buying site will catch on among its customers in order for other local and eco-friendly companies will sign a contract with ethicalDeal. This would be a win-win situation for both sides and they earn and money at the same time help in promoting sustainability.
An example of one of ethicalDeal’s green deals:
