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< Back to listGroupon or Groupoff?
Jason Nisse
Do you Groupon? Lots of people do. The online phenomenon which uses the power of collective buying to get good deals – securing discounts of up to 90% for volume purchases generated by lots of subscribers signing up for an offer – has grown like topsy. Despite only being founded two years ago in Chicago, it’s now supposedly valued at $25 billion. Of course everyone thinks this is a bubble waiting to burst. And cynics think that Groupon has grown too fast and is a walking lawsuit waiting to happen.
Groupon UK is certainly having teething problems. Having been introduced to it by my wife – who’s managed to purchase a diverse range of things from a hairdo to an archery course through Groupon – I have singularly failed to buy anything successfully. One time my payment was refused. The next time an offer was not honoured. The third time I missed a deadline to claim an offer. Offers are regularly sold out within a couple of hours of going up on the site. The problem is that it’s just too damn popular. But you have to wonder how it can be a big phenomenon when 1000 people going for one offer means the deal is no longer available.
From a communications point of view, Groupon needs to get a grip quite quickly. Sites like eBay and YouTube have had their fair share of scare stories, but have now built an infrastructure to deal with them. Groupon needs be able to deal with the angry customers, because in this age of Twitter, Facebook and the like an angry customer can get quite vocal on social media.
If they don’t sort out customer service and communications quickly, Groupon will be Groupoff before you can say “bubble”.
Posted by Jason Nisse
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