Boosted by the recession sites such as Groupon.com are must-visit websites to search for fantastic deals. Restaurants in particular have been hard hit by the financial downturn as people prefer instead cook at home and save their money. So when Groupon first appeared restaurants, hotels and spas around the country jumped at the chance to offer reduced rates to fill their spaces.
A quick guide from BAM Outsource on how Groupon works. Groupon negotiates deals, sometimes up to 90% off, with businesses. It then sends out emails to their subscribers in a daily email which includes the daily deals. There is a minimum number of people who must buy it for the deal to be ‘on’. Depending on what the deal is, there is a set amount of time that it runs for. Once the deal closes you pay up front for whatever you have bought and then you redeem the voucher with the retailer, restaurant or hotel.
A spokesperson for the Peterborough-based outsource sales and direct marketing company said, “What we like most about Groupon is how it started. Music graduate Andrew Mason came up with the idea and he is a true entrepreneur to us at BAM Outsource. He saw a niche to offer cut-price deals when businesses were struggling, to provide great deals to the public.”
Groupon has courted its fair share of problems as well. Groupon was rapped by regulatory bodies several months ago for failing customers on refunds and businesses not honouring their deals. However this morning BAM Outsource saw that the company made a net profit for the first time as its stock grew 18 per cent in the first quarter of the year. More and more customers and merchants flocking to the site, along with a cut-back on marketing costs seems to have done the trick. Mobile application software that makes it easier to keep track of deals and buy them is also expected to be released in the coming months. The company has 36.9 million active users and worked with more than 100,000 unique merchants in the first quarter.
Does BAM Outsource believe that Groupon is here to stay? A company representative said, “You’ve only got to watch the TV to see how popular sites like this are becoming. Vouchercodes.co.uk and Wowcher are just a couple of the best known ones in the UK. As a direct sales and marketing company we have been interested to see the rise of this style of marketing. We've seen that these sites are helping local businesses as they are getting national and local exposure that they would struggle to get otherwise. Although they are offering their services at discounted rates, its much better to have a full restaurant with people paying slightly less than an empty one. We feel that this is an incredibly smart businesses move and will help local businesses during the downturn.”