The way the world is going, all efforts of shopping will eventually move completely into the world of e-commerce. Fortunately for Groupon, they have already stepped into this world. More recently, they have launched their newest 2.0 version, providing a more customized experience for the user, and a hopeful outlook for retailers.
As Groupon continued to promote discounted offers to users, many businesses were finding that they were losing out on the deal. Small businesses found there was no room for them in the Groupon club and felt neglected. So right upfront, Groupon was gaining negativity to their services. However, now with their 2.0 version retailers may see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Groupon seems to have realized that in order to continue to gain retailers and offer more deals they needed to figure out a way to make it more profitable for their partnerships. Now eliminating the middleman for deals, Groupon will only gain a 10% commission on all sales as opposed to the 50% they previously acquired. Although initially it seems they will be losing profit on deals they offer, what they lose upfront will hopefully be gained back in the long run. The idea behind this is to hopefully gain a wider range of retailers, and be able to gain a larger amount and better variety of deals.
In addition to their attempt to make good on business relations, Groupon may have taken a few tips from social media big wigs, Facebook and Twitter. Two new features Groupon presented in their 2.0 version were Groupon Stores and Deals Feed.
The Groupon Stores allows retailers to claim their store and create their own deal completely customized to their liking and what their customers want. Businesses can now also set up their own deal and submit it to Groupon, as well as have customers follow their particular stores (Twitter style) to perform better customer retention management.
The Deals Feed somewhat mirrors Facebook’s newsfeed, allowing users to view ongoing deals and locations that are specific to their interests and needs. Users can follow individualized deals and merchants, while also being provided with local daily deals, merchants they are currently following and those they are suggested to follow.
These two new features make the service even more user-friendly as the growth of Groupon continues. With even more businesses and deals being offered every day, the opportunity for users to customize their experience makes it easier for more businesses to be featured, increase their user engagement and target their customers.
