Loopt Tries a Groupon in Reverse
blogs.wsj.com
Loopt Tries a Groupon in Reverse
1–10 of 55 posts
Re: Loopt Tries a Groupon in Reverse
#2sounds like a good idea in theory, but the reason some businesses tend to like groupon is that it brings NEW customers in the door. it's a marketing platform and businesses know that can be expensive. 50% is a lot to pay for a customer rewards program.
Re: Loopt Tries a Groupon in Reverse
#3It sounds like blackmail. I'd be just as embarrassed using Loopt as I would be using Groupon.
Re: Loopt Tries a Groupon in Reverse
#4sounds like a good idea in theory, but the reason some businesses tend to like groupon is that it brings NEW customers in the door. it's a marketing platform and businesses know that can be expensive. 50% is a lot to pay for a customer rewards program.
our hope here is that this will bring a higher quality set of new customers in the door. word of mouth referrals tend to be pretty good. if i create a deal at a place and share it with my friends to get critical mass, that may be a better crowd that a daily deal email list.
Re: Loopt Tries a Groupon in Reverse
#5Taking the immediate gratification away from the consumer and giving it to the business, combined with surprise credit card charges, makes this pretty unappealing. At least to me, as a consumer.
Re: Loopt Tries a Groupon in Reverse
#6It sounds like blackmail. I'd be just as embarrassed using Loopt as I would be using Groupon.
I don't understand, how is it blackmail? It sounds useless to the store owner, because people basically say "I want cheaper things, give them to me", but it doesn't sound at all like blackmail.
Re: Loopt Tries a Groupon in Reverse
#7Honest question... Does anyone on HN use Loopt? I've tried it a few times over the years and it never really comes to close to making me want to continue using it.
Re: Loopt Tries a Groupon in Reverse
#8Too much time between the request and delivery. There needs to be some sort of instant gratification for this to fly, otherwise it's essentially asking users to do free market research. Profit sharing with the users should the deal come into fruition would certainly inspire them to continue populating the merchant database.
Re: Loopt Tries a Groupon in Reverse
#9While it's a theoretically cool concept, the actual implementation doesn't appeal that much to me as a consumer and I'm not sure it'll really appeal to businesses. Would I want to get $20 at a nearby pizza place for $10? Sure. But how useful is it if I have to wait an indeterminate amount of time (if ever) to get the deal? I'm likely to only suggest local businesses that I frequent a lot anyway, and how useful is it to them to offer discounts to mostly regularly paying customers?
That being said, I do think this is moving the industry in a direction for variable prices for local businesses. Imagine a real-time feedback loop where it's 4pm and you could ask your local pizza place for a discount and they could instantly reply whether they granted it or not. It's a lull before dinner and they have some pizzas from lunch they've just kept warming up, so they grant you the discount. Or actually a kids' soccer team shows up and takes over the place so they decline the discount.
This doesn't work so well with resellers (which is pretty much any restaurant), but it could definitely work with service businesses that have to pay their staff whether clients show up or not. We'll see if companies like Loopt have this vision in mind and whether they can make it possible.
Re: Loopt Tries a Groupon in Reverse
#10Good idea, but u-Deals is a dumb name.