Does Groupon Have an Application in Printing?
Have you heard of Groupon? It’s a deal-of-the-day Website that is localized to major markets in the United States and Canada. The first market for Groupon was Chicago, followed soon thereafter by Boston, New York City and Toronto.
As of October 2010, Groupon serves more than 150 markets in North America and 100 markets in Europe, Asia and South America. It launched in November 2008.
The company offers one "Groupon" per day in each of the markets it serves. The Groupon works as an assurance contract using The Point’s platform: if a certain number of people sign up for the offer, then the deal becomes available to all. If the predetermined minimum is not met, no one gets the deal that day. This reduces risk for retailers, who can treat the coupons as quantity discounts as well as sales promotion tools. Groupon makes money by getting a cut of the deal from the retailers.
Usually the discount is around 50 percent and comes in the form of a gift certificate. For example, buy a $50 gift certificate for $25. Here in Chicago, there is actually more than one deal offered each day, and the company has even branched out into the suburbs.
I get an e-mail in my in-box every day telling me what the deal of the day is. There have been restaurants that are right down the street from me essentially offering a 50 percent discount. I love this idea for retail. So here is my question:
Could we use this concept in the print world? Many print shop owners, sales managers and salespeople seem to be looking for creative ideas to keep the presses running during non-peak times. So what if you used your social media tools like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIN to advertise your own “groupon” You could offer $1,000 worth of printing for $500 to new customers only, but only if 25 prospects took you up on it.
- Categories:
- Business Management - Marketing/Sales
Blogger, author, consultant, coach and all around evangelist for the graphic arts industry, Kelly sold digital printing for 15 years so she understands the challenges, frustrations and pitfalls of building a successful sales practice. Her mission is to help printers of all sizes sell more stuff. Kelly's areas of focus include sales and marketing coaching, enabling clients to find engagement strategies that work for them and mentoring the next generation of sales superstars.
Kelly graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Political Science and, among other notable accomplishments, co-founded the Windy City Rollers, a professional women's roller derby league. She is also the mother of two sets of twins under the age of ten, so she fears nothing.
