Google tried to buy Groupon for 6 billion dollars, but it was turned down by them, apparently they had a bigger strategy and bigger vision for their business. Google is launching their own discount coupon business-like which it will also include Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader, Google Buzz and e-mail sharing options. This type of business attracts millions of people and will keep doing, so expect for this to become a trend in society if it isn't so already.
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| A new competitive fight! |
While Groupon does bring small businesses customers; they would have never had as well as the much greater opportunity for a repeat customer. Those customers will always be expecting a deal moving forward. As Facebook adds more functionality and simplifies things for small businesses, their value grows exponentially because they have the strong social bond already in place and much more personal data about the interests of the consumer. Google in my eyes is the winner today. They give a local business owner the most targeted customer. The customer who has intent to search for an immediate solution to their problem. Consumers with an issue they want to fix are very motivated to purchase.
I completely agrre with you Helmuth. Google is the winner. Groupon already has a pretty big head start, but that doesn’t matter when you are competing with Google. They have the resources and the ability to scale at a much faster rate. Luckily for Google, they already have millions of people using their Gmail service, what if Google implemented its Offers service into Gmail. Immediately every Gmail user would have access to the latest deals right from their inbox. This would be the best way to teach people about Offers. Google has a lot of options to create a killer daily deals service. They have all the parts, it is just a matter of putting them together.
ReplyDeleteI too think Goolge Offers is something to keep an eye on. Because Google is already integrated into so people's lives and they already have a robust advertising platform, they will surely grab quite a bit of the daily-deal market share.
ReplyDeleteBesides Google Offers, Yipit--a daily-deals aggregator--reports that there are over 400 direct competitors to Groupon. Clearly there is a lot of activity in this developing market niche. While most of the 400 competitors are small, Facebook is in the process of offering its own social coupon service called Facebook Deals.
In the long-run, I think Google Offers and Facebook Deals will be the market leaders. Especially considering that Groupon needs to purchase its advertising from Facebook and Google. Nothing like giving your competitor money to help compete against you!