subject: The Success of Social Buying for Super Savings [print this page] The Success of Social Buying for Super Savings
Has this ever happened to you: You've got some extra spending money and you decide to go out shopping for some nice clothes, shoes, or home accessories. You're joyful to discover that some of the things you were looking for are 10% or 20% off, so you come home with enormous bags full of "savings".
Then you turn on the TV as you're sorting through your purchases, and here comes a commercial from the store you were JUST AT touting a special 50-60% off everything store-wide sale for the upcoming weekend. "Really??" is the thought running through your mind. If only you had just waited
Well nowadays, with such websites as Groupon.com and LivingSocial.com, savings can be found in advance and you don't have to kick yourself for missing a deal. We've become huge fans of these sites, and so have millions of other people who subscribe to their daily newsletters.
How does it work? Well, when you subscribe to these daily newsletters, you are emailed special deals for businesses who choose to participate with the discount provider (whether it be Groupon, LivingSocial, BuyWithMe, etc). More often than not, you will see outstanding deals of up to 50% off, and most have an expiration date of up to a year.
These specials are not just for in-store shopping. You can get great deals on food, entertainment, activities such as tours, hot air balloon rides, land sailing, rock climbing, skydiving, etc. Even spas offer discounts on hairstyles, massages, and beauty treatments. These newsletters are a great way to find out about products or services that you would might not otherwise knew existed.
However, the catch is that there is a "tipping point" and a deadline a certain number of people must purchase the deal within a specific time period in order for the deal to be "on". If you attempt to purchase a deal that has not met its tipping point, your credit card will not be charged and the deal will be off. However, with the millions of subscribers these sites have, these deals rarely have trouble reaching their tipping point. LivingSocial also has a bonus deal where if three of your friends purchase the same deal as you, you will get yours for free.
When you subscribe to the newsletters, you are also asked which city you would like to receive local deals for. We recommend that if you know you are traveling to another city within the next year, sign up for a newsletter for that city as well. You never know if you will get a chance to get an architectural tour of Chicago or a Hollywood tour of LA for half of the original ticket price. And even if you don't get a chance to use the deals, you can always give them away as gifts.
The success of social shopping at a local level is beginning to give way to nationwide deals as well. Recently, Gap teamed up with Groupon to offer Groupon's first nationwide discount $50 worth of clothes and apparel for only $25. Timed perfectly for back-to-school shopping and being too good of a deal to pass up, this offer actually crashed Groupon's servers, sometimes selling as much as 10 Groupons per second. Social media networks added fuel to the sales, with people tweeting or sharing the Gap deal with their friends on Twitter, Facebook, Digg, and more. In the end, the campaign grossed $11 million for Gap, and people who purchased this deal made out with huge savings as well.
Whether you are a consumer or a retailer, social savings websites are an effective way of either saving money or making money. It's definitely worth a look into!
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