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Yawn! Deals and Location “Giants” Pair Up

posted on August 1, 2011


It feels like every time something happens in the deal space, especially something that involves Groupon, it’s important to tell our readers about it. Then when the post goes up there is literally little to no response from our readers and I honestly don’t know why. Maybe today you can help us out here at Marketing Pilgrim to figure this out.

Last week, Groupon and Foursquare joined forces. This in and of itself is not that earth shattering because Foursquare has proven itself to be a deals slut by partnering with LivingSocial, AT&T Interactive and anyone else that comes along with a deal, so to speak.

The difference here is that the godfather of deal sites, Groupon, has let Foursquare kiss its ring and is allowing the location based service provider to associate it with the don of deals.

Now, here is the question to you the readers. Why is it that when we discuss the deals space, which seems like one of the hottest spaces in the Internet marketing world considering the amount of press it garners, do you show little interest?

Is it:

  • Deals are deals are deals?
  • Enough already with the deals “news” my inbox is bulging with these online mailers?
  • It’s simply overhype?
  • My business doesn’t participate in the deals space?
  • The reality is that I can only eat so many meals at restaurants desperate for any business?
  • Something else?

Do us a favor and let us know whether you even give a rip about the deals space anymore. It would be great to get your feedback on this area of Internet marketing with regard to its newsworthiness.

After all, if it’s not a good deal for you when we write about the space then maybe we need to focus somewhere else. Deal?


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  • Brett Carneiro

    I think the deal space is over saturated. There are too many so-called “deals” and the reality is they are just not compelling enough. As someone who works in the online space and is also a customer/member of most (if not all) of the major flash and sale sites, the offers don’t make me drop what I am doing and take out my credit card.

    Also – years back when a SALE or DEAL was really ‘special’ (in the literal sense) you jumped at it because these were too infrequent and far between. With an over saturation of SALES and DEALS now – its now actual work to weed through your emails and find out which ones are worth your time and money. Having to take these extra steps; look thru all the offers each day, then research them, then compare them with other ‘deals’ online, then read tthru customer reviews etc etc.

    In addition, for non-online offers – sometimes these deals aren’t ‘local’ enough – but this sometimes depends on where you live. For instance, someone living in Battery Park (NYC) who gets an offer for a bistro on the Upper East Side, is more likely to find themsleves in a situation where they could actually take advantage of that deal (be close that restaurant) than say someone who lives in Dorchester, MA and gets a similar offer for something in downtown Boston. That person living in Dorchester may never really get into the city (downtown) and so these offers would be written off.

    Perhaps the new partnership with Foursquare will help Groupon to hone their offers a bit more. I’d like to be at a coffee shop somewhere and then get a great offer for a something only a few blocks/minutes away. So it sounds like for local non-online offers, this maybe where the Foursquare assistance will really deliver.

    The other side of this of course is that the economy is in a bad place and people are more likely to hold back a bit on extra spending. I wonder if deal sites would see more success had this concept launched during the 90′s boom?

    @BrettCarneiro

  • http://www.dailydealpool.com Nora

    I think this partnership is going to bring Groupon and Foursquare a lot of attention. It is a new method of saving money.

    A great site to use to find deals and sales in your area from any daily deal site is http://www.dailydealpool.com. They’ll sell you an email daily that includes the best discounts available, so you can get huge savings.

  • http://www.TalkisCheep.com Africa Hannibal

    I think that the deal space is oversaturated and there has been nothing really groundbreaking since. Foursquare has been trying to utilize their location based system to create deals and partner with small business for the longest but they are totally going about it wrong. There is no incentive for individuals to go back to places besides becoming a mayor of that location and when you go to look at badges on the site it doesn’t even breakdown what they mean until you achieve the goal that is backwards. Now if Groupons deals were more hyperlocal and FourSquare had a better way to monetize and promote these deals to its users it might have been a wow moment but as of now……….eh.

  • Ann Williams

    Deals, deals and Desperate Deals. But have they ENGAGED the public? After awhile a person goes cross-eyed trying to plow through the deals coming to the inbox. There is very little among them that sparkles my interest. Give me a 50% off a tank of gas, maybe, and you’ve got my attention. BUT it’s probably at a station that is 50 miles away and I spend all of my savings before I get to save it. That’s called “Going broke saving money!”

    I LOVE the gorilla yawn picture. Perfect!

    One of your best articles yet! What a DEAL!

  • http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown

    I wanted to leave a worthy comment, but I’m too apathetic to care about the space. Besides, everyone knows no-one really benefits long-term from daily deals – it’s simply building a stack-em-high-sell-em-cheap mindset. With just one hit.

    Meh.

    • http://www.frankthinking.com Frank Reed

      @Danny – You mean you don’t have enough pedicures and teeth whitening deals already lined up to have pretty feet and pearly whites for life?

      • http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown

        I was hoping for pretty teeth and pearly feet – probably why I’m so “meh”. ;-)

  • http://BizSaves.com John

    Deal sites are starting to blow up because there is a recognized noticeable demand. Consumers love saving money and these businesses are desperate enough to offer these high discounts to bring people in. However, these one time bargain-hunters aren’t enough to get repeat customers.

    Looking at a different customer base (businesses) there seems to be more potential for sustainability. Businesses have to buy products/services to perform everyday tasks as well as to grow and expand.

    Getting huge discounts on products/services that they either use daily or haven’t been able to afford previously will lead to the businesses being able to grow and expand. Also companies that offer these great deals will gain more than just the bargain hunters they can turn these buyers into long lasting valued repeat customers

  • http://www.slowtech.blogspot.com Cara dB

    I don’t play Foursquare or use Groupon in real life, and it’s not applicable to the vertical I work in. Thus, no interest.

  • http://www.leadingresults.com Dan Kraus

    As per the previous comments – deals are a good way to build your list and get people to try you out, but it isn’t a sustainable long term way to stay in business. But the previous sentence all refers to consumer business. As someone who works mostly in the B2B space, I see no value in the groupons and foursquares of the world, so to your original question, your coverage of the space is interesting, but not important to me personally.

    • http://www.frankthinking.com Frank Reed

      @Dan – Now that makes a lot of sense. Do you think there is ANY way to integrate a Groupon like approach to the B2B world?

      • http://BizSaves.com John

        I think the B2B world can support a GroupOn like company. Many companies have already entered the group buying market for businesses. The B2B world is different from the B2C world, but there is room for group buying for businesses. Like consumers businesses are always looking to save money on products/services for both things they need to grow and things they use everyday.

  • http://www.photoworkstemecula.com photo works temecula

    segment oversaturated and overrated. we have had terrible results from these types of offers.

  • http://bidrail.com adnan

    I believe that so many sites offer deals these days that people really don’t care about specific deal sites. I think it’s great that Groupon and Foursquare have merged so they can now provide on the move deals at local places where people go.

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