Social Buying Is The Real Deal
You know the power of crowd is just beginning....yes it is. We all know that approximately 65% of all purchases occur based upon a word-of-mouth recommendation. Even more so from friends and relatives. Well, record-breaking money-makers like GroupOn and Living Social have hit it out of the ball-park all over again redefining what it means to get a lot of people recommending things to each other. Its so powerful apparently that social buying can be a danger to small businesses that don't carefully consider the parameters (limit the number of coupons, for instance) of what it means to sell 5,232 lunch specials at 50% off the $20 USD list price. Imagine running out of potatoes. No joke. This kind of thing has happened.
Social buying is powerful because generally people have stopped trusting what companies say. Let's be frank, polished and expensive advertising are carefully crafted messages that put things in the best possible light. Airbrushed words and concepts. User-generated word-of-mouth on the net takes care of any missed expectations and lets the crowd in a very democratic fashion pass judgement on the product or service. This is the power of the Internet and its inherent transparency in full-swing.
Taking advantage of a new social honesty is what makes businesses like GroupOn all the more powerful. Not only does the ethic of honesty and a guarantee of quality find itself strongly outlined in its mission statement, but these principles are supported by the heavy use of social media in its business model. GroupOn only invites companies that have already received great reviews from customers as a pre-condition to participate in their program. Their intention is that companies come pre-qualified by existing customers, in order to be worthy of the social buying experience. Using this approach, there is only a very small chance that the customer will be disappointed.
Social Buying is also powerful because viral internet communication is like word-of-mouth on growth hormone. It goes very, very fast especially for the 18 - 34 year old, university educated, single female earning over $100K a year - the key demographic for social buying. For these on-the-go, constantly social-networking ladies of influence, 50 - 90% off list price will not go unmentioned.
But most of all social buying addresses on-going challenges for increasingly busy people who demand good value and a guaranteed positive out-come to any shopping experience. Buying a heavily researched and community-endorsed coupon over the internet allows a customer to spend hard-earned dollars in confidence. Social buying allows you to do this in less time, one deal at a time (as GroupOn does, providing more focus for a better buying decision) and by way of a trusted recommendation.
Social buying has the potential to become "the real thing" that shoppers look for; if not become the dominant way people buy retail on this planet. The implications are huge. What could be more attractive than a sure bet at 50% off? A hole in one to tell all your friends about? And don't forget, this kind of mass deep discounting of well-qualified offers means that I don't have to buy the "knock-off" over the original. Rather, its something that I can talk about, the genuine article obtained at an el cheapo price because I am such a brilliant bargain hunter. The buzz will go on and on...
It's probably no accident that the most popular social buying promotions apparently are for spas, driven by motivated female bargain hunters. I am not sure what "the real thing" means when you are having a pedicure - but a $150 facial and pedicure for $75 is sure bringing them in even if it means waiting in a line-up for an hour. The waiting is certainly real - and that must make it a real deal
Social buying is powerful because generally people have stopped trusting what companies say. Let's be frank, polished and expensive advertising are carefully crafted messages that put things in the best possible light. Airbrushed words and concepts. User-generated word-of-mouth on the net takes care of any missed expectations and lets the crowd in a very democratic fashion pass judgement on the product or service. This is the power of the Internet and its inherent transparency in full-swing.
Taking advantage of a new social honesty is what makes businesses like GroupOn all the more powerful. Not only does the ethic of honesty and a guarantee of quality find itself strongly outlined in its mission statement, but these principles are supported by the heavy use of social media in its business model. GroupOn only invites companies that have already received great reviews from customers as a pre-condition to participate in their program. Their intention is that companies come pre-qualified by existing customers, in order to be worthy of the social buying experience. Using this approach, there is only a very small chance that the customer will be disappointed.
Social Buying is also powerful because viral internet communication is like word-of-mouth on growth hormone. It goes very, very fast especially for the 18 - 34 year old, university educated, single female earning over $100K a year - the key demographic for social buying. For these on-the-go, constantly social-networking ladies of influence, 50 - 90% off list price will not go unmentioned.
But most of all social buying addresses on-going challenges for increasingly busy people who demand good value and a guaranteed positive out-come to any shopping experience. Buying a heavily researched and community-endorsed coupon over the internet allows a customer to spend hard-earned dollars in confidence. Social buying allows you to do this in less time, one deal at a time (as GroupOn does, providing more focus for a better buying decision) and by way of a trusted recommendation.
Social buying has the potential to become "the real thing" that shoppers look for; if not become the dominant way people buy retail on this planet. The implications are huge. What could be more attractive than a sure bet at 50% off? A hole in one to tell all your friends about? And don't forget, this kind of mass deep discounting of well-qualified offers means that I don't have to buy the "knock-off" over the original. Rather, its something that I can talk about, the genuine article obtained at an el cheapo price because I am such a brilliant bargain hunter. The buzz will go on and on...
It's probably no accident that the most popular social buying promotions apparently are for spas, driven by motivated female bargain hunters. I am not sure what "the real thing" means when you are having a pedicure - but a $150 facial and pedicure for $75 is sure bringing them in even if it means waiting in a line-up for an hour. The waiting is certainly real - and that must make it a real deal
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