Surely not another daily deal site – are we mad?

So with so many competitors, negative news and complacent consumers surrounding the daily deal concept, are we absolutely mad to think we can create our own?? www.minisocial.co.uk

Groupon went from naught to a $13 billion valuation in just one year, igniting an ambitious gold rush in the daily deal site sector. More than 900 replica sites rapidly launched worldwide, making it one of quickest growing industries we’ve seen in years. However there are more and more reports declaring that the daily deal site concept is crashing and burning, and as quick as they are appearing, they are dropping off our screens like flies.

With so many imitation sites circulating, using the same format and ‘daily deal’ method, consumers have lost the urgency to grab the deal whilst it is ‘hot’. Each site is offering similar service led deals, in geographical areas. From a consumer’s point of view, they are receiving similar deals into their inboxes daily, causing them to become complacent, and ‘junking’ them, as they know when they actually need that ‘service’, they can do a search of all the daily deal sites and find it on demand.

Additionally, the sites themselves have been making headlines & causing a negative stir, for not only misleading their consumers, but by not giving enough support to their suppliers too. In the UK, two major daily deal players have been reported to watchdog as they are inflating RRP prices to look like they have given a bigger discount. With most of these generic deal sites demanding huge discounts of at least 50% and then taking a 40% commission for themselves, for suppliers to make a profit, or even breakeven, it is unrealistic with these sorts of figures. With fudged RRP prices, these severely discounted deals are not really good deals at all.

Small service led businesses are looking to these deal sites to save them, when actually it has become apparent that they are essentially aiding in their demise, due to the fact that they can give an extra low price due to their outlay being predominantly their time, they are getting bookings by the hundreds. They then can’t keep up with the demand, as they physically can only give so much time to fulfill their bookings, this in turn is leading to refunds galore, and what was once a positive deal for the consumers, is being turned sour & the supplier loses business & their dignity.

In other negative daily deal news, a huge site is currently been investigated thoroughly, and been given 3 months to clean their act up by the OFT, mostly being down to confused returns policies.

So with so many competitors, negative news and complacent consumers surrounding the daily deal concept, are we absolutely mad to think we can create our own?? www.minisocial.co.uk

For deal sites to succeed we need to think smarter than our predecessors. We need to ride off the back of their success, but introduce a new & electrifying technique in the daily deal world. We can have the flashiest site of them all, but without making sure that all three parties (Deal Site/Consumer/Supplier) gain, we could just end up in the daily deal dustbin like so many others.

We have researched all the big players intently, handpicked all the best features, and removed the bad. We have grown a niche site that is purely focused on one demographic, parents. By removing the geographically specific subdivisions, we concentrate on providing a fully national site that allows consumers to buy & receive products within days. We offer no service led deals that you have to wait in line to ‘book in’ to, but rather tangible products with a difference, products that you won’t simply find in your local supermarket.

Our mission is to hunt down suppliers that offer innovative, forward moving, new and exciting products that we can introduce to our very specific, organically grown members. Products to make family life easier, and much more fun! Further to this, by holding the strict rule that we will only feature products that we would buy ourselves, ensuring the products fit in with seasons, national events & holidays, we hope to keep our deals fresh, enticing & extremely relevant to our consumers’ needs.

In order to make this successful for all three parties involved, negotiating deals with suppliers, and talking price points before setting the deal is live is imperative. Making sure that everyone gains is a fundamental aspect of the daily deal concept and will keep suppliers & consumers coming back for more.

We believe with proper marketing, suitable staying power, inventive products & imaginative technologies, the daily deal concept is not a dying breed. Ambitious businesses can use the same structures, but with forward thinking & a bit of imagination can catapult themselves into different levels of success by cornering the market in a daily deal different way!

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