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The business case against Groupon

So, upon closer examination, Groupon is not the deal that I thought it was. I read an article about restaurants having bad experiences with Groupon and thought that it was bad business on their part; they gave away too much to the digital coupon clippers. Up until a few weeks ago, I thought Groupon would be a great way to bring in new business and then convert them into repeat customers once they were there.

But then I took a flight training orientation through Groupon and the instructor/owner said that he regretted getting involved with them. The people that showed up were not interested in taking expensive flight training, they, like me, just wanted to fly around the region for a half hour and go home. This scenario wasn’t making them any money and not generating quality leads.

Then today I saw this article which describes Groupon’s business model as predatory. See for yourself:

and here’s another one from Posie’s cafe in Portland Oregon:

and this one examines Posie’s experience in a larger context:

I am re-evaluating my support for Groupon and will advise my clients accordingly.