GROUPON

Does anyone out there have experience using GROUPON in the beauty industry?

Any tips would be very much appreciated.

Pia

Nails By Pia

07825 414819

www.nailsbypia.co.uk

I have heard a few horror stories but they were all down to the individuals using the service. They all put out fantastic offers but no limitations, as a result they were swamped for the next few months with work that didnt produce any profits. So check the small print and dont forget to limit your offers to what you can (a) cope with and (b) bare to make little or no profit on

The second problem that gets reported is that clients dont come back to the seller gets little opportunity to get any money back from the offer. Again this is down to the sellers (a) not providing a reason for them to come back (b) not collecting contact details so they can continue to market to them after their initial visit.

If you plan it well, it should work well. If you dont plan it well it could be a huge problem for you.

Speak to Suraj Sodha! 

Groupon can be very effective if there is a purpose to the promotion - upselling, membership, etc.

However, you get very little from the promotion itself. Best for filling empty slots, etc.

Like all offer sites it's what you put into it that counts. The really important part is to retain your customer and get them back. Maybe run a loyalty scheme, a point system for each treatment and then points = whatever you want. 

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No personal experience, but I have spoken to a massage therapist who was pleased with the results of her offer. Conversely, there are plenty of horror stories around too.

As others say, the key is to use it to build your customer base - asking clients to book their next appointment, sign up to mailing list etc.

I have also heard only bad things - it creates traffic and footflow but not much profit.

There are other forms of marketing that will be much more profitable.

Yeah, I think like some others have mentioned, manage what you can output. Collecting and intro-ing new members is fine but if it is time consuming services like mine and you are on your tod or low staff levelled for instance you could spend the next 3 mths fighting a back log of low / no profit work, and as people all want it now as they have paid some get a bit cheesed that they have to wait.

Read the print!! 

We've had quite a few offers for hair and beauty salons on Groupon Gloucestershire.  The view of some of the better salons in Cheltenham (one of which is a client of mine) is it devalues the sector and they won't touch it as it will devalue their hard won brand reputations.
For you, depends where you are in your business lifecycle and whether customer acqusition is a key objective.  As several have said above you need to ensure you retain your Groupon customers otherwise it becomes a capacity filling, exhausting, low profit exercise!

Hi Pia

I have bought from Groupon a few times and have been really happy with everything.   I went to a restaurant on a Tuesday evening and every table was full, I doubt it would have been half full without the deal on.

Obviously for you it is a great way of getting initial business in the offering a money off voucher or something to get the customer back a second time.  It may not make you a big profit initially, however with repeat business it could be really profitable.  There is another company similar called Wahanda and they seem to do more beauty deals so they may be worth taking a look at also.

Good luck!

Hi Pia,

I agree with most of what has been said above so tread with caution! My key points would be:

1. Think about the type of people you would be attracting.  Will they all be bargain hunters that will only return if you run an offer?

2. I'm unsure what Groupons current payment plan is but Living Social offer 50% after 30 days, 30% after 3 months and 20% after 6 months.  If there is high demand that's enough to dent anyones cash flow!

3. Can your business afford to be booked out with people that your are servicing at a loss/cost?

For more details see this blog post:

http://www.adaptiveconsultancy.com/blog/are-social-buying-sites-like-groupon-hurting-businesses-in-the-long-run

Groupon works for the consumer when the offer is compelling or no brainer and they were thinking about it.  This means generally you have to discount hard.

However for a client who runs a golf club she had 1400 plus take up for a two ball round.  That took up alot of spare capacity.

So the lessons are, give a good offer, limit it to slow times or service offers with immediate at visit upsell, limit access to peak times and make sure that if it is successful you are ready for the volume.

Hi Pia

Me again!  I just bought a Groupon voucher for a very expensive hairdresser in Enfield.  For the haircut, colour (yes it's dyed!) and treatment it will be £52, if I paid the usual price this would cost me between £125 - £150.  

I will be in the salon for 2- 2.5 hours so they won't make much money on this, but I'm sure they will give me a great service in the hope I will return.  Will I return and spend £150 every 6 weeks to have my hair done, doubt it (unless all you lovely 4ners give me all your job vacancies to work on!!?), however I could if something sensational happens in the salon - watch out for a new profile picture if it does!

However, having used your services on a few occassions, not only are you good, but you do not charge silly prices so repeat business should happen, especially if you keep these customers constantly updated with special deals and remind them of your presence.

My friend recently bought Brazilian hair treatment from Groupon for a small Enfield based salon, she is a regular customer now, even though her usual hairdresser is a family friend, so it does work.

Worth a try anyway!

Got to agree with Gareth on this one, Suraj Sodha is the man to speak to, see here: http://www.incredibleinternetmarketing.com/affiliate-marketing/groupon-marketing-strategy-reveale/

Starting to find that most of the Groupon offers for electrical goods and physical products are nothing but rip offs.

To get to claim that they have reduced their prices by 50% they have simply inflated their prices by 50% first. If you do a search on Google for most of the products you will find that their 50% off offer just brings them in line with everyone elses prices.