Five reasons to go with the crowd (the advantages and drawbacks involved in online group buying and offering discounts to consumers in retailing)

Citation

Manning, J. (2011), "Five reasons to go with the crowd (the advantages and drawbacks involved in online group buying and offering discounts to consumers in retailing)", Strategic Direction, Vol. 27 No. 9. https://doi.org/10.1108/sd.2011.05627iaa.010

Five reasons to go with the crowd (the advantages and drawbacks involved in online group buying and offering discounts to consumers in retailing)

Article Type: Abstracts From: Strategic Direction, Volume 27, Issue 9

Manning J.The Marketer, May 2011, Start page: 42, No of pages: 2

Discusses the advantages and drawbacks involved in online group buying and offering discounts to consumers in retailing. Considers whether or not the resulting brand exposure is worth the price discount trade-off. Sets out and briefly discusses five reasons for retailers and brand owners to adopt this marketing strategy, namely: the Groupon phenomenon, where group-buying Web sites such as Groupon and LivingSocial have harnessing the power of collective buying to offer consumers daily deals delivered to their inbox on products and services ranging from discount dinners to cheap laser hair removal; group dynamics, where group-buying sites have been successful due to group dynamics of people having a strong desire for social contact; local deals, where these Web sites can exploit the huge potential audiences, and buyers rushing to snap up the offers, to provide a great marketing opportunity for partner businesses and local, service-based businesses such as spas and restaurants; alternative models, where there is potential for national businesses and retailers even though local deals dominate on group-buying sites; and relevance, where the soaring popularity of group-buying sites, is tempered by some challenges ahead arising from the e-mail driven nature of the industry.Article type: ViewpointISSN: 0954-1543Reference: 40AK691

Keywords: Brand management, Discount stores, Discounts, Electronic commerce, Marketing models, Marketing planning, Marketing strategy, Organizations, Retail trade, Shopping, Strategic marketing, United Kingdom