Hot Deal Sites – Are They Helping Promote Businesses or Diluting Brands? | Branding YOU Better!

Hot Deal Sites – Are They Helping Promote Businesses or Diluting Brands?

By Susan February 6, 2011 Blog, marketing No Comments

Let’s face facts, everybody likes a discount!
When we see the word SALE! we lean in or walk toward the sign. In the last few years with the economy struggling and stores downsizing or going out of business, what has helped some stores keep going? Having a sale of course, buy one, get one free, etc…

I respect certain brands, when it comes to cosmetics, clothing, shoes, even the food or paper products in the supermarket, I’m going to continue to buy the brands I favor, but when they’re having a sale, I’m really in.

However, in the last few years internet shops have opened up like Groupon that look for the hot deals for us and not just for products, but services also. They’ll email you or you can get alerts via Facebook and/or Twitter. The question is, would I buy something that’s a hot deal just because, and try it out, or am I still going to look for the deals that are from the brands I know and respect?

In a recent discussion about creating the right business model to be successful, one woman said that she buys deals via Groupon and other deal sites, and the boxes keep coming, then she sends back what she doesn’t care for. This is obviously someone who’s well off, and will try things on. Others may be more rigid and look for specific types of things. One woman had been approached to create a deal for her products, and for a small business entrepreneur this could be great exposure. So, is the brand the public now trusts “Groupon?”

I must admit a few months ago I received an email from Staples with a one day deal on a wide screen computer monitor, the price was right, but the product brand I wasn’t familiar with. But if Staples was recommending it and I trusted them, it was good enough for me and I bought it. And I love it.

The key to success for any business is to have assorted products and services that fit different budgets. So whether you post one product or service on Groupon and another type elsewhere, it’s worth a try.