In reality, the “power of the collective” means that the retailer/restaurant has a minimum buy agreement with Groupon. Invoking the “you only get the deal if you invite lots of people” yarn is just a way to reduce customer acquisition costs. I’ve certainly shared deals via Groupon, but only if I genuinely thought the person I was sharing with was extremely likely to make the purchase.

As a marketer, I’m pretty sensitive about how much consumers buy into taglines and marketing hooks, so apologies if this comment has a negative tone. Like I said, I love Groupon and have spent hundreds of dollars through them since they launched (mostly in NYC, but I just nabbed a dental exam, cleaning, and x-rays for $59 in SF). I just want to make sure people don’t spam their friends out of a misguided notion that it’s going to help them get a bargain.

For more information on how Groupon works (albeit with their corporate spin intact), http://www.grouponworks.com is a beautifully done site.
.-= Jackie Danicki´s last blog ..Bingo. =-.