Groupon: How does it work

Groupon is a daily deals site and by singing up with your mail ID you can receive your localized daily deal everyday. Every deal goes live but you cannot claim your deal until there is the required number of deals that have been claimed. so if too few deals are claimed by users the whole deal is off and no one gets it. So once the deal tips and there are enough people who have claimed the deals all you need to do is to pay for your daily deal, get your electronic voucher on your mobile device and present it at the business to get your deal. Groupon has also tied up with foursqure to offer instant deals. So you can now find all your daily Groupon deals on foursquare.


Started in the US Groupon has since grown in international markets. The way this happened is that there were already a lot of Groupon clones coming up in markets internationally and Groupon just went out and started buying these clones and Groupon is now available in large parts of Europe and Asia. An exampl of this would be that Groupon bought up daily deals site in India known as Sosasta meaning so cheap and through their infrastructure now have a presence in India. In fact Groupon has a large presence in Asia through all the clones they have bought up.


So how does it work
1. you signup by visiting www.groupon.com. If you an international customer you will need to find the groupon site near you.
2. Choose your city
3. Enter your mail address
4. If you find a deal you like you can claim it by clicking on the link
5. Enter your billing information. You will not be charged unless enough people join for the deal to activate.                                                
6. You will be sent your Groupon which you can print and use like cash


There are also Groupon gift certificates which are good for any future purchase. Using the idea of collective buying power Groupon can get you deals with sometimes 90% off. This is of course done with the power of numbers and the logic is that businesses will benefit if many more people are using their services or buying their stuff. There is also a way to earn money on Groupon, whenever you refer a friend you get $10 Groupon bucks and this can be used as real cash. You need to singup for the refer a friend and get your personal referral link. You can share the same with your friends across Twitter and Facebook and if they join you get your reward. It's all about numbers and the more there are the better the deals become.


Businesses can get in touch with Groupon to offer deals and does not cost them a thing since groupon does all the advertising stuff and businesses can concentrate on what they do best. Once a deal goes live a business will immediately  receive a check and a list of customers who have singed-up for the deal. This list can be used to tick-off all the customers who have claimed their deals. Works as a win win for everyone involved. 

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Sociolatte