Can Online Couponing Build Your Business?

Everybody loves a deal, right? With time and disposable income on the wane and social media on the rise, the US market for "daily deals" is projected to increase from $1.25 billion in 2011 to $3.93 billion in 2015 according to consulting firm BIA/Kelsey. Even though online couponing websites have flooded the social media landscape, Socially Locally founder Sammy Haggar is confident his start-up offers features local merchants won’t find anywhere else.
 
“We provide local merchants the ability to offer a daily deal to local consumers, and we’re also going into letting them provide information about upcoming events,” said Haggar, adding that charity fundraising will be a future feature on Socially Locally.

Unlike daily deal websites such as Groupon, Socially Locally doesn't require a certain number of people purchase an offer before it becomes active. Also, although a sale limit is often recommended, the timeframe for offering deals is left up to merchants.

“What you sometimes see with sites such as Groupon or LivingSocial is they’ll sell 1,000 (deals) and then the merchant is working for half price for the next six months to service all that,” Haggar warned.

In addition to social media, Socially Locally deals are promoted via e-mail and text message. Similar to most online couponing websites, the fee to use Socially Locally is based off a percentage of each sale. So there are no upfront costs for merchants to increase their social media following and put offers in front of an eager buying audience.

Haggar says businesses in service industries, such as restaurants, tend to work best for online couponing websites. Additionally, offers that cater to women are often strong sellers.

The growth trend, according to Haggar, is creating well-informed merchants who want options when it comes to offering deep discounts on their products or services.

“Merchants are pretty wise to the game – they know what they can get on multiple deal sites these days,” he added. “So our goal is not to be just another deal site. Instead, we want to be someone who helps them take advantage of these technologies and new resources.”

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Socially Locally
www.sociallylocally.com

This story, written by Tom Trush, is part of the Chamber's new monthly Business Driver email. To receive any or all of our email newsletters, click here.