My response & prediction peHUB � Depressing Thoughts About Groupon’s Model

peHUB � Depressing Thoughts About Groupon’s Model

my response and prediction:

I would tend to agree with you Jeff, but as I eluded to in some of my previous private tweets at @GarethWong, the Groupon model sadly unsustainable.

Although I just tried Groupon (a major sized canvas print for price of a small canvas) and lately Keynoir in UK (more upmarket & exclusive products, they argue), essentially it helps raise awareness and potential reach but not necessary the B2C brands' normal target audience..

Real sustainable Acid test (for long term ecommerce solution/upstart) is whether it would change consumer habit and continuously provide value (like ebay+paypal, alibaba for b2b or linkedin for directors of B2B firms networking etc.) .. there is only limited number of lobster or steak meals or 50% of suits.. but the retailers will start getting wise to the fact that the clientèle will not return as the price point to convert them just is not sustainable (unless it is part of a conglomerate operating a 'basket' approach of supermarkets)...

Biggest challenge for the whole dot.com or tech-crunch world is this, the REAL percentage of consumers that 'transact' and pay is sadly still not the majority (unlike myself, for majority of the joe blogg public, they still do not buy everything they need online... )

When we see the reports from broadsheets and investment banks like morgan stanley start talking about % of internet people that buy things, rather than % of population are on broadband, that is when the real sustainable business arrive in our 'joe blogg's world and we will then have some proper conversation about brands or services that WILL last..

Groupon I sadly say will not be around in its present form (just to be controversial) in 5years time... and I am not a betting man.