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Group-buy Sites Appeal to ‘Fun Money’ Consumers, Offer Classier Deals

Daily group-buy sites no long just offer deep discounts for the local Dennys. Now, their appeal is to consumers with expendable income – “fun money” – those who’s households average $70,000 or more, says an article at Time Moneyland.

If that’s the case two questions come to mind:

  • With folks tiring of the onslaught of daily deals for spa treatments, cheap restaurants, etc, could a better class of deals be the answer to the decline in spending and questions about the business model?
  • Would those who have more to spend even care about group vouchers and coupons?

While I won’t go so far as venture a guess about the first question just yet, apparently the answer to the second is “yes.” According to the Time article higher income families do indeed place value on coupons. In fact, 54% of households with incomes of $150,000 or more subscribe to one or more daily deal sites, compared to just 27% of households with incomes of $35K or less.

So, how are the deal sites responding? With offers designed to appeal expressly to the “rich and famous,” or at least those whose tastes are of a higher degree of sensibility. Here’s a rundown of what the three main group-buy sites have to offer:

Groupon Reserve – Launched late last year in a few select cities, Groupon Reserve offers high-end deals such as discounts on five-star restaurants.

LivingSocial Gourmet – Not to be outdone, LivingSocial has its invitation-only Gourmet program that offers patrons discounts on haute cuisine.

Gilt CityGilt City offers all types of pricey deals, including golf outings, merchandise, entertainment and more.

On top of that, all three offer exclusive travel deals to exotic locations – see here, here and here – including everything from African Safaris to Caribbean vacations to spa resort getaways.

So, that leads me back to the first question: could invitation-only, chic deals be the salvation of the group-buy industry? Doubtful. Most likley, it’s the other way around. We’ll have to depend on the bevy of lower-priced offers to make these types of deals available. Either way, for those with champagne tastes and beer budgets, it’s nice to have access to such discounts wouldn’t you say?

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1 comment
  • Voucherry.com is a nice change from the traditional daily deal site. They have daily promotions but they also have regular every day items at regular price that you can buy and a % goes back to your favorite charity and you also get a % back on every purchase you make so that now you can make money every time you purchase to help fill back up your wallet! And the more people you invite the more money you and your favorite cause makes! Its awesome!

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