There is an inherent problem with the “daily deals” concept. At what point does saving money on items get trumped by buying too many items that we don’t need? The lure of getting a killer deal on something is too strong for many to fight, but is it really saving if we end up buying more things that we normally would never had purchased if they weren’t on sale.
Sites like Groupon and LivingSocial will likely remain popular for at least a couple of years, but the real winners in this industry will be the niche markets. Those who can stay focused and attract a smaller but passionate following are the ones that have the highest-potential staying power. Take our friends at Mighty Deals, for example. The concept is very simple: offer web professionals a daily deals venue. It’s centered around the type of demographic that is in constant need of products, literature, and software. Unlike general sales sites like Groupon, Mighty Deals has less novelty appeal but much more practical appeal.
Another extremely interesting concept takes the group-buying component of daily deals sites and applies it to business advancement. Dealers United allows those in the automotive industry to have deals negotiated for them as if they were one of the super groups. There are corporations in the automotive industry that have hundreds of dealer rooftops under their belt and are able to negotiate with companies like AutoTrader to receive a discount by putting all of the dealerships into one pot. That’s the concept that Dealers United is focused on: giving the group buying power to individual dealerships and small dealer groups. Their first offering launches later this month as Dealers United SEO.
These deals will not be daily as they are often large-expenditures that aren’t part of the “flash sale” concept inherent with daily deals. Instead, there will be a window of a few weeks when dealers can examine the deal and decide if it’s for them. Once the deal is over, the next one will become available filling a different need for dealers.
In this graphic by GPlus, they ask the question of whether the daily deals industry as a whole has a future or if it’s simply a trend. We think it’s here to stay, just not necessarily in the form that it’s currently manifested.
Click to enlarge.
(Hat Tip: KPA SEO)
Sal,
I appreciate your blog post & inclusion of Dealers United in this post. Sweet info graphs as well!
Also, I think this is my first time visiting this blog. There’s some great stuff on here. I’ll add it to my Mashable, AllFacebook, TechCrunch, etc. daily reading list.Thanks again,-Christian Ziegler, COO of Dealers United
Here in Australia, it’s been around for quite some time and it has evolved since it started. There are a lot of possibilities for daily deals websites – all of which shall be geared towards consumer satisfaction.