It seems like a new online coupon network pops up every day. Marketers are a creative bunch, so new twists on methodology add dimensions to the nonstop competition. In this post, we look at a group of 5 of the bigger networks, followed by a short list of wannabes.
This post is the third of 5 about online coupons. You can get the previous two following these links: online coupon overview and reasons to use online coupons.
Online Coupon Giants
- Groupon. This is the 800-pound gorilla in this category. Google is reputed to have bid recently for Groupon, with a purchase price as high as 6 billion dollars, and was rejected (and is now preparing its own coupon network called ‘Google Offers’). Groupon has a powerful business model that incorporates a pricing structure that allows a business to pay only for actual sales and leverages the social networks of participants to reach new customers. Groupon has a slew of competitors headed by Living Social, but they are all far behind in this competition. We’ll be publishing a more in-depth piece on Groupon in a few days.
- Google Places. If you have one or more local businesses, chances are you have a Google Places account (if you don’t, set one up before the end of the day). In the very first screen of your Places account, Google invites you to “Attract new customers by creating an offer for your business”. These offers will display with your listing in localized search results, and they will also display on mobile devices (unless you toggle off that distribution). You will have the options to add an offer code and image if you wish. Google will even give you a preview of what the printed coupon that customers will bring into your stores will look like.
- Valpak. Valpak has been a giant direct marketing firm for a long time. Now they have an online distribution network you can access to promote your business to the geographic areas you choose (note that Valpak is not your only option in this category – a brief search will yield many coupon networks). For a local area, just visit the general contact screen and you will be sent to a form that will be submitted to a representative in your area.
- RetailMeNot. This large network has mainstream stores like Barnes and Nobel, Victoria’s Secret and Banana Republic. You can either select coupon codes (which link to the vendor’s landing page), printable coupons, or grocery coupons. A nice feature is the map display of coupon opportunities available in your neighborhood. RetailMeNot has recently added a social component to allow bargain hunters to interact directly with each other. You can use your favorite social network login, like Facebook Connect, to participate.
- Coupon Cabin. Coupon Cabin is one of 8 online coupon outlets in a group run by Network Solutions. These systems capture email addresses and send customers coupon codes for online redemption at participating vendors OR printable versions for in-person redemption. Coupon Cabin has hundreds of vendors, many of them making online offers only.
More Online Coupon Networks to Check Out
http://www.grocerycouponnetwork.com/ Printable grocery coupons very similar to the traditional coupons you get in the Sunday supplements (remember newspapers?).
http://www.godaddy.com/ecommerce/savings-network.aspx Domain and hosting giant GoDaddy also runs a proprietary online coupon network. I guess Network Solution’s coupon business attracted some attention at GoDaddy.
http://www.couponnetwork.com/ CouponNetwork.com offers printable coupons that can be personalized to feature “your favorite stores”.
http://www.theshoppingnetwork.com/ The Shopping Network is a more traditional brand name aggregator, but it offers “coupons/discounts” in the main navigation.
http://www.couponcraze.com/ Online coupons for redemption at a variety of ecommerce outlets for products from software to vacations.
Come back for our next installment, where we take a closer look at Groupon.
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Posted by GlennSilloway on February 9, 2011 |
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Tags: coupons, lead generation, Marketing Tips
