????團(tuán)購網(wǎng)站最近幾個月過得不大順心,。兩年前,，社交定位網(wǎng)站FourSquare和團(tuán)購網(wǎng)站Groupon這樣的公司還籍籍無名，如今基本上已成了家喻戶曉的品牌。隨著關(guān)注而來的,，還有猛烈的批評：Groupon頗具創(chuàng)造新的會計方法大受攻擊,，一些消費者和小商戶也表達(dá)了不滿,，認(rèn)為團(tuán)購服務(wù)并沒有吹噓的那么好。事實證明，要在各方利益之間取得平衡——給商戶省錢,，讓消費者得實惠,，服務(wù)提供商也得有可持續(xù)的商業(yè)模式——是一個相當(dāng)復(fù)雜的問題,。然而,，規(guī)模較小的SCVNGR公司卻認(rèn)為，它已經(jīng)找到了答案,。
????這家位于馬薩諸塞州劍橋市的公司正在積極推廣其新產(chǎn)品LevelUp，增加用戶基礎(chǔ),。該產(chǎn)品對團(tuán)購模式作了一些調(diào)整，用戶在某個商家消費的越多，所獲得的積分和獎勵也就越多,。其首席執(zhí)行官賽斯?普瑞巴什稱，該產(chǎn)品已經(jīng)準(zhǔn)備好迎來更大發(fā)展。經(jīng)過一個夏季的測試，LevelUp已經(jīng)在波士頓和費城與約500家商戶進(jìn)行過合作。如今,，這家網(wǎng)站進(jìn)入了紐約市和舊金山,，這里是消息靈通,、喜愛折扣優(yōu)惠的用戶的圣地,。
????這項服務(wù)的理念很簡單：用戶免費注冊后,，將一張信用卡或借記卡與賬戶掛鉤,。隨后,，用戶在合作商家購物時，可以掃描具有特定代碼的智能手機,。用戶首次使用該服務(wù)就可以獲得優(yōu)惠,，比如說10美元的折扣。這比其他團(tuán)購網(wǎng)站有什么改進(jìn)呢,？用戶如果再次回到同一商家消費的話,，獲得的積分就會更多，而且在這一過程中可以查閱積分狀況,。這樣做的目的很明確，就是讓用戶成為回頭客。對Groupon,、FourSquare用戶及相關(guān)商家來說,，這是個習(xí)慣性的大問題。
????這家公司稱，這種模式是“逆向優(yōu)惠”和“動態(tài)進(jìn)展”,。它很大程度上是為了讓商家滿意。普瑞巴什稱,，LevelUp測試期間，45%的用戶在30天內(nèi)會再次回到特定商家進(jìn)行消費,，并支付全價,，這一數(shù)字遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)高于他對競爭對手的估計,。（普瑞巴什聲稱,，Groupon帶來的回頭客比例只有1-2%,。由于Groupon正處于上市前的靜默期，因此拒絕就此發(fā)表評論,。）SCVNGR還表示,，更重要的是,，這些回頭客后來提高了消費額，增幅高達(dá)38%，超出贏得獎勵所要求的額度,。該公司還稱，其用戶平均給服務(wù)員21%的小費,，略高于15-18%的普通水平,。LevelUp認(rèn)為，自己已經(jīng)解決了Groupon合作商家經(jīng)常抱怨的問題，即用戶買了一次折扣商品之后,，就永遠(yuǎn)不再光顧了,。
????LevelUp計劃第一步在紐約市50個地點開展服務(wù),，在其進(jìn)行試點的城市,，目前已有約250個地點配備了Android手機,，以接受交易,。與Groupon或Foursquare相比,，這一規(guī)模還小得很，這兩家團(tuán)購巨頭都進(jìn)行了狂飆突進(jìn)式的擴張,。不過,，它們也面臨著嚴(yán)重的挑戰(zhàn),。Groupon創(chuàng)始人兼首席執(zhí)行官安德魯?梅森最近寫給員工的一份備忘錄遭到泄秘。他在文件中稱,，公司的巨額營銷開支是為了吸引用戶,，然后“將這些注冊用戶轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)轭櫩停⒋_保顧客不斷從我們這里購物,?！笨墒牵@一點說起來容易做起來難,。不少報道指出,，Groupon的1.15億注冊用戶中，許多人只是不斷追逐一個又一個新的優(yōu)惠,，根本沒有什么忠誠度可言,。
????另一方面，F(xiàn)ourSquare面臨的問題在于：本地廣告主和用戶熱情不再,。數(shù)據(jù)顯示基于“簽到”的服務(wù)總體上來說受歡迎度已經(jīng)下降,。根據(jù)投資公司Blair & Co.的一份報告，去年5月至11月期間,，在由FourSquare和Gowalla領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的這一市場,，每天使用所謂基于地理位置社交服務(wù)的用戶下降了一半。這種趨勢迫使Gowalla轉(zhuǎn)向其他業(yè)務(wù),，而FourSquare也深受威脅,。后者的產(chǎn)品總監(jiān)亞歷克斯?雷諾特承認(rèn)，該公司正在尋找新的互動形式,，嘗試超越實體店內(nèi)簽到的模式,，進(jìn)而提供照片、評論和“探索”（向用戶建議可去的地點）功能,。
????普瑞巴什和他的SCVNGR/LevelUp聯(lián)合團(tuán)隊認(rèn)為,，他們已經(jīng)找到了留住用戶的解決方案。SCVNGR是FourSquare的競爭對手,，它與可口可樂,、青少年服飾品牌Forever 21和游戲零售商Gamestop等都有合作關(guān)系。它提供的一些社交機制可以讓用戶通過挑戰(zhàn)或其他游戲元素來獲得獎勵,。比如說在唐恩都樂（Dunkin' Donuts）營銷活動期間,，獎勵就包括該店的一杯免費咖啡。普瑞巴什認(rèn)為,，LevelUp是SCVNGR在交易領(lǐng)域的天然姐妹項目。
????LevelUp的開局并不順利,。普瑞巴什承認(rèn),，公司經(jīng)歷了二次發(fā)布的過程才弄清楚了癥結(jié),。該服務(wù)最初的運作方式與Groupon的折扣模式頗為相似。但是商家并不喜歡,，他們認(rèn)為不斷提供折扣會影響其品牌形象,。“它給人們造成一種印象——合作品牌似乎正在走下坡路,，”普瑞巴什說,。“我們推出原版服務(wù)后,，這種效應(yīng)顯而易見,。正因為此，我們又創(chuàng)造了逆向優(yōu)惠概念,?！边@種概念的基礎(chǔ)是顧客通過參與獲得獎勵和積分，而不是大打折扣,，避免了折扣模式帶來的問題,。
????然而，有些人并不買賬,。游戲平臺服務(wù)商BunchBall的創(chuàng)始人拉賈特?帕哈里亞的批評相當(dāng)直率,。“我認(rèn)為修改之后再重新上線這回事說明SCVNGR是個失敗的公司,，”帕哈里亞稱,，“我不明白它們?yōu)楹我Q(mào)然進(jìn)入團(tuán)購領(lǐng)域?！憋@然,，LevelUp并不認(rèn)同這種觀點。SCVNGR自稱其9月份營收超過了去年前6個月的總和如果該公司能繼續(xù)保持LevelUp用戶每周消費兩次的習(xí)慣,，普瑞巴什或許是正確的,。他放言：“給我們6到9個月，屆時請見識一下我們兩項服務(wù)相互促進(jìn)的效果,?！?/p>
????譯者：小宇 |
|
|
????Daily deals firms have had a rough few months. Barely known two years ago, companies like FourSquare and Groupon are now practically household names. With the attention has come a barrage of criticism: Groupon's creative accounting came under fire amid a backlash from some consumers and small businesses that claim the services aren't all they're cracked up to be. Indeed, getting the right mix -- savings for merchant, rewards for consumer, and a sustainable business model for providers – has proved complicated. Smaller rival SCVNGR thinks it's found the answer.
????The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company is expanding access to its new product LevelUp, a twist on the daily deals scheme that offers credits and rewards the more users spend at a given merchant. CEO Seth Priebatsch says the product is ready for prime time. Today, after a summer testing phase with some 500 merchants in Boston and Philadelphia, LevelUp hits New York City and San Francisco –meccas of connected, deal-savvy users.
????The concept is simple: users sign up for free, linking a credit or debit card to their account. Then, when shopping at participating merchants, they can scan a smart phone with a unique code. Users get credit the first time they use it, say a $10 discount toward their purchase. The improvement over other daily deals? Going back to the same store repeatedly earns users' even more credits, displaying progress along the way. The incentive is clear, to keep users coming back -- a habitual problem that has had Groupon and FourSquare users and merchant crying foul.
????The company calls this its "inverted deal" and progression dynamic. It's largely aimed at keeping merchants happy. Priebatch says that, during LevelUp's pilot program, 45% of customers returned to a given merchant within 30 days to pay for something full price, higher than his estimates for rival services (Priebatch claims Groupon, which is in its quiet period and declined to comment, only brings back 1% to 2%). What's more, the company claims that users increase their spend by 38% on the transactions that put them over the top for earning a reward. The company also boasts that its average consumer tips waiters 21%, slightly above the normal range of about 15-18%. LevelUp thinks it's solved the common complaint of Groupon merchants that users buy one discounted product and walk away for good.
????LevelUp is set to hit 50 locations in New York initially; there are about 250 locations equipped with the Android phones to accept purchases in its pilot cities right now. That's still a small foray when compared to the scale of Groupon or Foursquare, both of which have aggressively expanded. But, those firms face serious challenges. Andrew Mason, Groupon's founder and CEO, wrote employees in a recently leaked memo that its heavy marketing expenses were to gain users, then "convert these subscribers into customers and to make sure our customers keep buying from us." That, however, is easier said than done, as reports now suggest many of Groupon's 115 million subscribers follow deal to deal, without building any merchant loyalty.
????FourSquare, on the other hand, faces difficulties with local advertisers and numbers that suggest check-in based services have lost overall popularity. From May to November last year, when Foursquare and Gowalla led the market, the number of people using a so-called geosocial service on a daily basis dropped in half, according to a William Blair & Co. Report. That drop drove Gowalla into a different business and threatens Foursquare. Tatcompany's product chief, Alex Rainert, admitted the company is looking to new forms of engagement in an attempt to go beyond the physical in-store check-in to offer photos, comments, and "Explore" to suggest locations to its users.
????Priebatsch and his joint SCVNGR/LevelUp team think they've already found the solution to engaging users. SCVNGR, a FourSquare rival that works with brands such as Coke (KO), Forever 21 and Gamestop (GME), offers mechanics in the social space, through challenges and other game elements that can unlock rewards such as a free coffee in a Dunkin' Donuts (DNKN) campaign. Priebatsch sees LevelUp as its natural sister project in the transactional space.
????LevelUp had a rough start. Priebatsch admits the company needed a relaunch to figure it out. The product's first iteration operated closer to the Groupon discount model. Merchants didn't like the effect constant discounting had on their brand. "It created the perception that the brand might be flagging," Priebatsch says. "Once we launched it, that became apparent. That's why we created the inverted deal concept." This concept, based on participation incentives and credit, not a discount, could avoid the discounting issue.
????Some aren't buying it. RajatPaharia, founder of game mechanics platform provider BunchBall, is vocal. "[A new launch] indicates to me that SCVNGR is just a flop," Paharia says. "Jumping into that daily deal space, I don't get it." Clearly, LevelUp disagrees. If the company, which says SCVNGR revenue was greater for September than the first six months of last year combined, can keep LevelUp users at their twice a week clip, Priebatsch might be right. "Give us six to nine months, and just see how the two interplay," he dares. |
