Groupon hits London

I’ve seen casual mentions of Groupon for a while now, in a number of the blogs I read – but only the American ones. Phrases such as “I took advantage of a Groupon for a spa day today” or “I can’t believe this photographer can afford to charge such a low Groupon price” have become commonplace, and now they’re about to populate the blog posts – and conversation, no doubt – of Londoners too.

Groupon is one of those simple but brilliant Internet phenomena. A business puts up a special offer price, but that price is only honored if the set number of people commit to it. As a business owner, you can see the benefit: you can attract new custom, get your place buzzing, and perhaps deal with folk who will go on to become loyal customers. Plus, as the service has plenty of subscribers, you’re getting your name known. Being able to set a minimum number means that you can do your maths and make sure you don’t lose too much on the deal.

Starting off in the States, the Internet company has now widened its net to our capital city – and presumably, if we Brits take to it, it’ll roll out to other major cities too. It could be time to drop by and see if Groupon might work for your business.