If you're looking for new ways to drive customers into your store, you may want to consider Groupon Merchant. With Groupon Merchant, you don't have to be a marketing guru to run a successful online marketing strategy.
Read on to learn about how Groupon Merchant for small business owners may lead to more customers.
What is a Groupon Merchant?
Groupon is an online marketplace that offers deep discounts on locally-sold products and services. The market acts as a middleman between customers and local merchants. In exchange for getting customers to buy from local merchants, Groupon receives a commission.
Accepting Groupons is potentially an excellent way for businesses to drive new business. But increased customer traffic isn't the only benefit of Groupon. Through the Groupon Merchant platform, business owners can effortlessly setup profit-driven online marketing campaigns.
What small business owners need to know about Groupon Merchant?
Campaigns are at the heart of Groupon Merchant. Running a campaign allows you to entice new customers by improving your business' online presence. Once your Groupon page is set up, you can interact with customers, make product offerings and manage online demand.
These free tools combined with help from Groupon's support team can help bolster your brand. They also let you measure the results of your campaign so that you can better understand and forecast customer behavior. According to Groupon data, Groupon Merchant has helped businesses sell over 900 million units. And the company cites that over 80 percent of Groupon campaigns turnaround a near immediate profit.
A million local businesses already include Groupon Merchant in their online marketing strategy. If you're a new or established business, Groupon Merchant might help you put in place a more efficient marketing strategy that you use now.
How to run a Groupon campaign
Ready to run your own Groupon campaign?
1. Visit the Groupon Merchant Getting Started page. You'll be asked to supply details related to your business or campaign.
2. If your business qualifies, you can create a campaign through the Deal Builder. Or, a sales representative can work with you. If you are selected, you will complete the contract process with the sales representative.
3. Optimize your campaign to meet the unique needs of your customers better.
Before the campaign goes live, you will get an email from your dedicated Account Manager. This email will specify what your deal will look like and contain. Verify all details and images are as expected before your campaign starts.
4. Prepare your business staff for the Groupon campaign using the instructional materials Groupon sent you.
5. Redeem your customer's Groupon vouchers and track bill totals as you collect them through the Merchant Center. You can also use the Groupon app to do this.
You can contact your Account Manager before, during or after the campaign with questions. If you're concerned about limited sales inventory, have Groupon set a limit on your campaign.
What does it cost to run a campaign?
Businesses can set up a Groupon campaign with no upfront cost. Groupon will instead receive a share of the revenue when customers buy using your offer in exchange for promoting your campaign.
Is Groupon Merchant right for my small business?
Groupon has proven to be a consistent way to get customers in the door, but we have heard some complaints about the results. In particular, some small business owners have said it primarily brings in discount-seeking customers who don't convert into long-term customers. When you factor in the discount on goods and the percentage that Groupon takes, the math may not work out for your business.
Still, Groupon Merchant for small business owners has been a proven way to drive new customers to a business. The hope is that once they've experienced your business, they'll be happy to return and purchase goods or services without any discount.
Like with Yelp for small business, you can always start with limited tests. Define your budget and know what success looks like before jumping in. Then, measure your results and if the economics make sense for you, gradually increase your efforts.
We're happy to hear your thoughts and experiences using Groupon Merchant. Just let us know in the comments below.
What is Groupon's phone number?
If you ever need assistance with Groupon Merchant for small business, you can call them at: 1.888.582.4354.
You can also email support@groupon.com with any questions.
