As I was browsing through my Google reader this morning, I stumbled upon a blog post about the newly launched SLoupon. Even without clicking on the link, I’m already weary of the concept. I jokingly told my friends that the name reminds me of SLop Soup (aka pig’s soup). To date, I’ve only redeemed two Groupon purchases irl, both were for restaurant items. Anyway, SLoupon is NOTHING like the RL Groupon at all – which requires NO monthly subscription fee for shoppers. The appeal of Groupon is to buy something worth more, for a fraction of the cost.
With SLoupon, it seems like the only company benefiting, is SLoupon itself.
As a merchant:
You have to split profits with SLoupon
You’re selling at a discount
As a shopper:
You have to pay $350L month to join
You’re buying an item in a random color decided by the merchant
As a shopper, I refuse to pay a monthly fee to have the pleasure of giving designers my money!
Being a part of SLoupon, the first and only Group Discount System in Second Life, means being a part of SL history. <— Sorry SLoupon, that already happened years ago.
Read more about the site here and some merchant info here. It doesn’t seem that beneficial to me, cos most discount items are sold at $50L-$100L already, so with the price of $350L monthly, I expect to have items given to me (like My SecondBox) or buy several items from any of the sales/discount deals events without paying a monthly fee!
Do you think SL consumers will embrace this ‘concept’ ? I’m not generally a fan of paid subscriptions in SL, especially if I have to pay to join, and then pay to buy the items too!
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Yes, that’s not going to get very far. You pay a group joiner fee in SL to receive free items already. If you are paying 350L each month, then you need to recoup that monthly members fee plus more to make it worth the while–otherwise you could just buy the item in store. As for taking a split of the profits, it’s really more of a marketing tool I suppose and I feel sorry for newer merchants who may fall into this trap–because it’s really unlikely that this will be popular.
SLoupon should have a one time only fee if it really wants members to join. Otherwise, it should just be free and it should only split profits. This may work out for store owners as well as a marketing tool if they sell rare or discontinued items only on SLoupon, then release new items. After all, that’s kind of what events are for–so SLoupon marketing would follow the same concept I think. However, you’re right it doesn’t profitable for store owners unless they sell a lot through SLoupon by advertising limited quantity or rare items for a certain period of time, and even then, they are splitting it with SLoupon.
I also don’t see how SLoupon plans to gain traffic. The most successful online Second Life store is obviously the marketplace. I think of sites where store owners tried to integrate selling items from a website, such as Armidi’s old website–and those wore out rather quickly. People on SL will probably only buy things while on the viewer or from the marketplace. I doubt that they would remember to go to SLoupon unless it has some very savvy marketing strategies.
Sounds like a scam on their part. Charge for group and make designers split their profits to the founder? No thank you.
Only time I ever like paid subscription things is if there is enough freebies… and even then, 250L$ is my max.. only if the items are worth more. A paid groupon is not worth it, they should be getting enough profits anyways…
I totally agree. I read the notecard about SLoupon a few days ago and deleted it immediately. It´s not tempting at all.
As a designer I am more weary of this event given that I was spammed approximately 6 times with the same notecard for this event. When organisers are resorting to that it tends to get my guard up about their other practices.
This sounds like a pretty desperate way to make money for the owners on this thing..
As a merchant, I wouldn’t want to participate in this, cuz I don’t think it will attract that many customers to be honest. I’d rather set up free gifts (wich I do alot) and that would give me more advertising than this.
I don’t think most people are dumb enough to fall for this idea.
We already have a slew of ways to purchase specialty items from designers for discounts – such as Collabor88, 50L Fridays, the multitude of hunts and fairs, etc – that we don’t have to pay for in order to take part in.
It’s a disadvantage to both merchants and shoppers to take part in this, and I hope any decent designer would recognize this and not be that desperate for recognition to join. And I hope shoppers are smarter about their L$ than to give it away on a monthly basis to an unproven and useless system like SLoupon.
Am I the only one who thinks it’s weird that they don’t inform in the merchant info how many % of the sales they take? Doesn’t sound very serious..
I am all for this idea. I was also given a notecard and as it seemed a very interesting business model. And yes I was explained the entire idea and process, including the % Alexxandra.
SL marketplace sells items right on the website. SLoupon does not and as I have been explained by SLoupon, they are hoping to drive traffic to the stores in SL, unlike MP where you can buy right on the website. To that I say AWESOME! I think the fact that SLers have to GO to the stores to buy the SLoupon discounts is terrific. I want the traffic because once they come to my store for the SLoupon items, they are there, they might buy other items from my store, some that may not me on SLoupon. Plus I get a little extra traffic. Win Win as I see it!
As far as the $L350 monthly subscription, are you really going to tell me that paying $1.30 USD a month to save A LOT more that that on the SLoupon deals is an issue? I mean REALLY? Or are you just looking to say something negative about SLoupon to put yourself out there. This whole mentality of “free”, it’s so wrong. If that were the one and only case, then Gizza and Anshe Chung wouldn’t be making a lot of money and for that matter, there would BE no businesses in SL!
After I joined the SLoupon website, I was quickly able to see some really great deals from the likes of Gizza, EVOLVE, MEB, 1Hundred, X-Clusives (who is offering a 90% discount) and many more. Looking at the other available discounts, as of today anyways, I can already see that after purchasing just a few items from SLoupon stores, I will get my $L350 back on one or two purchases. And if Gizza is going to offer new discounts every month through SLoupon, then my monthly $L350 will easily be recovered! lol
I am a merchant and I will definitely be getting into this once I get my designs all completed. I know the owners are both extremely well known in SL and have been very successful with their past events. Mankind Tracer is the most well known rock star in SL and working with him on his other businesses has proven very successful but I also enjoyed very much working with him. He is a very smart business man and a VERY nice man to boot, and I trust him and Kalli completely. She is sweet and amazing person and many strive to have the success she has had. More than anything, I like them both, I like what they’ve done in the past and with SLoupon and I believe that if anyone has the marketing ability and proven business successes, and given Mankind’s immense fame in tow, I think it’s these two who can help the merchants and SLers!
And what’s wrong with a “business” in SL trying to make money. Isn’t that what being is business is all about? I’m in business to make money. I didn’t work this hard to not “SELL” my creations. Its stupid comments like that which make people cringe. Are you a merchant in business? Are you giving away YOUR creations for FREE? They are obviously working very hard to help merchants and give some good discounts to Second Life. I’ve spoken with some of the SLoupon merchants to get their feel for it. Not ONE had anything negative to say about SLoupon AND the owners. They are speaking with every single merchant personally, like they did with me, to explain the process and personally, that tells me a lot about the character of the owners, that they are willing to take the time to guide me. What’s wrong with SLoupon having a profit and at the same time bringing hundreds or thousands of great discounts to the public, helping the public save money and at the same time help merchants with some solid publicity. For all the work they’re doing (I don’t think I could do all that), I’d pay $L500 a month cuz I know I’ll recoup it fast with the SLoupon discounts.
Those of you who can’t see the amazing benefit in SLoupon, well you need to open your eyes. If you really have questions, why not try to talk to Mankind or Kalli. They’re very nice people (and Mankind is damn handsome).
I’m all for it and I believe in it 10000000%
TLDR
You are obviously a friend of these people, since you speak so nicely of them and that is probably because you know them personally.
Let’s get on with the facts here.
1. They charge the customers monthly to be able to buy products from a few designers. This problem here is that A) People will be discouraged to join this every month cuz not only do they have to pay the same “group” every month, they also have to pay for products from designers, and the group is 350L, and then the products upon that. B) Customers will think twice before joining this thing, and that won’t bring you more traffic, cuz most people will just wave this whole idea away. C) You seem to exclude the fact that most people in SL work hard, and/or use rl-money to buy L$, wich means they are thinking twice before spending their hard earned money, and I don’t think their first priority is to spend it on a “group” every month to be able to purchase a few items.
2. I was sent the notecard by a friend that got it sent to her, and this thing charges 30% (!) from the designers on ALL sales. Now tell me, why on earth would a designer let someone take 30% of the sales when they did all the work creating their items? On top of that, the people behind this will earn the money the customers pay to join each month, and 30% off all sales from all designers. Obviously this is a smart move for the owners, but it’s just a terrible and greedy way to make money.
3. Why on earth are you comparing this thing with the Marketplace? The Marketplace is an excellent way to get a wider customer base, since you get alot of hits, and if people like your items, they might just TP to your store to see your items, that is, if you’re items are good in the first place.
But I wish you luck, but this whole idea sounds like a few greedy people who wants to earn money from designers without designing for themselves.
Thank you for reading my opinion, as I am entitled to as you are entitled to your.
-Alexxandra Sorbet
Have you ever done business in real life? If you have, I cannot understand your attitude about paying for marketing. In real life a business should expect to pay 50% of their gross income in the first year for marketing. Gross income, not net. That is Marketing 101. I find it greedy for creators to think they should get paid for their time and effort in creating but not have to compensate someone for time and effort in marketing.
Second Life residents have been nursed on the teet of things being free and that helps no business make a profit. Instead the business loses money and I don’t know anyone in business to lose money.
The profit split is only on items listed on SLoupon and only if they sell. Even marketplace charges a % for selling items and you can buy them right there on the website which doesn’t drive traffic to your store and you can be lost in a sea of tons of content creators (of widely varying quality).
Oh I know alot about business, but this aint real life, as you might have noticed, and I do not expect anyone to leech of my income in Second Life when there’s plenty of other ways, and organizations and groups that does exactly this for a one time fee or a monthly fee.
And the Marketplace does not charge 30% and aswell charge my customers any extra money to be able to buy my products. And on top of that, alot of my steady customers have discovered through Marketplace, and they keep coming back. Giving my customers are free gift now and then brings in alot of new customers, and they tend to stay most of the time.
I stand by my opinion that I think it’s greedy and despicable to charge potential customers for items they then have to buy, and then take a 30% paycut for the merchants, you obviously have another opinion, and I respect that, but in my eyes, it’s an awful business model, and yes, rl business works in another way, but dragging RL into this discussion is irrelevant since the two worlds doesn’t work the same way.
“Second Life residents have been nursed on the teet of things being free and that helps no business make a profit. ”
Uhh you have business owners to account for this. THEY decided to give away free shit. Free shit = publicity
The business owners were the ones who chose to follow that business model. So don’t go around blaming people for expecting it. Blame the business owners for making it this way.
I can easily see how this concept may well work. There are many shoppers to our Sim, that regularly buy several items from various vendors and merchants in our mall, so if they could buy a few items at a discounted rate, from a few of our merchants and vendors, at the same time, then they would, in the long run save money. Instant win for the consumer, I’d say.
As for the merchant, I do a lot of marketing for our merchants. I offer a free notification service issued to all the groups on the sim, and on our social networking locations, as part of their rent, because sometimes people aren’t aware of all the marketing that is available to them in SL…they just set up shop and ‘hope’ that people will come. This takes a lot of my own personal time and thought for me to do, as I try and think up new and attractive blurbs to promote them. But for them, if they have also joined SLoupon, and there is a pool of consumers checking in on the SLoupon website for items, then the front page marketing tool banner – just like the marketplace banner – may well benefit them because it’s in their potential new customer’s faces straight away, and for not much effort on their part!
As an aside, I think also that the content creator should be working to change the discounted item regularly, even if it is old stock, to give the consumer a reason to return to the store, if they are not a usual shopper there. This is a problem I see regularly in stores in SL anyway.
I think too much of SL is considered ‘free’ by many – from club goers and concert attendees, to just sightsee-ers, or even shoppers complaining there isn’t a ‘freebie area’, and this is very much to the detriment of everyone in SL. If SLoupon is willing to advertise a business to over 300k (figure taken from their website) residents, for the Merchants, then why feel that people should get that kind of publicity for nothing? It takes a fair amount of time and effort to market stuff in both lives, and in RL costs a lot of money to do, if you want to reach that many people. If a cut of any gained profit is asked for by SLoupon then surely that is only fair, for the audience figures they can instantly access?
I’m not sure how much of the profits are split, but SLoupon aren’t like Groupon at all, because it is offering a genuine service to both merchant and subscriber, in my opinion. As far as I am aware, Groupon take a large cut of profits from the deal sellers, and gain funds from vast amounts of corporation advertising. Also – if you, as a deal seller, you aren’t able to fullfill the demand (they don’t, or didn’t in the past, tell you, you can put a cap on the amount of deals sold!), then they fine you for ‘damaging their image’. There was a famous case in which a UK Cupcake company took Groupon to court from this, a couple years back. So I feel that comparing SLoupon to Groupon is a very wrong stance to take.
In my point of view – I say, give new businesses a chance in SL! If you don’t want to join, then that’s ok. Personally, I think it’s a good idea, and I wish them every success, because I do think it will benefit everyone who joins. If it doesn’t work – then much kudos to them for trying a new direction in SL.
I gotta say I agree with Aarla. A great deal of effort is put into bringing customers into a store [freebies, hunts of every kind, and monthly shopping events], and most are free to the customer but time consuming/costly to the merchant and organizers. The pitchforks shouldn’t come out because someone what to try something new with a fee attached.
It’s become expected that if you pay to join something like a store group, there better be a shower of freebies to break even. I personally don’t feel that way. If I join a store’s group with a fee, I’m usually more interested in purchasing stuff from that store rather than waiting to see what freebies they give out…Sure a gift is nice, but I planned to BUY things and hear about new items to BUY, not get free.
As a small merchant in SL myself [prim food creator] I don’t see a mass of customers. If I want to attract people, my products have to be unique and something people will pay for. Once the product is seen, that tends to be all I need to make a new customer. More exposure however should not be seen as a terrible thing right off the bat, nor should paying for it. At that price though, I DO expect the products and stores to be of good quality. If all the freebies and gifts are things people would not have paid money for in the first place, it may fail before it has a shot.
As one of the owners of SLoupon, I would like to thank those who responded with positive comments for your support.
To Gogo I would like to say: it is very clear to me that all you did was read an informational note card or article and not actually check out the website where the deals are listed.
Had you actually done your due diligence and checked all your facts and researched before you posted, you would have visited the website and saw the items that are there. We have many well respected creators offering items like clothing (men and women’s), accessories, hair, building components, animations, home and garden items and more. Many of the creators offer several items on SLoupon with a healthy discount. You must register on the website to see everything that is listed, but just joining the website is free for people to check these offers out. Also, the offers will change monthly.
To other’s negative comments: Second Life has become a culture of expecting freebies, so I ask… what makes you entitled? Merchants put their time and effort into creating items and deserve to be compensated. Would you walk into Macy’s in real life and expect them to give you a free top??? No, absolutely not, so why should it be expected in Second Life? Often in real life, stores will give you a free gift with purchase…. let me say that again WITH PURCHASE.
I encourage everyone to think for themselves and check out the website and even speak with Seth/ Mankind and myself. I work in SL full time and you are free to message me with any questions.
In order for your service to work you need customers to enlist designers, and you are charging the customers for the privileged. That is fine, however for the customer to believe it is worth the money, you need designers – but you’re also charging the designers too, at a vastly higher rate than the customers.
How come? What entitles you to a whopping 30% of the profits for something you didn’t even help create? What entitles YOU to something for nothing? Because that’s what that 30% is.
Why did you not charge a flat fee for the designers per month? A taxation like you have it now only serves to dissuade those who value their time and effort put into creation.
Also, after reading your reply to another commenter, you’re vastly deluded if you think every RL parable can be applied to SL, asking for 30% of a SL designers profits is complete madness, as nearly every designer in SL earns peanuts compared to having a RL business designing.
Brandy said: “To other’s negative comments: Second Life has become a culture of expecting freebies, so I ask… what makes you entitled? Merchants put their time and effort into creating items and deserve to be compensated. Would you walk into Macy’s in real life and expect them to give you a free top??? No, absolutely not, so why should it be expected in Second Life? Often in real life, stores will give you a free gift with purchase…. let me say that again WITH PURCHASE.”
My reply to that is: In RL you can go into a store and TRY ON items. Freebies have been basically a -demo- of the kind of quality you can expect from a creator.
Granted, with mesh items, you can actually demo an item now, but up until mesh came out very few stores offered demos of clothing.
Comparing an SL store with a RL store doesn’t prove your point here, at all.
That being said, I looked at the “Hot Deals” page and agree with most of the others here. Most of those items are very out of date and I wouldn’t go pick them up even if they were free. *shrugs*
I can understand the idea but I am not so sure about it personally. To me, my concern would be paying for a month, and not really liking any of the offerings enough to buy it. Then that is 350L wasted that I could have used on hair or even hairs in general. The designer list could be nice, but sometimes I don’t even like all of the releases from the designers that I do choose to follow. So the whole thing is a gamble for me personally.
Subscription model businesses must show value for money or content worth the sub for people to willingly put down their hard cash and if the website as mentioned does that is great but they are always very difficult models to balance mostly in that content must regularly be new and fresh, a re-colouring of last months tank top isn’t going to cut it.
I’m also not totally seeing what actual demographic this is serving as the free crowd will be put off by prices in general, the casual shopper may be curious but a little on the wary side and the shopaholic probably has a select set of favourite stores that they only shop at.
I just don’t know really, time will tell if SLoupon can show that the items it offers at the prices set by designers with the Sub fee are worthwhile and if it can effectively overcome the perceptions that seem to already be swirling around it.
As a last point Entitled is quite an ugly word these days no? I prefer Realistic Expectations
Wait…what? Um. No. As a consumer, no way would I do this. This isn’t marketing. If Slers want to get creations at a discount price they go to the ‘millions’ of already discount stores in SL.
As a designer, I would completely not due this. Why would any designer let SLoupon take a percentage of their PROFIT? They made the item, SLoupon didn’t. SLoupon should not be entitled to any of the profits. At all.
I think part of the point of this scheme is being missed by saying ‘why should SLoupon get any profits?’. Obviously this project maybe wouldn’t appeal to the big stores already raking in hundreds of sales a day, they don’t need it. But what about the newer stores/creators who are sitting on a great product but lack the financial outlay to market it? As someone who has spent lots of time exploring different SL marketing options and been disappointed by the returns, I’d be very happy to hand over 30% of profits I made directly through a program like this. After all, 70% of anything is better than 100% of nothing.
As a consumer this sounds like a much better deal than the many stores who tempt us into paid groups with promises of gifts and freebies and then don’t live up to them. Or, worse, in one case that happened recently, charge customers 1,000L to join your store’s group, then close the store, rebrand, and open a new group and try to charge all your customers to join the rebranded store’s group!
As with anything of this nature, it comes down to creators’ and consumers’ personal choice. If creators are looking for a marketing tool but lack a big budget, this might work wonderfully for them if the SLoupon organizers can back up their assertions in terms of audience figures. As a consumer it sounds like it boils down to whether the creators and products are ones you like, from the products I’ve seen they’re not my cup of tea, but I can see that they might be other peoples.
“I’d be very happy to hand over 30% of profits I made directly through a program like this. After all, 70% of anything is better than 100% of nothing.”
You forgot the discount you have to grant. As you can read above up to 90%. Therefor make it:
“I’d be very happy to give 90% discount and to hand over 30% of profits I made directly through a program like this. After all, 6% of anything is better than 100% of nothing.”
That isn’t accurate though, is it? Unless I’m mistaken, a creator isn’t forced to offer discounts that steep. The premise still stands.
It all comes down to whether the organizers can make good on their traffic and audience promises as far as I can see.
The lack of quality items will make this fail. I looked at the first link Gogo posts, that goes to “Hot deals of the week”. If the rest of the items is the same, I say thanks, but no thanks. It was one thing there that could be interesting, the mesh hair. That brand has been on several blogs, and will sell with or without SLoupon, because it is mesh and well made.
The clothes are oldfashioned, I have deleted so many other gowns like that. And not freebies either, gowns that I have paid 500-1000 §L for. I would not pick them up now if they were free.
The amazing 90% discount on the sex engine? Oh ple-eeze. 60 animations? That is not much. And the price is still way over other sex engines. If this is full permissions, it could maybe defend the prize. Maybe. I am not a builder, but a consumer, so full permissions items does not interest me. The same applies for the textures.
I could easy spend 20 000 §L on a week in SL when my interest was on top. So I dare say I’m not a leech. Since my RL time has been more demanding, I rarely log in now. But I still follow the fashion blogs and see what I like – and what looks like leftovers from 2008.
Wow so according to Brandy/Kalli I am a leech nursing of the teats of designers…. thank you for that mental picture. SL ain’t RL what works in the real world and marketing 101 might not fly in world. I like to read both sides of an argument before deciding, but I feel a little insulted at the moment so I think I’m gunna pass on this offer.
Lets be quite honest you DONT need to spend a lot of market items in SL. You can put all your items on the MP for free. You can use plurk, flickr, feeds, in world groups, SLU etc etc all for free. While im not saying people should or shouldn’t join the event (that is up to them and their business plans) assuming the need for this sort of event in order to advertise is incorrect.
Totally agree you don’t need to pay outright. All the methods you mentioned are viable and don’t cost a thing beyond a creator’s time and effort, which, in marketing terms, are still currency. You might not be spending anything out of pocket but as a creator and business owner your time and skill are worth a lot, and the time you take to market the way you detailed could be spent on creating new products, so you’re still losing money, just in a different way.
Marketing is a skill. It’s not something that everyone is good at, and it’s worth paying for if you don’t have the skills, or don’t have the time or interest to do it yourself. Commission based sales are a great way to make sure you’re only paying for successful marketing. It’s in both your and the marketer’s best interests that they do a good job, and if they do, everyone wins. 30% of profits from items you choose to list is not too much to charge for quality marketing. The SLoupon site and business plan look to be professional and solid, and with no upfront fee for merchants, there’s really nothing to lose by giving it a try.
There are tons of freebies in SL, hunts, dollarbies, etc. Merchants often sell ourselves short and feed into a culture where too many people aren’t willing to pay for things in SL. Discounted items encourage buying. So overall, this is a good idea. However, the L$350/month fee is too steep in my opinion. If they made it a one time fee I think many more people would join and stick with SLoupon. I’ll be curious to see how successful it is.
After some thought, I think for a monthly event L$350 a month is a tad much, especially when the organizers get 30% of all sales from each merchant. Either make the monthly fee much lower (like under 100L), or make the L$350 a one time fee, and let people join for free the first month so they can decide for themselves whether it’s good enough to pay to stay. Or, allow a few days’ grace period while merchants change the items in their stores and make the group join fee free, so those who are paying attention can quickly join before the new items are up.
The 30% from sales…this has been done before in malls where the merchants don’t pay rent, but the mall owners get a commission from each sale. That way the mall owner is invested in the merchant’s success, and will work to promote their products. This new event is actually more effective because instead of going to a mall, consumers go directly to the merchant’s mainstore and buy the items, and perhaps see what else the store has to offer them.
I guess what sticks out from reading these comments and reading other discussions is that people think that marketing is worthless. Meaning, that people who organize these events don’t deserve some sort of compensation. Marketing is hard work – it’s hard for merchants to continue making quality products and at the same time promote themselves. For certain events, merchants pay thousands of lindens to participate, so if the organizers of SLoupon do their job right, it would be similar to a flat fee to participate.
Being able to market well is a gift, and if someone can do it well, they should definitely be compensated for it. When I first started my website, I paid for all of it with MY OWN MONEY, and bought all of the things shown. I didn’t start selling paid ads on my site until 3 years after I have consistently been doing it, and built up a readership and felt that it was “worth it” for people to purchase ads to be seen. I totally agree with you that $350L is a tad much if they have not even proven their effectiveness! Give people a free trial, and if it’s soooo wildly successful, SLoupon can charge whatever they want.
For the most part, I love to shop. I like bargains, but I also don’t hesitate to pay full price for something I want. I dislike having to sign up on websites, and rarely do so. I especially dislike spin. Oh, and did you know? Apparently since this program was launched on September 14th, the owners became aware of the troubled state of the global economy and customers now get to pay 99L per month rather than the 350L originally being asked for. Significant improvement, but I still won’t be signing up. But! We’re still expected to believe a great favor is being done for us by not charging 2500L for this *coughs* service. I feel like I’ve been infomercialed.
Gawd, it’s almost sad. They put so much effort into website, social networks, and so on, and then offer 2007 “Hot Deals of the Week!” gown for 405 L$, while i can go to TDR and get current stuff for 70 L$. This is destined to fail.
1) Get some top-brands as regulars, even if you have to pass on the 30%.
2) Get some more top brands, and then even more.
3) Only offer current products (NO felxi-prim gowns)!!!
4) Max price for clothing 175 L$, better lower.
5) Make your website browse-able without signing up (so someone might get hooked by a special offer)
5a) Don’t forget: Exclusivity is just a marketing slogan, not a marketing strategy,
6) Good you changed to 99 L$ a month now.
7) Upgrade the design of the website, the kiosks, the vendor pics (urg) to a current look (I felt reminded of the early SLexchange, if someone still knows that).
9) Do some marketing for your marketing tool. Gogo’s post was the first time i heard of it, although i consider myself quite well informed of what is going on. (And thank Gogo as “any publicity is good publicity”)
10) Know your customers, as right now (from the over-all design and offers) you target only a very specific small group of people. (I so tried to refrain from saying “the model school graduate” BUT I CANT)
Couldn’t agree more on these points. This scheme won’t fail because it’s a bad idea, it’ll fail cos the items being offered and the stores involved are old fashioned, or just plain yukky.
The website is boring and doesn’t evoke any level of interest or excitement. The brands and products involved are hidden away, there’s nothing to entice the casual viewer in to learn more and sign up.
If I were in charge I too would do away with the percentage fee to merchants, stick to the monthly fee for shoppers, and put all my efforts into improving the standard of store and product offered. As a consumer I’d pay 350L a month for freebies or decent discounts from stores such as those involved with C88 and TDR.
There are many top designers in SLoupon, including Gizza, Tres Beau, Paris Metro, DeeTalez, Bootgasm, Alice Project, and more. There are also some lower end and overpriced merchants, but more than enough good stuff to make the new 99L$ monthly fee worthwhile. Also keep in mind that this is a high fashion blog, and some of the clothes that are lower-end in our eyes do appeal to other SL markets. This is a new service and I’m sure the product range will expand.
“keep in mind that this is a high fashion blog” – no it’s not! Unless tasteful and well made items now equals high fashion, which I don’t think it does. I can count on one hand the number of ‘high’ fashion items I’ve seen Gogo blog in the last two years.
I agree that not every shopper is looking for the same standard of thing as I am, and if the organizers manage to make the project successful without appealing to shoppers like myself, good on them.
I saw Gizza designed exclusive content. That isn’t high quality enough for you…and stuff that was on the Gizza runway just a couple months ago?
It’s hard to appeal to everyone but SLoupon is offering a wide range of items. Some for more experienced and picky consumers and some for newer residents.
Also, SLoupon is in it’s infancy… they have 50 content creators now, but how many will they have in a few more months?
I think you are being way judgemental.
I got spammed with this on Facebook from the CEO. Once I informed him I was not interested as this notion of SL Groupon functions nothing like Groupon, he got quite bitter and capricious. Having said that I think his business would succeed if it actually functioned like Groupon and was free to the public, he responded with, “Everything should be free of course and no company working hard in SL should be entitled to make any money from their hard work.” – Did I say that? NO! But websites like Groupon make money off the merchant not the client. And in SL where there is no production costs after the initial stage, these vendors could potentially make a lot if this business was functioning properly. Unfortunately, the products on SLoupon are mediocre at best and the discounts aren’t significant enough to pay a monthly fee for. Having scanned through all of the items available at the moment, I wouldn’t get any at any price, not even for free. Some of the designers involved do have other designs that are good but they obviously will not sell at a discounted price on SLoupon. Generating traffic to a store is a good thing but only for the store owner. The client in this case has little to no benefits. Ultimately, I’d rather spend my time in world and my lindens at sale events like Collabor88, The Dressing Room & The Dressing Room Blue, FaMESHed, fi*fridays, etc. – If SLoupon just stuck to the Groupon business model I think the entire SL community would be involved. Can someone else please launch that?