How to thrive using daily deals

Kristina: A couple of years ago daily deal sites were everywhere, but the buzz has since died down. What is the scoop on daily deal sites in 2014 – are they still engaging consumers?

Deeon Brown, Brand & Communications Manager, DailySteals.com: Daily deal sites are still consistently engaging consumers. The initial buzz surrounding the industry was largely based on whether or not the model would be successful and it has been. Therefore, daily deal sites have become a stable staple in e-commerce and less of a fascinating trend. The daily deal industry today has focused on better customer service, bettering vendor relations and sustainable product pipelines. The industry, like e-commerce in general is trying to find the best practices to convert mobile users into mobile customers and experimentally engaging with those consumers to figure out what works.

Kristina: Some experts have said that daily deal sites de-value goods and really don’t help smaller retailers. What is your response to that?

Deeon: The criticism of not helping smaller retailers has been largely attributed to the daily deals’ discount service sector. Across the industry there has been a re-prioritization to focus on improving retailer and vendor relations. The industry has been working with retailers to strategize how to most successfully use the daily deal model to help their business; specifically how to understand their profit margins when selling a service or product with such mass reach and significant discounting. In large, product based daily deal sites help to move excess or stale inventory. You will see in the near future many companies moving toward a product based model as it moves inventory to consumers who are interested in opportunistic purchasing.

Kristina: What is the key for advertisers who want to succeed at using DD websites?

Deeon: The key for advertisers is really understanding their business goals and profit margins. Daily deal sites will typically introduce new customers to a product or service. Due to the nature of the business, customers may opt out of returning to purchase the item at full price or use the service beyond the deal’s value. Focusing on migrating daily deal customers into the advertiser’s customers is hugely important if advertisers want to succeed at using daily deal websites.