Groupon recently released its new gimmick, VIP membership cards at USD29.99 per year. Currently in its testing period, the VIP program is only opened to the company’s “best customers” in a few selected cities in the U.S.
“For consumers, we’re allowing them to experience more buying power,” Mason said. “For merchants, we’re helping them do a better job with wasted inventory.”
Perks of Groupon’s VIP members:
- Sneak peak before official deal launch: VIP members can see (and buy) deals 12 hours before the non-VIP (unimportant?) masses do.
- Access to a “Deal Vault”: VIP members will be entitled to buy certain sold out deals and after the normal purchase-by date has expired.
- Easy refunds: Unused deals can be exchanged for Groupon Bucks (credits for other deals) at any time, even after the deal’s use-by date has expired.
Groupon’s not the first to introduce a VIP program. LivingSocial, the 2nd largest company in the deal scene has also launched a similar VIP program known as LivingSocial Plus. To be part of this scheme, members are required to pay USD20 per month. This amounts to USD240 per year for membership! A price that is many times higher than that of Groupon’s. Frequent deal buyers may benefit from this as $25 Deal Bucks will be given for every $20 signup/ month.
Here’s what we, at All Deals Asia have to say.
The Good: This VIP program will most probably appeal to frequent deal shoppers, offering more benefits on top of the savings that they enjoy from their deal purchases.
The Not-so-good: Other deal sites may jump onto the bandwagon and start launching VIP programmes of their own.- Causing too much confusion and skepticism amongst deal buyers.
Tell us what you think. Would you like an AllDealsAsia VIP card?
Many VIP programs but Groupon takes the idea to new inequitable extremes.