A knowledgebase for entrepreneurs and the startup/geeky community. Simply login using your Facebook/Google account and get started. Do not worry - your FB/Google account isn't made public just because you used it here.
Freebies / discounts - a slippery slope?
  • Vote Up2Vote Down SagarSagar
    Was watching Badgeville's disrupt pitch. As a gamification vendor they devise solutions intended to increase brand loyalty, user participation, community eco-system and so on. For the customer of the site it loosely translates to some freebies or gifts for increased participation etc ... say 2 movie premier tickets and lunch with the starts and so on and so forth ...

    One of the judges had a take on the freebies model saying that such novelty pretty soon becomes a norm - like Credit Card points where in his own words "today Credit Card companies would love to have never given miles in the first place". My understanding is that he meant that this sort of strategy while good to get some initial traction is not great for businesses in the long run.

    I guess the whole practice of discounts will never go away - numbers are easily the most powerful attention catchers. However, in a macro sense is such practice sustainable for a business eco-system, in a sense beyond survival of the fittest?
  • 2 Comments sorted by
  • Vote Up0Vote Down SameerSameer
    Totally! It just delays the discovery of a sustainable biz model and sticky attributes/USP and makes the whole cycle darned expensive too.
    Sameer, Bangalore
    http://linger.in
  • Vote Up0Vote Down NrupalDasNrupalDas
    I believe they are slippery slope it is builds the expectation of getting the coupons or feebies every time they visit your store. 

    But they catch the eyeballs and are much faster than anything else. However building a business around it is most feasible for most of the ideas. In case you have abnormally high margins, then it still can be considered sustainable. 

    If creation of brand loyalty revolves around coupons/freebies/offers then a recurring cost is attached to the same which will eat your bottom line, any deviation from the same would lead to attrition. Whereas dis-continued offers coupled with focus with closer consumer interaction might be a way. Closer consumer interaction would involve addressing their issues, initiating discussions with them (social media, sometimes quality calls) or simply trying to get them the best.


    Co Founder
    Indian Gold Rates
    http://www.indiangoldrates.com/

Add a Comment

Welcome to Pluggd.in Forum!

Sign up using your Facebook or Google id to participate in the forum! Registration takes only 32 seconds!

Login with Facebook Sign In with Google

Categories

Recent Activity

Top Posters