Show HN: My spin on Groupon | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: My spin on Groupon

zuupy.com

19 pointsfezzl12 comments

Very nice idea.

That's a great pivot, and one I'll seriously consider using on my site.

If it works as well as I hope, I think you may wish to reconsider your pricing model.

Hi Michael, thanks for your feedback. The pricing model is tentative, but we're in the process of getting funding, so any revenue/real customer is essential. In other words, we sort of need to "validate" the product as quickly as possible via revenues.

I'll see if I can figure out a good way to use this on my site quickly, then. (There are a few complications with discounts due to the industry I'm in, but they should be surmountable.)

I'm still interested in exploring other Facebook-API-related ideas with you guys; I'll contact you offline.

Sure thing, looking forward to any further feedback. About contacting us offline, we're based in sunny Singapore -- not sure if that would be an issue.

What about people who don't have Facebook accounts? I think the idea is cool and I get that the whole point is hitting the Facebook "Like" button, but it may keep some people out of the deals.

Something to consider and perhaps hedge one way or the other.

By the way, what's up with the Zuupy name? Everyone will have to explain and spell it out when telling a friend.

The "Facebook" element is a relic from our previous product, which never took off, but we did become familiar with the Facebook API. Zuupy was a spare domain name that my co-founder had, which also happened to be unique and a 5-character .com.

We have considered letting non-Facebook users participate, but the core benefit to the retailer is traffic from and visibility within Facebook. Perhaps we will add another for Twitter, based on number of Tweets. But between Facebook and Twitter, we had to go with Facebook.

Thank you for your feedback!

How are the deals discoverable? Since the deal is "Liked" on your site, will you aggregate all deals in general product categories (Apparel, Electronics, etc.), creating a merchant/deal directory?

This is indeed a very appealing option. Right now, our intention is to sell to retailers directly as an onsite engagement and traffic-building tool. Depending on the business model that we decide to pursue, we will consider your suggestion.

great idea - planning on giving it a whirl...

it seems people are liking the deal - not your page - hence (as of right now) 6 likes for the deal and 10 for the page? this brings up the question of who gets the user data - i.e. if you're emailing them and after the deal is over the liked item on facebook doesn't tie in to the rest of the company's property what follow up can the company do with these sales leads?

When someone likes a deal, the link is actually of our website, not the retailer's. However, we need to do some tracking on our side, and we redirect to the retailer's website.

When the deal is over, we email the deal participants a coupon code, which can be used during the checkout process. This coupon code is supplied by the retailer during creation of the deal, with terms identical to that of the deal.

As for following up with participants, we may allow mass-mailing from our back-end for participants of a given deal, for retailers to disseminate fine prints, etc. We will not hand over email addresses though.

I would suggest you hire a designer who can convey your message. I first went to the site, then left, then went back because of a comment. After reading the homepage content, then I thought "Clever and very useful, indeed.".

What did you find confusing/inadequate on our landing page?

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