Stuart Andrews waves his printout in front of the waiter at California Wings at the corner of Manuel Acuna and Aztecas in Guadalajara. The name leaves no doubt as to the American-style sports bar perched over the edge of this trendy shopping plaza.
In the time it takes to tell one faintly amusing work anecdote, three liters of beer thud challengingly on the table shared by Andrews and his two companions.
By 9 p.m. the dinner rush has begun and nary a spare seat manages to stay open for newcomers. The three companions hardly pay any mind. They are already working through wings – 50 of them – followed by french fries, jalapenos, and cheese sticks – all good bar grub, all for 159 pesos.
Andrews is test-driving Groupon, the internet daily deal machine. He called the experience “good value” and praised both the restaurant service and the promotion.
He had found the deal waiting in his inbox ten days earlier. For 159 pesos, he could buy about 600 pesos of food and drink. With only one day to act on the deal, he took the plunge, and joined the scores of people already using the service in Mexico.
Groupon, the Chicago-born internet-age industry-creating phenomenon, has far outgrown its first city – and country. The internet company has laid claims in 47 nations since its 2008 debut. Mexico, no shy darling, joined the venture back in June 2010. Groupon already features daily deals in Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara.
The website uses the social power of the internet to assure companies that when they want to offer a deep promotional discount, they will definitely have enough customers to make it worth their while. How? When Groupon sends out its daily email highlighting a chosen local business, subscribers have 24 hours (in a few cases longer) to decide whether to purchase the deal of that day. Once the minimum threshold of customers has paid for it (the group part of Groupon), the deal activates for everyone. If there’s not enough interest to meet that requirement, the deal is canceled, the business takes no risk and customers don’t have to pay. Everybody wins.
Especially Groupon, which normally splits the money evenly for the purchased deals with the businesses. But they run a large operation, with a lot of costs as the company grows exponentially – from 39 employees in June 2009 to over 10,000 today.
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