According to Bloomberg, Facebook will soon be rolling out a new test service that will allow consumers to buy discounted, one-time offers similar to the services offered by Groupon.
Groupon does this via email, which means that it is a one on one conversation between the consumer and Groupon if the customer chooses to take the deal. Bringing this discussion over onto Facebook is completely up to the customer, which means he or she can choose to talk about the wonderful deal that he or she received, but is in no way obligated to do so. The way that Facebook shares information, chances are, the customer that takes Facebook up on a deal is going to automatically share this information with all of his or her friends.
Imagine if there was a 50 inch flat screen on sale for $200. It’s two weeks before the Super Bowl weekend, and a group of friends will be gathering around at John Smith’s house to watch the game. John’s friends could see the sale, and send John a message, saying, “Hey John, look at this deal. Time to replace that 14 inch b&w set before the big game!” General ribbing takes place, and John buys the television. Ads would fly around, some taken as jokes, some as legitimate suggestions, and the consumer and the seller wins.
Here’s another example. A great deal comes along, and you, the customer, take advantage of it. Your Facebook status is automatically sent out to all of your friends with “John Smith just bought a $150 day spa visit for $20.00! You too can take advantage of this!” Since it’s a great deal, six or seven of John’s friends also go and buy it. And five or six of each of their friends also takes advantage of this excellent deal. You can see how this is a great sales model.
Proponents of this service on Facebook will certainly have no issues with this. The answer heard from them regarding the lack of privacy involving the purchase will most certainly be “So what? If I chose to get a great deal on a local business’ service, why wouldn’t I want to share this with all of my friends? Wouldn’t I want to offer this same benefit to everyone that I know, if it’s a great deal!”
Except that maybe, just maybe, you don’t want your wife to know that the spa day you got for her birthday, a $150 value, you bought for $20, on her birthday during your lunch break at work, when Facebook kindly reminded you it was her birthday in the first place.
I’m just guessing.
This is not to say that it is a bad idea. The structure of this form of socialized selling is an excellent idea, one that has the potential to really help small businesses capture more customers through word of mouth. Depending on the pricing requirements, and the commission rates paid to Facebook, this has the potential of replacing services like Groupon.
What other potential pitfalls do you see in completely socializing your purchases?
