My experience is that I buy a groupon for $10 and then I spend about $25, so the merchant gets $5 from me and $5 from Groupon for -- usually -- a restaurant meal for one. The deal gets much better for the restaurant if two people come to eat.
Meanwhile I get to know a new place, and the server gets a $4-5 tip. That doesn't really seem to bad for the local merchant who otherwise would never have grabbed my attention. I bet the salons and day spas that make up most of the offers (restaurants are second) have ways to up-sell and do even better.
I also wonder if other grouponers are, being mostly new customers, also coming at low demand times. If you come for a discount at the peak hour, that would be bad.
Meanwhile I get to know a new place, and the server gets a $4-5 tip. That doesn't really seem to bad for the local merchant who otherwise would never have grabbed my attention. I bet the salons and day spas that make up most of the offers (restaurants are second) have ways to up-sell and do even better.
I also wonder if other grouponers are, being mostly new customers, also coming at low demand times. If you come for a discount at the peak hour, that would be bad.
Oh, Phil Greenspun has written on his blog about good experiences selling through Groupon. http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2010/03/19/groupon-market...