2011 was a pretty good year for daily deals, at least as far as the consumer was concerned. What’s ahead for the coming year? Here are our predictions for 2012.
More copycat sites will disappear
When Groupon first hit the web, everyone with an Internet connection and basic HTML skills tried to replicate their success with a daily deals website of their own. Some sites succeeded, but many bit the dust. A total of 170 of the more than 500 daily deal websites online folded in 2011, and more seem to be announcing their demise daily.
Our prediction: 2012 will be the year that websites without a solid business plan of their own will close. You’ll see less Groupon-like clones on the web and more deal-specific sites that serve a unique purpose.
Shoppers will simplify
For frugal shoppers, it paid to join Groupon, LivingSocial, Google Offers and every other site that looked promising in 2011. Unfortunately, all those subscriptions and email notifications left shoppers burned out and suffering from what the media called daily deal fatigue. Within months, shoppers stopped reading daily deal emails altogether and complained about the time it took to find deals that really and truly interested them.
Our prediction: Shoppers in 2012 will turn to daily deal aggregators to see instant feeds of deals that are specific to their wants and needs. Since daily deal aggregators do away with the barrage of emails from every daily deal site under the sun, daily deal fatigue will become a thing of the past.
We’ll see more goods and big offers
A voucher for dinner out at your favorite restaurant is a treat, but it’s the really big deals that exploded the Internet in 2011. Groupon’s recent Old Navy voucher was a steal, and more than 100,000 frugal buyers scooped up the deal in just a few days. Meanwhile, a few local restaurants went bust after selling more daily deal vouchers than they could afford.
Our prediction: In addition to outstanding local deals, shoppers will see more national deals and goods being offered.
What do you think will happen to daily deals in 2012? Let us hear from you in the comments!
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