Be honest, do you belong to Groupon? Ideeli? Gilt? The explosion of social shopping programs (websites that offer huge discounts to users on high-end goods because they can negotiate the discount based on their large membership counts) has been rapid. Groupon, which offers one local coupon to users each day for what can only be described as massive savings, has millions of members (you’ve probably seen the advertisements), and sites with the same business model are popping up all over. But the question remains, do these sites help us live more frugally or just encourage us to buy more?
The Frugal Argument
The reality is that, if you have the willpower to use them correctly, most of these sites can help you to live more frugally in the way that clipping coupons does. If you have something that you need to purchase, waiting patiently until it becomes the featured product or service in your chosen social shopping application can mean that you get it for significantly less money. Much like scanning the newspaper for coupons for items that you need to buy anyway or waiting for a sale, you can decrease your budget through using social shopping platforms.
The Addicted Consumer Behavior Argument
But let’s stay honest, how many of us who use these services really use them in the way that was just described above? While that may be the intention of signing up for a social shopping discount group, the business model of the group or business itself encourages you to buy as much as possible from its clients and advertisers. You’ll need to be paying attention to the service through your email, text message or social network updates to look for the coupons that you want, and as a side effect you’ll see all of the “tempting” deals that come in throughout the day as well. And how many of us honestly won’t end up buying things we don’t need because Groupon or another social shopping network convinces us to?
Much like we told you to unsubscribe from marketing emails to help you on your path to becoming a postconsumer, we also recommend quitting, unsubscribing from or just not joining social shopping networks! You don’t need the temptation, and chances are that the impulse buys you’ll make will be greater than the savings you experience! Disagree? Friend us on Facebook and tell us what you think.
