团购新模式破解“一锤子”买卖难题

    LevelUp计划第一步在纽约市50个地点开展服务，在其进行试点的城市，目前已有约250个地点配备了Android手机，以接受交易。与Groupon或Foursquare相比，这一规模还小得很，这两家团购巨头都进行了狂飙突进式的扩张。不过，它们也面临着严重的挑战。Groupon创始人兼首席执行官安德鲁•梅森最近写给员工的一份备忘录遭到泄秘。他在文件中称，公司的巨额营销开支是为了吸引用户，然后“将这些注册用户转变为顾客，并确保顾客不断从我们这里购物。”可是，这一点说起来容易做起来难。不少报道指出，Groupon的1.15亿注册用户中，许多人只是不断追逐一个又一个新的优惠，根本没有什么忠诚度可言。

    另一方面，FourSquare面临的问题在于：本地广告主和用户热情不再。数据显示基于“签到”的服务总体上来说受欢迎度已经下降。根据投资公司Blair & Co.的一份报告，去年5月至11月期间，在由FourSquare和Gowalla领导的这一市场，每天使用所谓基于地理位置社交服务的用户下降了一半。这种趋势迫使Gowalla转向其他业务，而FourSquare也深受威胁。后者的产品总监亚历克斯•雷诺特承认，该公司正在寻找新的互动形式，尝试超越实体店内签到的模式，进而提供照片、评论和“探索”（向用户建议可去的地点）功能。

    普瑞巴什和他的SCVNGR/LevelUp联合团队认为，他们已经找到了留住用户的解决方案。SCVNGR是FourSquare的竞争对手，它与可口可乐、青少年服饰品牌Forever 21和游戏零售商Gamestop等都有合作关系。它提供的一些社交机制可以让用户通过挑战或其他游戏元素来获得奖励。比如说在唐恩都乐（Dunkin' Donuts）营销活动期间，奖励就包括该店的一杯免费咖啡。普瑞巴什认为，LevelUp是SCVNGR在交易领域的天然姐妹项目。

    LevelUp的开局并不顺利。普瑞巴什承认，公司经历了二次发布的过程才弄清楚了症结。该服务最初的运作方式与Groupon的折扣模式颇为相似。但是商家并不喜欢，他们认为不断提供折扣会影响其品牌形象。“它给人们造成一种印象——合作品牌似乎正在走下坡路，”普瑞巴什说。“我们推出原版服务后，这种效应显而易见。正因为此，我们又创造了逆向优惠概念。”这种概念的基础是顾客通过参与获得奖励和积分，而不是大打折扣，避免了折扣模式带来的问题。

    然而，有些人并不买账。游戏平台服务商BunchBall的创始人拉贾特•帕哈里亚的批评相当直率。“我认为修改之后再重新上线这回事说明SCVNGR是个失败的公司，”帕哈里亚称，“我不明白它们为何要贸然进入团购领域。”显然，LevelUp并不认同这种观点。SCVNGR自称其9月份营收超过了去年前6个月的总和如果该公司能继续保持LevelUp用户每周消费两次的习惯，普瑞巴什或许是正确的。他放言：“给我们6到9个月，届时请见识一下我们两项服务相互促进的效果。”

    译者：小宇

    LevelUp is set to hit 50 locations in New York initially; there are about 250 locations equipped with the Android phones to accept purchases in its pilot cities right now. That's still a small foray when compared to the scale of Groupon or Foursquare, both of which have aggressively expanded. But, those firms face serious challenges. Andrew Mason, Groupon's founder and CEO, wrote employees in a recently leaked memo that its heavy marketing expenses were to gain users, then "convert these subscribers into customers and to make sure our customers keep buying from us." That, however, is easier said than done, as reports now suggest many of Groupon's 115 million subscribers follow deal to deal, without building any merchant loyalty.

    FourSquare, on the other hand, faces difficulties with local advertisers and numbers that suggest check-in based services have lost overall popularity. From May to November last year, when Foursquare and Gowalla led the market, the number of people using a so-called geosocial service on a daily basis dropped in half, according to a William Blair & Co. Report. That drop drove Gowalla into a different business and threatens Foursquare. Tatcompany's product chief, Alex Rainert, admitted the company is looking to new forms of engagement in an attempt to go beyond the physical in-store check-in to offer photos, comments, and "Explore" to suggest locations to its users.

    Priebatsch and his joint SCVNGR/LevelUp team think they've already found the solution to engaging users. SCVNGR, a FourSquare rival that works with brands such as Coke (KO), Forever 21 and Gamestop (GME), offers mechanics in the social space, through challenges and other game elements that can unlock rewards such as a free coffee in a Dunkin' Donuts (DNKN) campaign. Priebatsch sees LevelUp as its natural sister project in the transactional space.

    LevelUp had a rough start. Priebatsch admits the company needed a relaunch to figure it out. The product's first iteration operated closer to the Groupon discount model. Merchants didn't like the effect constant discounting had on their brand. "It created the perception that the brand might be flagging," Priebatsch says. "Once we launched it, that became apparent. That's why we created the inverted deal concept." This concept, based on participation incentives and credit, not a discount, could avoid the discounting issue.

    Some aren't buying it. RajatPaharia, founder of game mechanics platform provider BunchBall, is vocal. "[A new launch] indicates to me that SCVNGR is just a flop," Paharia says. "Jumping into that daily deal space, I don't get it." Clearly, LevelUp disagrees. If the company, which says SCVNGR revenue was greater for September than the first six months of last year combined, can keep LevelUp users at their twice a week clip, Priebatsch might be right. "Give us six to nine months, and just see how the two interplay," he dares.