In July 2010, Yelp finally decided to join the deal-of-the-day website revolution. The whole point of a deal-of-the-day site is to promote local businesses to customers. These businesses offer substantial discounts to consumers after cutting a deal with deal-of-the-day websites which offered these sites a percentage of the proceeds. Up until now, Groupon and LivingSocial ruled the roost but they could be in for a rude awakening as Yelp joins the fray. The site already has anywhere between 40-50 million monthly users depending on whose figures you use. With this base, Yelp could be unstoppable if they get the formula right.
What Is Yelp Deal Of The Day All About?
12 months on and it’s become clear that although Yelp are serious about their deal-of-the-day premise, they are not trying to reinvent the wheel. Considering the overwhelming popularity of the site, it’s somewhat surprising that it is only offering deals in about 12 metropolitan areas in the United States. Large cities such as San Francisco, Chicago, New York and L.A are all catered for and offer the same amazing 50-85% discounts found on other sites.
Pros
One thing that Yelp seems to have above the other sites is more detailed reviews. Go on to the Yelp website daily deals section and you will not only find great discounts, you will also come across extremely detailed reviews. As well as allowing users to offer lengthy reviews and ratings, you also get to decide whether or not you felt the review was useful, funny etc. This is important because receiving 80% off is pointless if the service is dreadful. This of course means that businesses must produce the goods or risk being ostracized on Yelp.
In June 2011, Yelp decided to add deals-of-the-day on mobile phones. Customers with iPhone and Android apps are now able to click on the Yelp deal icon on their phone and instantly receive a list of Yelp Deals on restaurants, boutiques, spas and any other businesses nearby. This amazing technology enables you to find deals as you walk down the street rather than being consigned to a PC or laptop. Best of all, these mobile deals are instantly redeemable with the code appearing on your phone. Simply walk into the merchant offering the deal and show him the code on your phone. Magic!
Cons
For all Yelp’s power, it’s taken them a year to offer deals of the day to its customers and even then, it’s still pretty limited in geographical terms. Despite its investment in mobile technology to promote their deal-of-the-day promotion, one wonders if Yelp are truly aiming to conquer this market. Also, Yelp don’t really offer a deal-a-day. It’s more like 2 or 3 deals a week which is well below par when you consider the technology this company has at its fingertips and what it’s capable of.
Verdict
As far as mobile phone users in the areas covered by Yelp deals-of-the-day are concerned, this is something exciting and useful. For everyone else, it’s a case of holding your breath and seeing if Yelp plan on expanding their enterprise.
