Store Pass and it's Competitors.

Though I've mentioned in some previous posts that Store Pass's greatest competitors would most likely be Groupon and Voucher cloud (but only indirectly). Along my research I discovered more apps that enhanced shopping experience but none in the way that Store Pass does. But by collecting information on these apps, they can all contribute to enhance and perfecting Store Pass.

So who are the competitors and what do they do?

Let's start with the most well known ones.

• Groupon

Groupon is an American company that, due to it's success has now expanded globally. Rapidly overtaking America, Groupon soon interested the capitals of Europe and Asia also.
To reiterate the above video, Groupon (the combined words of Coupon and Group) distributes large savings and offers by encouraging users to book activities with friends. For example, if a Spa was offering 70% but required 10 individuals to sign up, these 10 individuals would have to all pay in order for the deal to "activate". If they don't reach the quote needed by the time the offer expires, all customers get their  money back.
The unique selling point of Groupon is that it works in numbers, by urging consumers to bring their friends to events, companies are guaranteed a large numbers of customers. This helps with company footfall, free marketing via word of mouth, a great deal and gains customer loyalty.

These numbers are correct as of 2012 and can be assumed to only have grown:

• The company has now sold 170 million Groupons to date and counts 33 million active customers and 250,000 merchants in 48 countries.

• In 2011, $2 billion in business sent to “Main Street” small merchants.

• Also in 2011, 11 new products launched, including a several that take the company away from the daily deals format Groupon Goods, Getaways, Rewards, Now!, and Scheduler.

• 11 acquisitions, including several in the mobile space in the year.

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However it's not always been smooth sailing for Groupon as it fell victim to it's own success with consumers placing more orders than expected for some companies.

• Vouchercloud

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Vouchercloud is the virtual take on the good old days of cutting coupons out of magazines and newspapers. Before internet discounts for your local restaurants and boutiques were invented, if an individual wanted to use a discount or coupon, they'd have to cut it out of cereal boxes and other packaging, but ever since the rise of Voucher cloud, that novelty has much been neglected as apps began taking over.

Compared to cut out and carry, Vouchercloud is:

• Always accessible as it's in app form inside your Smart Phone.
• Always up to date as updates are electronic and therefore instant.
• Location relevant and can be filtered via tabs in interests of 
• Does not require a group interest like Groupon does.

• Living Social

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Extremely similar to Groupon, Living Social encourages individuals to urge their friends to partake in deals, which earns the individual money off their original discount or purchase. Living Social states that "We help local and national businesses grow by introducing them to high-quality new customers. We deliver compelling and cost-effective marketing solutions for businesses large and small and provide our partners with the tools to make our members their regulars." 

Living social offers discounts from local activities, to small getaways and coupons for shopping.

Covering all platforms of smartphone, Living social is also available on the App Store, Google Play and Windows Phone - demonstrated above.

However Living Social seems to be quite hit and miss from the reviews read on this site. Another site gives the same idea of disappointments by Social Living.

Those are what I believe to be the top three competitors for Store pass.

I've also looked at other discount apps/websites and comparison sites for a richer understanding of how they work. An extremely comprehensive blog has put together a lost of the Top 20 Mobile Shopping Apps can be viewed here.

Target Consumers & Demographic

• University Students aged between 18-21 | Emergent Service Workers

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Students in the UK have the support of the government via student loans for some disposable income and more often than not, a lot of students also balance uni life with having a part time job.

• Young Couples aged between 21-26 | New Affluent Workers

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Young couples that have worked hard and been lucky in the careers department that are earning steady money and living by themselves are in comfortable enough state to do necessary shopping (groceries, furniture etc.) as well as leisurely retail activities (clothes shopping, going to restaurants.) 

• Established Families between 26-30+ | Technical Middle Class & Established Middle Class

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Though through my personal demographic bubble I cannot closely relate to many established families in the age ranges suggested; The research of the success of other discount apps I can safely say that the response with discounts for families is just as popular as the attention that's garnered from younger individuals.

[Chart and Graph information from this Source]

Retail sales impact on the Economy.

It's no surprise that discounts and sales raise sales, stores use this to clear stock that they have too much of or just as marketing strategy to bring in footfall and make small sales. As small sells are generally far easier than large sales. Cheap items encourage impulse sales, so people usually can justify buying inexpensive items as being a £1 or £2 short doesn't have a great impact on their life.

A hopeful post titled "UK retail sales rise more than expected in September" published in October 2013 states that "retail market research specialist Verdict on Monday forecast British retailers were set to enjoy their best growth in Christmas sales since the financial crisis.

The retail sector accounts for just under 6 percent of the British economy.

A first estimate of British gross domestic product in the third quarter is due to be released on Friday next week. Many economists expect growth picked up to around 0.8 or 0.9 percent from 0.7 percent in the second quarter." which further demonstrates my point on the retail economy being a key component to the recovery of the British financial status.

The BBC also wrote "Now it is true that the very high 143% current ratio of gross household debt to income is down from an eye-watering 169.9% peak in 2008, with the fall largely due to the impact of inflation on nominal wages.

Maybe, therefore, households on the margin feel a bit less financially stretched than they did."

[Source][Source]

For this reason I believe money saving apps will be effective and welcomed by the nation. We can already see this happening with apps such as Groupon and Vouchercloud - some of the most popular disscount apps in the UK! 

An ironic article spoke of Groupon's success becoming it's own downfall as manufacturer's and businesses underestimated the success of their offers, resulting in an influx of business that was unmanageable and even potential loss. 

"Rachel Brown, who runs the Need a Cake bakery in Reading, Berkshire, has said the 75pc discount she offered Groupon subscribers last spring on 12 cupcakes that usually cost £26 was “without doubt the worst ever business decision I have made”.She only expected a few hundred orders but under-estimated the deal’s popularity and, besieged by 8,500 people who signed up for the £6.50 bargain, ended up losing between £2.50 and £3 on each batch she sold.... Mr Tschotsch (joint director of Groupon) said Groupon now does much more to prepare merchants making offers through the company, in addition to carrying out credit and director checks."

[Source - Cave, A. (2012). Groupon ‘victim of its own success’. Available: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/9192302/Groupon-victim-of-its-own-success.html. Last accessed 7th December 2013] 

There's no doubt of groupon's success visible in nearly all corners of the virtual world when searching for coupons and discounts. Some people have even found their businesses success through Groupon. Here are some inspiring stories.

This one in particular is my personal favourite:  "The last success story comes from the Elkhorn Inn in Eckman, West Virginia. What I learned from their experience is that business should e flexible with Groupon offers. The inn sold a total of 82 packages, 99 percent of which went to new clients. The inn told me their philosophy is “if they love us enough to buy three Groupons so they can keep coming back to the Elkhorn Inn & bring their friends, they deserve the discount!”Here’s the part about flexibility: The inn also chose to allow purchasers to use two Groupons simultaneously for two guest rooms, so they could come with their children or friends. When the Groupon purchasers call to book, the inn also has the chance to upsell the new customers on dinners at the Inn. They were prepared.
Groupon may not be in the dictionary yet, but it sure is helping to define local business in this crazy economy. "

[Source - McCue, TJ. (2011). 5 Groupon Success Stories And Discount-to-Loyalty Strategies. Available: https://www.openforum.com/articles/5-groupon-success-stories-and-discount-to-loyalty-strategies/. Last accessed 7th December 2013.]

This helps towards my independent research for my app as I can learn from the errors of the discount apps that have come before. With the limited time and product offers there is little need to worry about over-orders as stores remain in full control of the amount of stock and amount of discount an individual gets. per customer, per day.