Groupon Now launches in three new markets

Groupon Now is rolling out slowly but surely

I’ve been sitting here, patiently awaiting the arrival of Groupon Now to reach my home town of Sacramento. It’s taking longer than I thought. I had assumed that once Groupon Now launched, it would suddenly become active in every market in which Groupon operates, but alas, that hasn’t been the case. But it’s getting closer. Groupon announced Wednesday that Groupon Now is now available in Las Vegas, Minneapolis, and Orange County, California, bringing the total number of markets Groupon Now reaches to 20.

It seems logical that Groupon is hitting up all of the major cities first: Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York City, among others. Groupon Now is ideal for touristy hotspots, like New York City, where there are tons of things to do, see, and eat, but prices can be pretty outrageous. Enter Groupon Now, and you can experience a little bit of New York for half the price (during designated hours).

So why can’t Groupon simply activate Groupon Now in all of its markets at once? It could be because Groupon Now is a different concept altogether, taking a totally different approach to deals than the regular Groupon platform. Instead of appealing to a bunch of merchants who are already looking for ways to market their product/service in the form of long-term campaigns, Groupon Now has to find merchants who are interested in short-term campaigns and instant customer rushes.

That means teaching merchants how to craft deals specifically for Groupon Now. It also means recruiting new businesses, since Groupon Now isn’t going to be right for all merchants. And the service can only work if there are at least a good handful of deals in any one spot. It’s not going to appeal to Groupon subscribers if they check out what’s available and find one deal for a half-priced pedicure at 2 pm on a Tuesday. In many ways, the Groupon Now rollout is like the original Groupon rollout all over again.

In any event, the rollout is slow-going, but it’s going, nonetheless. Groupon Now does not have its own separate app. Rather, subscribers in the markets in which Groupon Now operates can simply download an updated version of the regular Groupon app to start receiving Groupon Now deals as well.