10-Aug-09 12:15 PM CST

What a great gimmick! Groupon hits Houston

Once in a while you find a great concept and think “I wish I had thought of that”! That’s how I felt when I found Groupon.com – what a great gimmick! They started in Chicago and added new cities as they got advertisers. Now they are rolling out Houston, today was the first Houston Groupon offering. Groupon uses social networking to funnel people and use it to get the customer to drive more biz…great concept. How Groupon Works Groupon is a combination of the words group and coupon. Each day, they offer an unbeatable deal on the best of Houston: restaurants, spas, sporting events, theater, and more. By promising businesses a minimum number of customers, they offer great discounts. For the consumer it is “collective buying power”! If you want to get the deal, just click BUY before the offer ends at midnight. If the minimum number of people (20 for today’s deal) sign up by the end of the day, you’ll get a printable gift certificate in your inbox the next morning that you can use whenever you want (well, at least until the deal expires-today’s expires in six months). If not enough people join, no one gets the deal (and you won’t be charged), so invite your friends to make sure you get the discount! It’s nice to wake up to something new every day. Some people get their daily fix from desk calendars with a cute puppy and a funny caption every morning. Groupon is like a desk calendar, except the puppy is an unbeatable discount and the funny caption is a profound reflection on the flowers and needles growing from life’s cactus. Like some of the other local search sites they allow people to review food, entertainment and more. Details I just got today’s Groupon (Houston’s first Groupon) and it offers $35 worth of organic and all-natural food for 57% off at Ruggles Green, Houston’s first certified green restaurant. Ruggles Green, a casual bistro in the Upper Kirby area, serves organic and all-natural food made from quality ingredients. The menu is a collection of comfort food that keeps omnivores and carnivores content; try spicy fish tacos, warm goat cheese salad, 98% lean buffalo burger, tomato basil soup, or wood-fired pizzas (organic margherita pizza and more). I don’t need to sell you on organic … it reduces the amount of pesticides and chemicals in the environment (and in your food), and it tastes better because organic fruits and vegetables have higher levels of antioxidants, lower average crop yields, and flavor crystals. If enough of us demand organic I think the premium price in the grocery will come down, ###