Setting up a Groupon campaign

When a customer buys a Groupon deal, for instance, their confirmation from Groupon will include the URL to the client’s website and basic instructions on how to redeem. This is the case most of the time.

When a booking is made using the code or codes related to the Groupon campaign, customer codes will be used and tracked in the campaign properly, and value will be provided for their voucher code.

The Best Practice – Groupon Dashboard shows how simple this setup is.

Read more about the booking process below.

Step 1: Duplicate Online Price Sheet

• Title the price sheet after the virtual coupon being applied, i.e.Groupon/Travelzoo/LivingSocial.

Step 2: Create Customer Types

• Make the CTs hidden on the base, visible only on Groupon sheet

  • Note: Make sure regular CTs are all hidden on Groupon sheet (easiest to create Groupon sheet before creating CTs)

  • Price the CT to the corresponding amount of the Groupon/Travelzoo/LivingSocial (within the item)

Step 3: Create Groupon Campaigns – There are two ways to accomplish this setup.

Option #1 (most common):

• Create a campaign for each deal (for example, Groupon – Tour for 1 Person and Groupon – Tour for 2 People).

  • Note: When importing codes, best practice is to create the max use of 1; regardless of the number of people the voucher is good for. For example, a Groupon for 2 people, you would make each code valid for 1 use (so customers only have to enter 1 code, 1 time regardless of the amount of people), and attach this campaign to its corresponding redemption field.

• Set valid or blackout dates according to the company’s preferences.

Option #2:

• Create a campaign for each deal (for example, Groupon – Tour for 1 Person and Groupon – Tour for 4 People).

  Note: When importing codes, it’s important to understand how the client is set up on Groupon.

  • Examples of different scenarios:

    • Groupon for 2 = 1 Code 1 Use (option 1)
    • Groupon for 2 = 1 Code 2 Uses
    • Groupon for 2 = 2 Codes 1 Use

  • It’s very important to understand how the client is set up on Groupon, so you can reflect their FH dash to work the same way (regardless of best practice).

    • If the client has 1 code w/multiple uses; or multiple codes for 1 use on any offer – you upload the codes w/however many uses they have, but make sure your customer types can be selected more than once (so they can enter the code the correct amount of times).

    • Set valid or blackout dates according to the company’s preferences.

Step 4: Create Redemption field(s) – Required

Note: These should never be the same as the company’s normal promo code redemption field by item; Groupon CT’s and redemption fields should be hidden on the base, and only visible on the Groupon price sheet.

• Create a code redemption field and link the appropriate Groupon campaign(s) you’ve set up.

  • Internal Name: be specific, the name should reflect the CT it’s being applied to
  • Title: “Enter your code here:”
  • Note: Each Groupon offer needs its own redemption field
    • Example: Groupon for two & Groupon for four need to have different redemptions, to ensure that customers can’t redeem a Groupon for two codes in the Groupon for four redemption field.

• Attach corresponding campaigns priced at -100%

  • IMPORTANT: Gather info on Groupon/Travelzoo/LivingSocial taxes. See tax section for details.

Step 5: Add CTs & Redemptions to Items (Redemptions belong on the CT – Not the whole booking) | Attach CTs to Resources | Use the availability updater to add CTs to the calendar availabilities, if needed.

Make sure the tour operator gives Groupon clear redemption instructions for the Groupon confirmation. Instructions should include information about the private/unlisted URL for redeeming online if one was created (not required).

Sample redemption instructions:

Thank you for purchasing your Groupon with 7 Seas Whale Watch! Here are some easy steps to redeem your Groupon voucher:

Visit this special link to redeem: https://www.7seaswhalewatch.com/

Please note: this link is the only place to redeem online.

During the online checkout enter your Groupon voucher code(s) for each customer. The same Groupon voucher code can be used for each person in your party.

Present Groupon voucher (either mobile or printed) upon arrival at check in. Have fun!

Direct/backend bookings

Steps for logged-in users:

1. Choose the availability you want to book.
2. Switch the price sheet to Groupon/TravelZoo/Living Social.
3. Select the # of customers booking.
4. Enter Groupon codes in the redemption field for those who have Groupons.
5. Verify the subtotal is $0 (unless taxes are being collected).
6. Complete the booking.

Online bookings

Steps for online customers:

1. Follow the URL in the Groupon confirmation or visit the company website
2. Choose which date/time to book for a given activity
3. Select # of customers who will be booking
4. Enter your Groupon code in the code field(s) for customers who have Groupons
5. Complete the booking

Example of “Add voucher or discount code” option:

Example of code entry field:

For larger clients we recommend they set up a private/unlisted webpage on their site. This page won’t show up in Google searches and can’t be accessed by anyone except Groupon customers with the direct link.

On the private page, include clear instructions for the customer. Tag the integration with the the Groupon online price sheet, so that the customer type for the campaign is visible when booking online from this page. Only tag the ASN if Groupon is setup as an affiliate (not required).

If setup with an ASN, it will get tagged to the affiliate Groupon and will power the invoice sheet (if it’s set up) telling the client how much money they are making in reports.

Notes

If the company has a campaign that has already been ongoing:

• All new customers will get the new redemption instructions pointing them to redeem on the new Private Groupon page.
• For customers who purchased before the update: unfortunately we don’t think Groupon can blast these customers with updated redemption instructions, but we recommend that the client speak with their Groupon rep to confirm. Even if they can’t blast these customers, it should be ok: when they go to the site and can’t figure out how to redeem, they will either call or email, or they will go online to their Groupon dashboard and find the updated redemption instructions.

Does the client collect tax when customers purchase the Groupon?

Yes – no action needed. They are all set. (note: only a few states do this)

No – Groupon taxes will need to be created in the dashboard so please follow the steps below:

Creating Groupon Tax Types:

Information needed:

• What is the taxable amount (for each price point)?
  • Usually the sale price, or green price on the Groupon.
• Is the tax % the same for all Groupon offers?
  • Multi-location dashboards tend to have different tax rates per location.

Step 1: Multiply the taxable price by the tax rate.

Step 2: Attach this tax type to the code redemption custom field.

Step 3: Turn tax off on the Groupon customer type(s). The tax will only be applied at the custom field level, from the redemption field.

• The reason we don’t attach taxes to Groupon customer types is because they might sell that same offer at a different rate next year, which ultimately means a different tax rate. If the taxes are attached to the customer type, then you would only be able to apply one tax, or multiple compounding taxes (big no-no).

• So it’s easiest to add tax types in redemptions, as we have the ability to tax multiple different campaigns at different rates for periods of time.

Creating Groupon Tax Types (w/ Multiple Tax Rates)

Follow the steps above, but you will need to create different code redemption fields based on the different tax percentages.

For example: The company sells a “Racing Experience for 2” Groupon for $100. They have two locations, one in Texas and one in Tennessee. Texas state tax is 6.25% & Tennessee’s state tax is 7%.

1. Texas code redemption field will be priced at -100% with $6.25 flat tax rate applied. ($100 x .0625 = $6.25)

2. Tennessee code redemption field will be priced at -100% with $7 flat tax rate applied. ($100 x .07 = $7)

Multiple location Groupon Tax Example:

• Dream Drive Exotics