????團(tuán)購(gòu)網(wǎng)站最近幾個(gè)月過得不大順心。兩年前，社交定位網(wǎng)站FourSquare和團(tuán)購(gòu)網(wǎng)站Groupon這樣的公司還籍籍無(wú)名，如今基本上已成了家喻戶曉的品牌。隨著關(guān)注而來(lái)的，還有猛烈的批評(píng)：Groupon頗具創(chuàng)造新的會(huì)計(jì)方法大受攻擊，一些消費(fèi)者和小商戶也表達(dá)了不滿，認(rèn)為團(tuán)購(gòu)服務(wù)并沒有吹噓的那么好。事實(shí)證明，要在各方利益之間取得平衡——給商戶省錢，讓消費(fèi)者得實(shí)惠，服務(wù)提供商也得有可持續(xù)的商業(yè)模式——是一個(gè)相當(dāng)復(fù)雜的問題。然而，規(guī)模較小的SCVNGR公司卻認(rèn)為，它已經(jīng)找到了答案。

????這家位于馬薩諸塞州劍橋市的公司正在積極推廣其新產(chǎn)品LevelUp，增加用戶基礎(chǔ)。該產(chǎn)品對(duì)團(tuán)購(gòu)模式作了一些調(diào)整，用戶在某個(gè)商家消費(fèi)的越多，所獲得的積分和獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)也就越多。其首席執(zhí)行官賽斯?普瑞巴什稱，該產(chǎn)品已經(jīng)準(zhǔn)備好迎來(lái)更大發(fā)展。經(jīng)過一個(gè)夏季的測(cè)試，LevelUp已經(jīng)在波士頓和費(fèi)城與約500家商戶進(jìn)行過合作。如今，這家網(wǎng)站進(jìn)入了紐約市和舊金山，這里是消息靈通、喜愛折扣優(yōu)惠的用戶的圣地。

????這項(xiàng)服務(wù)的理念很簡(jiǎn)單：用戶免費(fèi)注冊(cè)后，將一張信用卡或借記卡與賬戶掛鉤。隨后，用戶在合作商家購(gòu)物時(shí)，可以掃描具有特定代碼的智能手機(jī)。用戶首次使用該服務(wù)就可以獲得優(yōu)惠，比如說10美元的折扣。這比其他團(tuán)購(gòu)網(wǎng)站有什么改進(jìn)呢？用戶如果再次回到同一商家消費(fèi)的話，獲得的積分就會(huì)更多，而且在這一過程中可以查閱積分狀況。這樣做的目的很明確，就是讓用戶成為回頭客。對(duì)Groupon、FourSquare用戶及相關(guān)商家來(lái)說，這是個(gè)習(xí)慣性的大問題。

????這家公司稱，這種模式是“逆向優(yōu)惠”和“動(dòng)態(tài)進(jìn)展”。它很大程度上是為了讓商家滿意。普瑞巴什稱，LevelUp測(cè)試期間，45%的用戶在30天內(nèi)會(huì)再次回到特定商家進(jìn)行消費(fèi)，并支付全價(jià)，這一數(shù)字遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)高于他對(duì)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手的估計(jì)。（普瑞巴什聲稱，Groupon帶來(lái)的回頭客比例只有1-2%。由于Groupon正處于上市前的靜默期，因此拒絕就此發(fā)表評(píng)論。）SCVNGR還表示，更重要的是，這些回頭客后來(lái)提高了消費(fèi)額，增幅高達(dá)38%，超出贏得獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)所要求的額度。該公司還稱，其用戶平均給服務(wù)員21%的小費(fèi)，略高于15-18%的普通水平。LevelUp認(rèn)為，自己已經(jīng)解決了Groupon合作商家經(jīng)常抱怨的問題，即用戶買了一次折扣商品之后，就永遠(yuǎn)不再光顧了。

????Daily deals firms have had a rough few months. Barely known two years ago, companies like FourSquare and Groupon are now practically household names. With the attention has come a barrage of criticism: Groupon's creative accounting came under fire amid a backlash from some consumers and small businesses that claim the services aren't all they're cracked up to be. Indeed, getting the right mix -- savings for merchant, rewards for consumer, and a sustainable business model for providers – has proved complicated. Smaller rival SCVNGR thinks it's found the answer.

????The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company is expanding access to its new product LevelUp, a twist on the daily deals scheme that offers credits and rewards the more users spend at a given merchant. CEO Seth Priebatsch says the product is ready for prime time. Today, after a summer testing phase with some 500 merchants in Boston and Philadelphia, LevelUp hits New York City and San Francisco –meccas of connected, deal-savvy users.

????The concept is simple: users sign up for free, linking a credit or debit card to their account. Then, when shopping at participating merchants, they can scan a smart phone with a unique code. Users get credit the first time they use it, say a $10 discount toward their purchase. The improvement over other daily deals? Going back to the same store repeatedly earns users' even more credits, displaying progress along the way. The incentive is clear, to keep users coming back -- a habitual problem that has had Groupon and FourSquare users and merchant crying foul.

????The company calls this its "inverted deal" and progression dynamic. It's largely aimed at keeping merchants happy. Priebatch says that, during LevelUp's pilot program, 45% of customers returned to a given merchant within 30 days to pay for something full price, higher than his estimates for rival services (Priebatch claims Groupon, which is in its quiet period and declined to comment, only brings back 1% to 2%). What's more, the company claims that users increase their spend by 38% on the transactions that put them over the top for earning a reward. The company also boasts that its average consumer tips waiters 21%, slightly above the normal range of about 15-18%. LevelUp thinks it's solved the common complaint of Groupon merchants that users buy one discounted product and walk away for good.