Grouponista (group coupon user)
Groupon is a company that produces “group coupons” that are presented to businesses for product discounts. The term “Grouponista” was used in July 2010 to describe someone who works at Groupon. (”-ista” is an ending popularized from such words as “Sandinista” and “fashionista.”)
In July 2012, Back Alley Waffles (a business located in Washington, DC) closed its doors because it lost so much money from Groupon promotions. Craig Nelson, the owner, wrote:
“But many of the Grouponistas were simply indifferent to the prospect of a new sensual experience. They had their coupon and their right to cheap food, and they wanted that food delivered with the kind of uniform efficiency the McDonald’s Corporation fields globally 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.”
“Grouponista” was used in a derogatory context, meaning a customer who wants top service at a discount price (“something for nothing”) and one who would never pay the full, true price of a product.
Wikipedia: Groupon
Groupon (a portmanteau derived from “group coupon”) is a deal-of-the-day website that features discounted gift certificates usable at local or national companies. Groupon was launched in November 2008, and the first market for Groupon was Chicago, followed soon thereafter by Boston, New York City, and Toronto. By October 2010 Groupon served more than 150 markets in North America and 100 markets in Europe, Asia and South America and had 35 million registered users.
The Conical Glass
The Worst Writing Job in the World
Date: 2010.07.12
Yesterday, I wrote about John McNally’s book After the Workshop, in which a writer with an MFA from Iowa has to take a job as a media escort because he can’t finish his novel. Driving far more successful writers than oneself around a city might seem like a pretty crummy job, but if I had to choose, I’d rather play chauffeur to midlist hacks than take what surely must be the worst writing job in the world: crafting the prose for Groupons.
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However, apparently there is a whole staff of Grouponistas, and they’re hiring more.
cwiney5
Hey Grouponistas: Welcome to my (kitchen) nightmare!
Posted by cwiney at 9:49 AM Saturday, May 7, 2011
Google Books
Groupon’s Biggest Deal Ever
By Frank Sennett
New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press
2012
Pg. ?:
From the top down, Grouponistas are expected to adopt the ethic of being transparent, collaborative, and—thanks in large part to the jokey-ey-well-researched deal write-ups Mason calls “the heartbeat of the company”—absurdist humor.
The Consumerist
Waffle Joint Blames Groupon’s “Shocking Business Practices” For Its Demise After Only 3 Months
By Mary Beth Quirk on July 24, 2012 11:00 AM
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The trouble all started, adds the owner (via Washington City Paper) when Groupon promised to send his business lots of new customers. Which is great — but when the customers buy a code for say, 50% off coupons, the money goes to Groupon first, and the customer brings a code to the restaurant. A code is not money, and so, the owner says, one would think that Groupon would take the money the customer paid and send the business’ share immediately.
However, he says Groupon held on to the money so long, the restaurant wasn’t able to keep up with the out-of-pocket expenses it had to incur in order to meet the rush of waffle demand. He says he waited for a month to get the first of three payments mailed to him, and then wait another month, and so on. It took too long, he says, and now Grouponistas will just have to get refunds from their “new insect overlords” at Groupon.
Business Insider
The Man Who Claims Groupon Killed His Waffle Shop Hates Groupon Users, Too
Jim Edwards|Jul. 26, 2012, 2:47 PM
Craig Nelsen, who claims his waffle store was bankrupted because Groupon was too slow in sending him money from the daily deals he offered, just posted an epic rant about the experience in the comments section of the article we wrote about him earlier today.
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But many of the Grouponistas were simply indifferent to the prospect of a new sensual experience. They had their coupon and their right to cheap food, and they wanted that food delivered with the kind of uniform efficiency the McDonald’s Corporation fields globally 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.