Social discounting websites make readers excited about a good deal

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on August 18, 2010 at 12:32 PM

The combination of a weak economy and the digital age makes selling newspapers increasingly difficult; however, innovative solutions can leverage the situation. Magazines and newspapers are using social discounting websites such as Groupon and Crowdity to rein in new subscriptions.

The principles of the discount sites are simple. Newspapers offer their subscriptions at a largely discounted price, but the deal only goes through if a minimum number of people subscribe. Last month when the Chicago Tribune used Groupon, they offered their one-year subscription for US$13, a 75% discount from the full price of $51. They required that 200 people subscribe to offer the deal. The final number of subscriptions was 7,494. Groupon, however, does take a 50% cut of the profit from the subscriptions.

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