City life; see and do things you wouldn’t usually do by subscribing to a special offers website

Added to this has been the overwhelming success of discount voucher websites. They have single handedly developed a widespread culture of bargain hunting. Whether you are looking for a cheap haircut, money off your clothes shopping or a cheap meal out, you can find a wide variety of deals covering all aspects of life. Not only is the discount voucher scheme great for the consumer, it is also helpful for local businesses driving substantial consumer traffic to their website.

A friend of mine has recently opened a mixed use private members club under a railway arch in east London which offers photography studio space, a hair salon and tattooist. The location has no footfall so the success is heavily reliant on word of mouth and internet marketing. They approached Groupon to discuss putting an offer on their website offering a £60 wash and cut at a reduced rate of £23. Within 3 weeks they had taken 430 bookings! Although they were not making a great deal of money per hair cut, they were certainly getting a much greater number of new customers through the door who in turn were getting a cheap haircut in an unusual and arty space compared to the usual high street salon.

With the rise in social media, the whole concept of viral marketing has really taken off and this has further aided the bargain hunter mentality. If someone is looking to generate some interest in an offer they have found they will more often than not post the link on Facebook. This link will then be shown publically to all their friends and offer everyone else the change to get involved. It’s this kind of integrated online consumer behaviour that has changed the mindset of many.

It is all too easy, living in London, to get caught up in the rat race and miss out on being a ‘tourist’ in your own city. If you look for deals in London on a site like Groupon you will find fantastic savings on a whole range of activities that could fill your diary up for the rest of the year. 25% here, 60% there all adds up and if you are well organised you will make savings well into the thousands if you are a regular user. It’s not only people living in London that can benefit either, you will find Glasgow deals, Edinburgh deals, Belfast deals, anywhere and everywhere!

As well as Groupon there are many other discount sites such as MyVouhcerCodes, DiscountVouchers and Wowcher to name a few. If you are looking for something different for less my advice is to go on the websites with an open mind and see what you can find, I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised.