Is web privacy a right?

What does Invasion of privacy means?  Is “Privacy” enforced depending on whom or which are the plaintiff and/or the defendant? Is privacy linked exclusively to the instrument used to violate it?

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission proposed a framework for policymakers and businesses to create a more realistic and flexible legal instrument to protect internet users and ensure their privacy. I said realistic and flexible because looking back to the last decade, many policies have been launched in regards online customer protection but the rapid and changing performance of the technology has left them behind.

Internationally talking, many others countries have set efforts to solve this problem as well. But what is the problem? And what are the consequences involved? It is just the veil of the capitalism which one more time wants to control markets thru colleting and sharing customer’s information? Or it is that governments do not want to lose their unique power to control the information flowing thru the citizen’s minds? As we know companies are more knowledgeable than government in technology and innovation matter.

We have to remember the recent episode between Google and the China government which was asking for censoring the information displayed thru search engines in China to avoid people having access to chat rooms or forums sites where topics such as human’s rights were mention.

 In 2008, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, proposed a Telecommunication Law through which the government would have access to all the information displayed at internet social media websites such as Facebook, Blogger, MSN, IM among others. More recently, a Venezuela’s state electric utility employee was arrested because he posted a message on Twitter that apparently was hurting the credibility of Venezuela’s president. (I would mention that the Venezuelan constitution covers the freedom of speech as well many democratic countries)

So, two main conclusions come to my mind. First, privacy customer’s protection is a fair practice that has to be enforced by businesses and companies worldwide to ensure the well being of buyers, but a more crucial need with a higher priority has to be cover and this is the privacy protection against unscrupulous political systems that attempt to control citizen’s intellect and silence their voices. Second, shouldn’t governments be role models for companies and public in general in regards invasion of privacy? Are antiterrorism policies control the excuse for many countries to sniff people’s computers?  

Peace for all countries...

Groupon: Customer Equity or Business Failure?

“Colpus”, “Colaphus”, “Colp”, or in modern French “Coup” are variations of the word Coupon that means a portion that is cut off. Coupons have been used by marketers for decades within their marketing strategies. Free samples, re-funds, premiums, point- of- purchase (POP) promotions and coupons are some of the major sales promotion tools used not only to attract new customers but also to increase sales at the marketplace. I am sure that many of you have wondered at least once who pays for coupons?  Are the companies incurring in an expense issuing them? Is there a real analysis behind these certificates? Do they represent a loss for companies? Are retailers or manufacturers reducing significantly their income taxes with them? If they are so good strategy why companies have declined the use of the coupons in the last years?

According to John Zdanowicz , a Corporate Finance professor at FIU Business College, discount coupon prices are calculated by companies in most cases in a safety way that avoid losses. They use something call Loss Leader Strategy through which offer non profitable deals in order to attract customer who may buy another product as well and get compensated for the discount. Many companies avoid backlog of perishable products selling them for less, or reduce the net profit margin of their business to increase sales and catch the attention of price-sensitive customers to get in reward brand and customer equity. But what was wrong with Coupons? Why companies lose confidence in those once powerful tools? The muddle of issuing coupons as a paper certificated and being falsify by unscrupulous customers who wants take advantage on that were responsible  for the agonizing life of the coupons. Also marketers realized that a high percentage of the customers who actually redeem coupons, do not buy more than those products in discount.  



Image rights: gettyimage.com

Two years ago in response to this issue, Andrew Mason, founder and CEO of Groupon brought to the public a new business model which is a mix between technology and a traditional marketing promotion strategy. It is a social- networking -massive- coupon purchase that seems to be an excellent option for many local businesses in 52 cities here in U.S. to boost their profits. How this works is the company offers to other firms, let say restaurants, spas, theaters, sale discount coupons for their products or services through the web, but these coupons will be activated just if a certain amount of them are sold. That allow retailers estimate the breakeven point and come up with the number of coupons that they can issue without incurring into losses. But how much get Groupon from this? Is it a simple transaction fee? It is a reasonable percentage of coupon’s value? The answer is No! , according to Julia Boorstin, a correspondent from CNBC, they get 50 percentage of what customers pay. Oh yes! 50 percentage! That is amazing, isn’t it?

Well, let me tell you something, I have read negatives comments from a restaurant’s owner in Chicago, who had a bad experience with Groupon. It was not the company itself. It was the consequences that its business model brought to her business. She was losing money due to the overwhelming number of customers who were using their coupons (actually they were buying more than one coupon in a single family when it was supposed to be one per household) taking places for non-coupon customers who usually visit the place.

It is true that the advantages are indisputable, free advertizing, better control over the coupons, safety procedure, comfortable for the client, rapid spread of the brand, peer pressure to buy coupons to get them activated, but It is really a sustainable business model? Are they selling a concept that will be suitable for everybody? Is Groupon’s policy fair compare with other's firm policies such as Gottahalfit.com which gain less than that 50 percent that it charge?

I encourage retailers to do a research before to be part of any kind of service which promise wonderful things. There is a only way to make a good decision in business, analyzing the data, as said one of my professor “In God we trust, the rest bring the data”.