GAP Continues Its Aggressive BTS Push

From Mashable: Groupon Smashes Sales Records with Nationwide GAP Deal

GAP is getting as innovative as it is aggressive. In their ongoing BTS push (25% off your entire purchase with a FourSquare check-in last Sunday), they broke Groupon's servers last week on their way to selling 441,000 Groupons in a single day ($50 worth of merchandise for $25). This was a big day for Groupon - this was their first national deal, netting them a whopping $11 million in revenue. At least we now know they're capable.

One the biggest success factors was their wise multi-platform distribution strategy:

"We attribute the rate of sale to Groupon promotional handles on Facebook/Twitter, distribution via @earlybird, a blast to Gap’s newsletter subscribers and word of mouth from our 10 million subscribers in North America.”

The phenomenal story isn't without its critics, however. There is some speculation about the ROI on this bold tactic. Some argue that GAP essentially left $11 million in revenue on the table right off the bat by selling the half-off groupons, not to mention the Groupon's cut (usually 50%). However, I think this is unquestionably a big win for GAP - while there is some lost revenue up front, this will no doubt bring in hundreds of thousands incremental customers who might not otherwise have considered shopping at GAP this BTS season, not to mention those customers will likely end up spending more than their $50. To boot, the WOM and exposure GAP is getting from this will more than make up for any lost revenue.

Some additional discussion on the deal's ROI on ZDNet: Groupon's $11 Million Gap Day: A Business Winner or Loser?