‘Blink Hotels’ Travel App Acquired by Groupon
If you’ve been keeping up with all that has been going on with the online coupon company Groupon over the past couple of years, then you know that it’s been a bit of a bumpy ride for them. As a matter of fact, just earlier this year, it received quite a bit of unfortunate media press stating that it was losing millions of dollars on a monthly basis due to high turnover and poor pricing. Plus, with competitive companies such as Living Social on its heels, they have also had to fight to remain relevant.
But thanks to a recent announcement that they made, their luck may be about to change. That’s because they have made the acquisition of the travel app, Blink Hotels.
If you’re not familiar with what Blink is and you happen to be a travel enthusiast, then it’s something that you will definitely enjoy knowing about. What Blink does is assist you with how to reserve a room, at the last-minute, at either a boutique or premium hotel, all from the convenience of your smartphone. Not only that, but they guarantee that you will always get the rooms at the best discounted rate whether it’s 10 percent lower than the lowest online cost or even 20-70 percent off of the average fee per room.
So, why was this a smart purchase for Groupon? Well, being that Blink currently supports approximately 184 cities in 8 different countries and also being that people can either use their iPhones or Androids to accept the app, this is ideal for Groupon when it comes to the travel-related coupons that they tend to offer on a fairly regular basis. Now people when people go to Groupon to see what kind of discounts are offered on spas, resorts and hotels, they may be able to get an even greater discount than before. This could prove to be a real “plus” both for the company as well as their customers.
Say for instance that you’re looking on Groupon for some trains to Hull to get to London, but you forgot to book a hotel reservation. Now, you can simply go on Groupon‘s website and find a deal that could save you over half of what it would cost had you booked the reservation on your own. Plus, being that Blink Hotels specializes in last-minute reservations, you can be rest assured that it’s a room that you will feel comfortable in.
If you happen to be someone who already has Blink on your phone and you’re wondering if this is a sign of drastic changes up ahead as it relates to the app, reportedly, the only transition that will transpire (at least for now) is the change in the name. Now, instead of being simply known as Blink, the app will be referred to as Blink by Groupon (after all, branding is everything, right?). But other than that, you will still be able to get the same great service that you always have had. In some ways, maybe even better.
That is, if Groupon has anything to say about it.