Nutcracker tickets for $22, discounts on salon services and a dozen specialty cupcakes for $10. These are some of the deals featured for Anchorage buyers last week at www.groupon.com, a web-based service offering deep discounts. Groupon made its debut in Anchorage last Monday and by all accounts, appears to be a hit among local bargain shoppers. Excited deal seekers tweeted, updated Facebook and blogged about snatching up hot deals in Anchorage.

“I am soooo all over today’s Anchorage Groupon! Today we can get a $70 voucher to use at The Skin Bar for just $35!!!” said Nichole Smith in a post on www.gooddealdivas.com, which is a local website featuring deals in Alaska, Hawaii and the United States.

There is no doubt Groupon provides great deals to consumers, but where is the value for retailers and service providers? Groupon requires businesses to offer discounts of 50 to 90 percent. Additionally, their cut for the online sales is up to 50 percent. Some business owners aren’t willing to post a Groupon deal because it may not add up to many, if any, profits. But, for some, it’s not about profit. Opel Letendre, who is owner of The Skin Bar Hair Body & Boutique, offered $70 worth of services for $35. She went with the Groupon deal thinking it would get a few people in the door to try her newly expanded business.

“It was so much more than that,” she said. “313 have purchased Groupon; we set the record for Anchorage so far. That is potentially 313 new clients coming in the door even if we only keep half of them coming back. That is a huge asset to our newly expanded business.”

Profit was not a huge factor when the Anchorage Concert Association offered A-Tier seating tickets to Nutcracker for $22. Jason Grenn, who is marketing director, said the deal was not much of a money-maker, but it was creative and cutting edge. As leaders in the arts, Grenn said it’s important to stay in tune with the pulse of new and exciting things in Anchorage.

“We have our own iPhone app and we did a flash mob with Mamma Mia, so some of those things show we are leading the charge for arts organizations,” he said.

Grenn noted the Groupon deals work well with larger shows because they have the inventory to offer deep discounts on tickets. He said a Groupon deal for a smaller one-night show wouldn’t work to their advantage.

Though there was a positive response, some Anchorage users were not able to access deals last week. Julie Mossler, who is a spokeswoman for Groupon, describes it as a “freak occurrence.” A hot deal from Nordstrom Rack and a mention on Oprah’s Favorite Things 2010 spurred a higher than usual amount of traffic, causing delays with their website.

To those who had trouble, it may be worth giving Groupon another shot. Jason Grenn says the Anchorage Concert Association is considering another deal for an upcoming Broadway show.