LivingSocial announced on Tuesday that it is rolling out new tools for merchants, a larger deals inventory, extended-length deals and new coupons.
A spokesperson for the company tells WebProNews that LivingSocial is “moving towards being more of a marketing partner for merchants and an online marketplace destination for consumers.”
“The new enhancements were developed after listening to feedback from merchants and customers and trialing the solutions with merchants over the past few months,” they said.
Through the LivingSocial Merchant Center, merchants can respond immediately to feedback from customers after they redeem a deal, and will have access to enhanced deal metrics including deal exposure and user engagement, purchaser highlights and payments information. Merchants will also have access to a tool letting them monitor social media campaigns and two new promotional product options – Amplifier and Stampede – which the company says “are outside the traditional deal structure.”
With Amplifier ads, the merchant’s promotions receive “premium distribution” on LivingSocial’s channels. The company says this results in “vastly increased exposure and incremental purchases.” With Stampede, brands promote offers that customers can claim with no upfront payment required. They can claim an offer, and get email confirmation with a redemption voucher, then can pay later when they redeem the voucher.
“In the past three months we have quadrupled the number of LivingSocial deals available,” said CEO Tim O’Shaughnessy. “We have moved from simply being a daily deal company to a real marketing partner for merchants by adding effective and custom solutions to improve their bottom line. Simultaneously, we are giving consumers broader inventory and more ways to get great products, experiences, events and escapes.”
With increased inventory – which includes more spas, restaurants and “weekend getaways” – comes the need to get these deals in front of consumers. A redesigned LivingSocial website and app aims to take care of that with enhanced search capabilities.
Finally, LivingSocial is rolling out coupons in beta, which let consumers access and redeem free promo codes, coupons and info on sales from over 3,000 retailers in North America. More about this offering here.