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Tag: daily deals

  • Facebook Promotes eBay Daily Deals— Will it Help Sellers?

    Facebook Promotes eBay Daily Deals— Will it Help Sellers?

    It looks like Facebook is testing out a new way to get its more than 2 billion users to spend money via its platform. Though not yet publicly announced, the tech giant has recently partnered with eBay bringing the online retailer’s Daily Deals to the FB Marketplace.

    Currently in the testing phase, the new Daily Deals feature is only available to a small portion of FB users in the U.S. and displays 100 discounted products available on eBay, showing both the percentage discounted from its price as well as a countdown on how long the deal for a particular item is available. To see the actual price, however, you’ll have to click on the deal to be transported eBay’s site for check out.

    Until now, Facebook Marketplace has always been about peer-to-peer transactions. Relaunched last fall, it aggregates postings from various “buy and sell” groups and, with its integration of Messenger, allows both buyers and sellers a means to communicate and seal their deals, reports Tech Crunch.

    With FB Marketplace setting up an online space for buyers and sellers to meet, the feature was seen as a competitor for Craigslist and eBay, according to TheVerge. Thus, it is a bit surprising that Facebook has now teamed up with a third-party site for deals promotion and with eBay at that.

    However, it looks like Facebook offering eBay’s Daily Deals is the social media giant’s tentative step in looking for new ways to monetize its more than 2 billion active user base. As stated by  Akash Anand, Facebook Production Manager, “We’re conducting a test to determine if people are interested in shopping for discounted products when they visit Marketplace.” The bottom line is that Daily Deals is still in its testing phase; the feature may not even reach mainstream users as it could be dropped depending on user reception.

    In a way, Facebook’s partnership with eBay could be the company’s response to Spark. Last month, Amazon entered the social media scene by creating its own platform – Spark – which is basically a network where consumers can compare notes on the various products being sold by Amazon.

    In Facebook’s case, it will be the reverse of what Amazon did with Spark since the social media giant will now be venturing into eCommerce. Though Facebook is not asking for a share from eBay in the revenue from the Daily Deals feature at the moment, it is easy to see how such an arrangement could be worked out in the future.

    But there is one reason why Facebook could be hesitant in going all out on eCommerce. Unlike Amazon whose revenue is mainly sourced from online sales, Facebook’s cash cow is advertising. The deal with eBay, however, might turn off some sellers/advertisers as they might see it as competition to their brand’s visibility unless their product is included in eBay’s Daily Deals of course.

    It is interesting to note that Facebook’s deal with eBay is not exclusive. This opens up the possibility that the company could enter into an agreement with other third-party sellers in the future for them to post their own daily deals.

    Just like Facebook, advertisers need to follow how FB’s deal with eBay pans out. Don’t worry, we’ll keep you posted on the latest developments.

    [Featured Image via Youtube]

  • Groupon Recalls Fake, Possibly Holey Condoms

    Groupon Australia has admitted that it sold a bunch of counterfeit condoms that may, in fact, be full of holes.

    The condoms were sold between March 12 and April 10. If you do the math, and it’s not a hard one, you’ll realize there’s a good chance many of these holey condoms have been deployed already.

    According to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, the condoms were branded as Durex ‘Extra Safe’, ‘Thin Feel’ and ‘Performa’ varieties – but were in fact counterfeit.

    “The condoms may be counterfeit products with defects such as holes in the latex,” says the ACCC. “The condoms may not prevent pregnancy or protect users against sexually transmitted diseases, which can result in serious illness or death.”

    Oops.

    The Australian government Department of Health has issued an advisory, saying,

    “Counterfeiting is a problem for all major condom brands and consumers should be alert for potential fakes. Signs that might indicate a potential counterfeit products include suspiciously low prices, poor quality of printing on the packaging and whether information on the foil packaging of individual condoms match that on the box … In this situation, the seller was Edgelounge Enterprises (trading as Citrus Beat), who was responsible for direct shipment of the affected products to customers.”

    Groupon has offered customers a full refund on any returned condoms.

    “Customers are our utmost priority at Groupon and we take their health and safety very seriously. All customers who purchased the counterfeit products have been proactively contacted by Groupon notifying them of the recall and have been advised to discontinue use immediately, dispose or return the goods, and seek professional medical advice if they have concerns about their health,” said Groupon Australia in a statement.

    According to The Independent, this is not a rare occurrence:

    Counterfeiting is a serious problem for condom manufacturers, with cheap fake condoms being produced in their millions across the world, many of them in China.

    Shanghai Police yesterday announced they had seized three million fake condoms that contained toxic metals, with officers reporting that the lubricant used to coat the condoms was so disgusting that it made them feel sick.

    Bottom line: If you bought bulk condoms from a Groupon in Australia over the past month and a half – don’t use them.

    Images via Shawn Latta, Flickr Creative Commons

  • LivingSocial Taps eBay Exec for CEO

    Daily deals company LivingSocial has just poached an eBay exec to be their next CEO, following January’s announcement that longtime head Tim O’Shaughnessy would be resigning.

    Your new LivingSocial CEO is Gautam Thakar. Thakar was eBay advertising General Manager since January of 2013, and has served as the CEO of (eBay-owned) Shopping.com since 2011.

    “We knew we wanted a new CEO with the ability to drive the business forward with energy, vision and deep e-commerce knowledge. The Board and I met with a number of exceptional candidates, and we all believe that Gautam is the perfect fit for the future of LivingSocial,” said O’Shaughnessy.

    “LivingSocial is well-positioned to play a growing role in demand generation for both local and national merchants,” said Thakar. “This is a huge opportunity that will be realized by delighting consumers with personalized services and experiences at great prices. I am excited to join LivingSocial at this important chapter in its journey and help build on all the accomplishments that Tim and the team have achieved so far.”

    LivingSocial says that Thakar will officially take the role in mid-August. Apparently, Thakar’s hire was a unanimous decision from the company’s Board, of which he will join and replace O’Shaughnessy.

    Image via Gautam Thakar, LinkedIn

  • LivingSocial CEO Tim O’Shaughnessy Is Resigning

    The CEO of one of the top daily deals companies in the world has announced that he will be stepping down, effective as soon as a suitable replacement is found.

    Tim O’Shaughnessy said that he has given his all to the company and is “100% convinced” of its future success in a post made Friday morning.

    “Like you, I have given my all to the mission of this company. And I remain 100% convinced the ingredients for success are here. Additionally, I’ve given much thought to the many opportunities that stand in front of us and the benefits that could come from a new perspective and a new voice and approach at the top to lead us there. My responsibility is to recognize that now is the best time to transition leadership – when that full set of ingredients is available to be used most effectively to shape the company’s future,” he said.

    O’Shaughnessy says that the company hopes to find a new CEO in the first half of this year, and he will stay on until that happens.

    LivingSocial was founded by O’Shaughnessy, along with Aaron Batalion, Eddie Frederick, and Val Aleksenko back in 2007.

    “So why now? The beginning of a new year is a useful time for reflection on where we’ve come from, where we are now, and where we need to go as an organization. When Aaron, Eddie, Val and I started this business over an antique shop nearly 7 years ago, I never imagined that the company would become what is today. When we began, we had little more than big ideas, big dreams, and the desire to build and create a hungry machine. The road we’ve traveled has not been straight and it has not been without bumps, but it has been, undoubtedly, extraordinary,” said O’Shaughnessy.

    The past year hasn’t been the smoothest of years for LivingSocial. Not only was the company hit with a large hack that exposed more than 50 million user emails and passwords, but it also posted a significant third-quarter loss in October. In order to boost their offerings and better compete in the daily deals sector, LivingSocial recently launched new coupons, extended-length deals, and more. In his resignation post, O’Shaughnessy did say that LivingSocial had a “better than expected” holiday season.

    LivingSocial isn’t the only daily deals company with a recent CEO shakeup. Back in August, rival Groupon finally named a new permanent CEO following Andrew Mason’s departure – co-founder Eric Lefkofsky.

    Image via LivingSocial

  • LivingSocial Still Down, Now Delaying Email Distribution

    Daily deals site LivingSocial has been down for more than a day, and the company is blaming it on an internal issue.

    LivingSocial.com went down Tuesday afternoon, as did all LivingSocial mobile apps. Although the website says that it is temporarily down of maintenance, the company is revealing that there was in fact a problem that caused the outage. According to LivingSocial, the problem is not external and users shouldn’t worry that any of their personal info has been compromised.

    “We can let you know now that it is the result of an internal issue, and there is nothing to indicate that this was the result of any external factors. Also, there is nothing that leads us to think that any consumer or merchant data, or financial information has been compromised,” says LivingSocial.

    Although this issue may not be related to a hack, it wouldn’t be the first time LivingSocial has experienced such an intrusion. Back in April, the company announced that they had been hacked and it had exposed over 50 million users emails and passwords – but no credit card info.

    LivingSocial says that the have delayed email distribution and that they have “revised promotion schedules to accommodate merchants for the disruption.” You can still access existing deals via email, however, if you already received them.

    Image via LivingSocial

  • Google Offers Come to Google+ with the Ability to Save and Share from the Stream

    Google has just announced that it’s deals platform, Google Offers, is about to get some enhanced visibility inside Google+.

    Starting today, with a initial test run of a handful of brands, Google+ users will be able to see, save and share Offers from their stream.

    “Millions of people follow brands they love on Google+ to keep tabs on them, get the latest news on products, join in on the conversation or simply to be entertained. Many people also engage with businesses to get great deals and discounts. Starting today, we’re making it easier to discover, save and share offers right from Google+.” says Google’s Dennis Troper.

    The small group of brands that are part of this include ZAGAT, Hello Kitty, Art.com, NOOK, and Adafruit Industries. They will now be able to share offers with those who have them in circles. With one click, you’ll be able to save these offers straight from the post in your stream. After that, simply redeem using the Google Offers app of via email confirmation.

  • LivingSocial Hacked: 50M+ Emails & Passwords, but No Credit Card Info

    Daily deals site LivingSocial is the latest major tech company to fall victim to hackers. According to the Washington D.C.-based company, the hack exposed over 50 million users’ email addresses, passwords, birthdates, and more – but no financial information.

    All Things D obtained an internal memo that explains the nature of the attack:

    We recently experienced a cyber-attack on our computer systems that resulted in unauthorized access to some customer data from our servers. We are actively working with law enforcement to investigate this issue.The information accessed includes names, email addresses, date of birth for some users, and encrypted passwords – technically ‘hashed’ and ‘salted’ passwords. We never store passwords in plain text.

    and…

    The database that stores customer credit card information was not affected or accessed. The database that stores merchants’ financial and banking information was not affected or accessed.

    If your LivingSocial account was affected, you’ll likely be receiving an email soon notifying you of the hack. It’ll ask you to create a new password and “consider changing password(s) on any other sites on which you use the same or similar password(s)”

    Here’s the full email that’s being sent out to customers:

    Subject: An important update on your LivingSocial.com account

    LivingSocial recently experienced a cyber-attack on our computer systems that resulted in unauthorized access to some customer data from our servers. We are actively working with law enforcement to investigate this issue.

    The information accessed includes names, email addresses, date of birth for some users, and encrypted passwords – technically ‘hashed’ and ‘salted’ passwords. We never store passwords in plain text.

    The database that stores customer credit card information was not affected or accessed.

    Although your LivingSocial password would be difficult to decode, we want to take every precaution to ensure that your account is secure, so we are expiring your old password and requesting that you create a new one.

    For your security, please create a new password for your < > account by following the instructions below.

    1. Visit LivingSocial.com

    2. Click on the “Create a New Password” button (top right corner of the homepage)

    3. Follow the steps to finish

    We also encourage you, for your own personal data security, to consider changing password(s) on any other sites on which you use the same or similar password(s).

    The security of your information is our priority. We always strive to ensure the security of our customer information, and we are redoubling efforts to prevent any issues in the future.

    Please note that LivingSocial will never ask you directly for personal or account information in an email. We will always direct you to the LivingSocial website — and require you to login — before making any changes to your account. Please disregard any emails claiming to be from LivingSocial that request such information or direct you to a different website that asks for such information.

    If you have additional questions about this process, the “Create a New Password” button on LivingSocial.com will direct you to a page that has instructions on creating a new password and answers to frequently asked questions.

    We are sorry this incident occurred, and we look forward to continuing to introduce you to new and exciting things to do in your community.

    Tim O’Shaughnessy

    CEO, LivingSocial

  • LivingSocial’s Starbucks Deal is the Best-Selling Daily Deal of All Time

    I didn’t buy LivingSocial’s Starbucks deal yesterday. That makes me a weirdo because apparently, everyone else did.

    According to daily deals aggregator Yipit, we have a new king of the daily deals. Wednesday’s $5 for $10 worth of Starbucks offer shattered records, selling 1.5 million gift cards in sum. That means that LivingSocial’s Starbucks deal is now officially the most popular daily deal in the daily deal era.

    By 11pm ET last night, the offer was completely sold out. People truly love their Starbucks coffee, and they love getting it on the cheap even more.

    Wednesday’s LivingSocial deal was the first (second, Google Offers back in April) deal that Starbucks has ever authorized through a daily deals provider, so that explains a lot of the excitement. According to Yipit, the previous record holder for top daily deal belonged to another LivingSocial deal – a $10 for $20 gift card from Amazon.com. That deal sold a little over 1.1 million.

    Out of the top 10 best-selling daily deals according to Yipit, LivingSocial has 6 of them.

    And for today, Starbucks is king. I’m sure those gift cards will be used to purchase many a Pumpkin Spice Latte in the near future.

    starbucks living social deal

    [via Mashable]

  • eBay Launches New Daily Deals Blog

    eBay Launches New Daily Deals Blog

    eBay is looking to promote items from their top sellers with the introduction of a new Daily Deals Blog. And if you love getting products on the cheap, it’s definitely one to add to your feeds.

    From the new Daily Deals blog:

    Every day, we will feature several items from top sellers discounted up to 90% off! From must-have home electronics to popular fitness gear to the hottest fashions and beyond, we’ll highlight the latest and greatest products with the deepest discounts from eBay’s Daily Deals. To ensure you don’t miss out on a great deal, keep coming back throughout the day, every day, to see flash sales, spotlight deals, and more.

    As of now, eBay offers three deals categories apart from the main “featured” category. Those include electronics, fashion, and home & garden.

    Although eBay is pushing that shoppers check out the blog multiple times throughout the day, there is a place to sign up for email alerts. So as long as you don’t mind receiving another email or two (or three or four or five maybe?) touting a daily deal, you can keep up to speed on what’s hot on the site.

    According to eBay, the blog will also do more than just notify shoppers of deals. It will also give tips for smart eBay shopping and a heads up on any new products about to hit the online marketplace.

    ebay daily deals blog

  • LivingSocial Gets Outrageous $23 Million Tax Break

    LivingSocial has been doing very well for itself. In fact, it is time for the daily deals provider to expand its operations, and they contemplated moving headquarters outside its current Washington, D.C. home.

    Fortunately, the D.C. City Council and many local business professionals want to do something to entice them to stay. Members of the business community and state legislator came forward to support a proposed tax abatement that would save LivingSocial over $23 million if they decide to open a new office building in D.C.

    Local legislators and business advocates feel a new office would draw more top-level talent to the area and further stimulate an already flourishing tech-based district economy. The tax breaks would begin at the beginning of 2015.

    Living social currently employs about five thousand people with about a fifth of those actually working within the city. While the majority involved in the decision making process were in favor of the tax incentive, others would like to see the break tied to a percentage of the workforce which must be residents of the area.

    Some have even suggested the incentives be related to the company’s ability to create new positions based on true progress rather than new hires as a result of turnover. Daily Deal Media has fuller coverage of the debate over the proposed tax abatement for LivingSocial.

  • Groupon Reportedly Axes Porn-Based Deals

    According to a group of anti-porn activists, Groupon has stopped doing business with companies that “promote pornography,” although it’s unclear exactly what qualifies as promoting pornography.

    One thing that definitely qualifies is a deal that the company offered back in April involving a giant castle that currently serves as a porn studio for the website Kink.com. Kink.com specializes in certain types of porn including bondage films. The deal also included the chance to see a live shooting of one of the films. As you would expect, the deal was limited to those aged 18 and older.

    This was the daily deal that began the controversy, spearheaded by the group Morality in Media. MiM calls itself the “leading national organization opposing pornography and indecency through public education and the application of the law.”

    A few weeks later, Groupon offered a deal called “Rock n’ Roll Fantasy Camp” that included a trip to the Playboy mansion (and a concert featuring Steven Tyler, which MiM seemed unconcerned about). MiM had a problem with this tour as well, saying:

    It is clear that Groupon’s motto is right in line with the pornographers they promote and defend. Playboy’s “it’s a man’s world” philosophy amounts to “use them, abuse them, and discard them.”

    The group also called for a boycott, which they are now calling a success. According to MiM, a 2-month boycott that saw 20,000 Groupon members cancel their membership has caused Groupon to cease business with any purveyor of adult entertainment.

    “The Groupon national boycott demonstrates that large numbers of people are willing to take action to challenge pornography wherever it rears its ugly head,” said MIM’s Executive Director, Dawn Hawkins.

    “Mainstream companies should stay far away from the sexual exploitation and abuse that is part and parcel of the mission of pornography companies,” said Patrick A. Trueman, MIM’s president. “Groupon offered deals not only for Kink but for an event at Playboy, the world’s top sexual exploiter,” he added.

    MiM says that they found out about the change in policy via confidential sources and that Groupon management has yet to confirm it. I contacted Groupon and received this statement from spokeswomen Julie Mossler:

    We continue to test different types of deals in markets around the country, and run categories that represent the interests of each local customer base. While we aren’t currently accepting new adult merchants, guidelines for what types of businesses we do and do not run are constantly reevaluated on a local level.

    So it would appear that Groupon has stopped dealing with adult merchants. Whether or not that is a permanent policy remains to be seen, however.

  • Groupon Is Taking 2,000 “Campers” to Chicago

    Groupon Is Taking 2,000 “Campers” to Chicago

    Groupon wants to Google+Reader”>send you to summer camp. But instead of hot, humid nights in cramped cabins and rope climbs, this camp is all about luxury hotels and skydiving.

    From the deal description:

    On the weekend after Independence Day, at the very height of summer, some 2,000 urban adventurers will converge on Chicago for a one-of-a-kind, all-inclusive, bucket-list-busting weekend of fun and discovery. Over the course of three days, the Windy City will fan its feathers with an array of handpicked, small-group outings during the daytime and barn-burning spectacles at night.

    As you saw above, the “camp” will be limited to 2K participants. It will run from July 6th to the 8th and cost adventurers $749 (airfare to and from Chicago not included).

    Every participants will stay at a fancy Chicago hotel and the price of the Groupon includes six meals at some high quality restaurants like The Signature Room and Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba. Everyone will also attend a party on Navy Pier and a movie night at Wrigley Field.

    But during the two days, each person will get to choose one of six different tracks, each with its own sponsor. For instance, some campers can pick the “Adventure Hill” activities sponsored by Cricket Wireless. This includes skydiving and kayaking. If you’re not that adventurous, you can go on the” Gourmet Gorge” tour, where you’ll take a sushi-making class and get your drink on at Goose Island brewery.

    If you want to let Groupon plan a trip to Chicago for you, you have another 22 days to buy the deal. After the launch of the severely odd Groupon Kidz Club last month, I’m kind of surprised that Camp Groupon isn’t an all-ages venture. You must be 21 to redeem this deal.

  • Startups.Com is Calling It Quits After One Year

    Startups.com regrets to inform you that their daily deals website is on the way out. According to founder Gonzo Arzuaga, “unfortunately we couldn’t make a go of it”. An email was sent out to mail list subscribers explaining his disappointment. Apparently, the site set lofty goals for itself and was unable to fulfill them.

    Arzuaga comments:

    “We didn’t achieve the ambitious goals we set for ourselves when we launched only 1 year ago. So, with regret, this news of our departure from the realm of Daily Deals. This may be a shocker to some of you and we want you to know that we’re really sorry we failed to achieve your expectations.”

    “It’s Spring and it feels like the right time for us to do some Spring cleaning. We’re evaluating all of the projects we’re working on, (and we’ve got tons, believe me), and unfortunately we had to make the painful decision of shutting down Startups.com as a Daily Deal service.”

    Apparently the Startups.Com homepage is currently offering great deals on software, tech gadgets, e-books, and other business-friendly resources. Arzuaga also owns an affiliated site called Blinklist.Com which will be shutdown as well.

    Arzuaga explains:

    “We’re selling Blinklist.com, and shutting down other sites as well. There’s no point in going on with something just because you’ve been doing it for a certain amount of time. In a startup, as you well know, everything takes up your precious resources. And people’s time and effort is something we can’t afford to waste. We believe this is the right time to pull the plug.”

    It sounds like he’s not calling it quits, but has some other ideas on the way, and he needs to start fresh to allow them to grow.

    He explains further:

    “New and fresh ideas need room to grow and for us that means clearing out some of the old ideas which never took off. We wanna thank you, one of our 20,000 loyal subscribers for sticking with us for all this time.”

    “We’re really sorry we couldn’t make it work for you. But hey, life goes on. Best of luck in your endeavors, we shut our doors knowing that we did all we could to help you grow your online business, which was our main goal for launching Startups.com as a Daily Deal site.”

    There’s no word on what will become of the domain name, but more information about what’s to come of the site is available on their site. I am sure there are many small business gurus who will miss the site.

  • Groupon Names New International SVP

    Groupon has named a new senior vice president of International. Veit Dengler, Australian native and former executive at Proctor & Gamble and McKinsey, will fill the shoes. Dengler is a Harvard graduate and also spent time at Dell where he served as head of Russian and Eastern European operations.

    Dengler comments on his new role at Groupon:

    “Groupon is changing local commerce, creating enormous value for merchants and consumers,”

    “I’m excited to help drive global innovation and operational excellence as we continue to change the way merchants market themselves in every corner of the world.”

    Dangler takes over for Marc and Oliver Samwer, who came over to Groupon as part of the City Deal acquisition in 2010.

    Marc Samwer comments the the new SVP at Groupon:

    “I’m very proud of what we’ve helped build and accomplish over the last two years,”

    “I’m confident in Groupon’s future to become the platform for local commerce and believe Veit is an excellent choice to lead the international business going forward.”

    Andrew Mason, CEO of Groupon comments on the changes in leadership:

    “Marc and his brother Oliver built an extraordinary team that’s grown our International business to account for more than half of our revenues,”

    “We wish them continued success and look forward to building the next stage of our global platform under Veit’s leadership.”

    Groupon covers a lot more than just the United States, so international operations are a big deal at the company. Currently, Groupon has services available in 48 countries with plans to expand further. They offer over 1000 deals globally each day.

  • LivingSocial Drops A Cleveland Steamer For Only $69

    LivingSocial Drops A Cleveland Steamer For Only $69

    I’m a 20-something male, so sometimes things that are said in a completely innocuous manner and setting can still make me chuckle like a fifth-grader. I’ll be the first to admit that my mind usually does a faceplant right in the gutter whenever I hear something even remotely unsavory.

    But really, this can’t just be me.

    Today’s LivingSocial deal on the westside of Cleveland, Ohio offers subscribers a great deal on eco-friendly carpet cleaning. They even say that it’s a great way to romance that special someone. Yes, today’s deal is for a $69 Cleveland Steamer:

    If you’re looking to romance that special someone, forget about spa treatments and up-market dinner dates in Tremont (save that for tomorrow’s deal). Steam it up courtesy of today’s offer from Cleveland Steamer with an eco-friendly carpet cleaning and deodorization for three areas (up to 900 square feet) for $69 (regularly $180). Your beau will swoon over the attention to detail and how the carpet won’t just be clean, but protected and odor-free. What’s more, this truck-mount steam-cleaning service uses only green products so you can be sure to keep the chemistry in your relationship, but the chemicals out of your home. Cleveland Steamer’s been going ten years strong. Let them boost the longevity of your carpets — and your love life.

    Now, I’ll try to handle this in the same way I’ve handled all the Santorum stuff – with descriptive care. “Cleveland Steamer” is a slang term for a certain sex act. The exact definition can vary, but it always involves the same thing. If you want to learn more, Google it or try Urban Dictionary. It should go without saying that the results you find will probably be NSFW.

    Is LivingSocial making a joke here? It sure seems like it. But the actual deal comes from a carpet cleaning service in the area called Cleveland Steamer. So perhaps the company made the joke with their name, and LivingSocial just let it go.

    Or maybe all parties involved are just oblivious to the slang. Either way, you can file this in the almost-too-good-to-be-true file.

    [h/t/ Uproxx]

  • 91% Remain Loyal To Business After Daily Deal [STUDY]

    91% Remain Loyal To Business After Daily Deal [STUDY]

    Daily deals are not the best initiative for every small business. Since the rise in popularity of services like Groupon and LivingSocial, we’ve heard various stories from businesses slamming the model. Some small businesses have reported bad experiences running a daily deal – with some complaining about how it fails to turn a profit and others complaining that the daily deals model in and of itself is far from beneficial to the small business.

    But, despite the occasional negative review, companies like Groupon and LivingSocial haven’t fallen out of prominence. And new research from consumer analytics company ForeSee suggests that daily deals could help establish customer loyalty.

    It’s been one of the arguments for services like Groupon all along: If you get the customer in your store via daily deal, that can translate in repeat business. The thought is that a Groupon serves as a giant advertisement, and that outweighs any less-than-impressive profit margins for the actual deal itself.

    ForeSee says that 91% of web shoppers reported either already making a purchase or planning on making a purchase with a particular small business after redeeming a daily deal.

    ForeSee did find that from Spring 2011 to Holiday 2011, daily deal subscriptions were down overall:

    Although overall subscription to daily deals is down slightly, Groupon subscribership remains healthy and commands the lion’s share of the market. We found that 52% of all respondents use Groupon – on par with 51% last spring. While only 30% use LivingSocial and 9% Woot, LivingSocial’s audience of subscribers has grown 6% since last spring and may still be on the rise. The 40% of people who don’t use any kind of special offer website could be viewed as a negative; however, since this is a relatively new and growing channel it could also simply mean that 40% of the market is still up for grabs

    As you can see above, half of all respondents say they’ve bought a Groupon in the last 3 months and one-quarter say the same about LivingSocial. Nearly a third of the customers that used a daily deal at a merchant were first-time customers.

    What is your experience with daily deals? Do you think they are a good or bad idea for small businesses? Let us know in the comments.

  • Groupon Thailand Launches As The Company’s 48th Country

    Groupon Thailand Launches As The Company’s 48th Country

    Daily Deals powerhouse Groupon has just announced another expansion, as they are launching their service in Thailand. According to the company, the new office will be located in the heart of Bangkok.

    Thailand will be the 47th country outside the United States where Groupon has launched their service.

    “We are very excited to expand the benefits of Groupon to customers and merchants in Thailand,” said Damian Kemner, CEO of Groupon Thailand. “Groupon allows Thai consumers to experience a wide range of amazing offers and experiences they won’t find anywhere else. With our selected merchants, we create exclusive campaigns that allow them unparalleled access to our customer base while gaining market exposure to drive new business.”

    Groupon Thailandแฟน ๆ Groupon ประเทศไทยเตรียมตัวให้พร้อม ของขวัญสุดพิเศษรอคุณอยู่ ที่นี่ เร็ว ๆ นี้! 1 hour ago · 4 likes · 1 comment

    My Thai is a little rusty, but with the help of Google Translate I determined that the above Facebook post tells Groupon fans to get ready, it’s on the way soon.

    Groupon Thailand is now up and running and their page says that Groupon will help people fall in love with Bangkok again:

    Bangkok is an amazing city, and Thailand is an amazing country. The world isn’t bad, either! Groupon is the best way to fall in love again with Bangkok, Thailand, and explore the world. We’ll help you discover the best things to do, see, eat and buy…just sign up for our newsletter and we’ll make sure of it!

    Earlier this month, Groupon released their Q4 earnings – their first reported since going public. They posted a 194% increase in revenue year over year, but a net loss of $37 million in Q4. One possible reason for this was thought to concern their expansion into foreign markets.

    Last week, we learned that Groupon was launching a VIP service that will allow members to have extended access to their daily deals.

  • Skyrim Arrow In The Knee Shirt Brings Back Dead Horse Meme

    I used to think this joke was funny. Then, like most denizens of the interwebs, I saw it everywhere and it lost any semblance of humor. Then, I saw this shirt – and I’m pretty sure that I want it.

    Skyrim players will immediately recognize the joke contained in today’s deal of the day at woot.com’s spin-off site for daily t-shirt deals. It references probably the biggest gaming joke in the last year – various guards across the Skyrim landscape telling you how they used to be adventurers, before they took an arrow in the knee.

    That little joke spawned countless parodies and cross-over memes, for example:

    And everyone got sick of it, as is the fate of most dead horses that get beat by the internet community into mushed-up unrecognizable versions of themselves. But now I see this shirt, and I realize that it glows in the dark, and I think to myself, “Do I like this because of some ironic impulse to troll anyone who gets the joke? Or do I just think it’s awesome?”

    The shirt designer, Tobe Fonseca, says he used to be a designer, but then…you know. Hurry and catch the deal today on woot, but if you miss the chance, I’m sure it’ll pop up on eBay soon enough.

  • CES 2012: PriceGrabber Launches DealGrabber To Find Local Deals

    Daily deal programs like Groupon, LivingSocial, and the like have been gaining significantly in popularity recently. These sorts of services offer amazing deals on a wide variety of products and services. Navigating and sorting through all the deals that these sorts of programs offer is not always easy, though. Whether its an inbox full of emails, each with different deals, or multiple apps on your smartphone, keeping all these deals straight can be a bit tricky.

    To make sorting your daily deals easier, PriceGrabber has launched DealGrabber [iTunes link]. Announced at CES today, the free iPhone app collects deals from several daily deal sites and displays them for you in a single convenient list. Users can view deals from Groupon, LivingSocial, Restaurant.com, Eversave, Gift City, and more. The app includes a variety of sorting options, allowing users to see which deals are newest, which end soonest, and which are closest to them. Unfortunately the app does not include support for signing in to your individual accounts with these deal sites, which means you’ll have to sign in and pay for the deals manually – either via the web or the various services’ native apps.

    Other features of the app include a map view that allows users to see deals by location, and a hybrid view that merges the map and the list. The app accesses the iPhone’s on-board GPS, allowing users to see the deals closest to their current location (it also allows you to input location manually). It also includes the ability to email deals to yourself, or to share them on Facebook. Filtering by price, location or category, as well as home screen customization and the ability to save favorite searches make finding the kind of deals you want easy.

    The app is currently available in the iTunes Store for the unbeatable price of free. Check it out, then come back and let us know what you think in the comments.

    [Source: PriceGrabber Press Release]

  • Facebook Daily Deals Marketplaces Incorporates Google Maps To Find Local Deals

    Facebook Daily Deals Marketplaces Incorporates Google Maps To Find Local Deals

    The Daily Deals Agency announced today that they’ve launched a pretty handy tool on Facebook that allows you to search for local deals via interactive Google maps. It’s a handy integration of Facebook’s network of businesses with Google’s expansive and detailed Maps app. From the press release:

    Existing entirely within the Facebook ecosystem, the Company’s unique marketplace pages provide access to daily deals from over 500 sources and present them both by category and by location on its first-of-a-kind interactive Google deal maps as well.

    “Our Facebook Marketplace Network is designed to simplify the customer’s shopping experience. Instead of having to sort through dozens of emails notifying them daily of individual deals, they can see all of the offers for their city presented in an easy-to-browse format. Because this happens within Facebook, registration to view deals is not necessary, and when a Facebook member ‘likes’ a deal they can Tweet it to their friends as well,” stated Stephen Schramke, founder and CEO of The Daily Deals Agency. “Our daily deal marketplaces provide unprecedented convenience for Facebook members who shop daily deals and the companies that want to engage with them.”

    Once you locate your city’s Daily Deals Marketplace page on Facebook, you’ll see an interactive map beneath a window displaying several tabs that list the categories of deals for the day. At first, the map will display what appear to be beacons with numbers inside of them.

    As you zoom in to the colored beacons, eventually you will see the familiar red pins on the map. Each of the pins is a hyperlink that you can click to find out what the deal is in that location of the map.

    It’s a pretty innovative way to localize your search for deals to your neighborhood or places you plan to be visiting in the near future. As of right now, the service is limited to 40 cities that are, as you can imagine, some of the more metropolitan offerings within the U.S. To find out if your city is included in the marketplace, simply type “(city name) daily deals” in the search bar of your Facebook page and, if your city is a part of Daily Deals Marketplaces, you’ll see a page with the green star with the Uncle Scrooge moneybag as the page’s profile pic. Click on the page and away you go the land of steep savings.

  • Groupon’s Advertising Practices Under Scrutiny In The UK

    Top daily deals service Groupon is no stranger to controversy – whether it be related to their early November IPO, or charges from small businesses about the efficacy of the service. But now Groupon faces problems across the pond as the Office of Fair Trading, the UK’s consumer and competition agency, is set to launch an investigation into the company’s advertising practices.

    The referral to the OFT comes from another regulator, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), who decided to report to the OFT based on 48 advertising code violation perpetrated by Groupon in 2011.

    Here’s what the ASA had to say in a statement on their site:


    Following repeated breaches of the Advertising Code by MyCityDeal Ltd t/a Groupon, the Advertising Standards Authority is now referring complaints that we receive about Groupon’s ads to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). We are referring complaints that specifically concern Groupon’s:

    • Failure to conduct promotions fairly, such as not making clear significant terms and conditions
    • Failure to provide evidence that offers are available
    • Exaggeration of savings claims

    We are taking this approach because, given Groupon’s track record, we have serious concerns about its ability to adhere to the Advertising Code. It is in the public interest that we refer the matter to the OFT, the OFT being better placed to address any underlying issues concerning Groupon’s trading practices generally.

    In 2011, the ASA has formally investigated and upheld complaints against Groupon’s advertising on 11 occasions. We have also informally resolved 37 cases. We will continue working closely with the OFT on these issues to ensure consumers are protected.

    The OFT already has an ongoing investigation of Groupon – one which they started in July. The original investigation concerned trading practices, but they have added the ASA’s complaints about advertising practices to the list.

    Last week, the ASA banned a Groupon deal offering a discount on cosmetic surgeries like breast enlargements and rhinoplasties in their customary 24-hour window. They said that the deal was nixed because it forced people to make huge life-altering decisions in a hurried amount of time.

    Groupon has responded to the investigation, saying:

    Groupon constantly strives for business practices that are in the best interest of consumers. We are constantly evolving business process to ensure customers receive the best possible experience at the highest standards. We are cooperating fully with the OFT to ensure that the rights of consumers are protected.

    Groupon burst into the UK when they acquired CityDeal, a European deals service headquartered in Berlin, in May of 2010.