MASHABLE - June 1 - Google will launch its Groupon competitor on Wednesday, starting with Portland. Google attempted and failed to acquire Groupon for $6 billion last year. A few months later, Google was developing a Groupon competitor called Google Offers. The big selling point for Google Offers is that it will integrate seamlessly with Google Wallet, the company’s NFC-based payment system launching this summer. Instead of printing out a coupon or barcode, completed offers are saved to a user’s Google Wallet, where they are automatically saved and redeemable.
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May 2011
Groupon & Living Social – Commercializing Consumer Tech
READ WRITE WEB - May 30 - The latest trend in business models is that of commercialized consumer software and technology, as evidenced by Groupon and Living Social. These companies sell a product or service and take a percentage of the revenue. The last major shift was from licensing fees for software to advertising based business models.
Munch On Me – Food Only Groupon
TECH CRUNCH - May 27 - Munch On Me is a daily deals site that focuses purely on the food industry. The service offers coupons for specific menu items, versus anything in the restaurant. This allows restaurants to prepare for the demand and plan appropriate upsells as well. Munch On Me also takes less of a cut, so merchants can give larger discounts or free items to entice more customers.
Zozi Raises $7M in Series B Financing
PRESS RELEASE - May 26 – Zozi.com has raised $7 million in Series B funding from a group in inside investors. The company was founded in 2007 and specializes in unique local activities and travel experiences. Zozi has raised a total of $10 million in financing to date. The global experience and activity market is valued at $60 billion.
BuyWithMe Buys Daily Deal Site Groop Swoop
TECH CRUNCH - May 25 - BuyWithMe has acquired Groop Swoop, a social commerce company focused on San Francisco. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Groupon Users Crowdsource Suspect Offer
MASHABLE - May 25 - Groupon users in Denver found Tuesday’s deal for a 61% price cut on home delivery of local, organic fruit from a company called Specialty Organics to be more than a little suspicious. As the ever-growing hoard of daily deals sites expands to every corner on the map, might some of the sites’ offers be too good to be true? It’s a question that Groupon has taken to heart — building up a factchecking department with guidelines that require checkers to verify reviews and reviewer identity. The site is currently searching for a Factchecking Manager.
Groupon Clone Raises Funding at $200 Million Valuation
TECH CRUNCH - May 23 - Australia’s online retailing group CatchOfTheDay, which operates e-commerce site CatchOfTheDay.com.au and daily deal site Scoopon.com.au, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding (presumably ~$80M) valuing the company at $200M. Groupon recently sued the CatchOfTheDay subsidiary for squatting on the Groupon.com.au domain name, registering the company under the name Groupon Pty Limited and even attempting to register the Groupon trademark in Australia.
by Robin Wauters
See full article at Tech Crunch
This post also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch.
Groupon Rumored to Be in Talks with Foursquare
READ WRITE WEB - May 23 - Groupon is not wasting any time in trying to corner the market on location-based deals. Less than a week after partnering with location service Loopt for its Groupon Now campaign, the daily deals giant is said to be in partnership talks with Foursquare to target deals at its check-in users. Foursquare will be another avenue for Groupon to break into the location-based deals market but also adds an important layer that Groupon does not have a specific stake in - social.
Loopt Beats Groupon to Notifying You of Nearby Groupon Now! Deals
TECH CRUNCH - May 20 - Loopt, a checking app, has now partnered up with Groupon Now! in Chicago in order to provide Loopt users with locationally relevant realtime deals around them. Loopt is planning on expanding the Groupon Now feature nationwide, and it should be available on both Android and iPhones in each market.
Groupon/Living Social Subscribers Respond More Strongly To Push Notification
TECH CRUNCH - May 18 - According to comScore, 5% of Groupon users and 6% of LivingSocial users launch their apps to actively search for offers. However, 14% said that they viewed a deal, searched for deals or purchased offers after receiving a push notification. Email and web responses are still considerably higher with 60% of Groupon users responding to an emailed daily deal and 21% of website visitors. LivingSocial's numbers were 53% and 24%, respectively.
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