subject: Deal Sites--The New Way to Make Purchases [print this page] Deal Sites--The New Way to Make Purchases
Group buying and deal sites have become increasingly popular in the past year especially amongst those in their twenties and early thirties in urban environments, especially New York City. Daily deal sites and the concept of group buying are great tools for people to learn things about their cities, meet new friends, or enjoy a new activity with old ones. Without deal sites many may never have had the courage to try sky-diving or they may have never found their new favorite neighborhood restaurant. They have changed the way consumers are actively making purchases. Instead of strolling into a restaurant that is appealing, the consumer may simply wait until he or she finds a deal that is appealing (and affordable). Not only do deal sites allow the consumer to save but they allow the vendor to generate more traffic that will hopefully make return visits.
Although the word Groupon' has become synonymous with the deal site phenomenon and is known as the number one as well as original deal site, LivingSocial actually originated a year prior to the Chicago based Groupon. LivingSocial is currently ranked directly behind Groupon and is doing quite well for itself. Both Groupon and LivingSocial are changing regularly adding new marketing tools to wrangle in more consumers. For example, Groupon just launched Neighborhood Week' in Manhattan, which showcases deals based on the neighborhood in which they stem from. They started the week off with a deal from the MoMa in Midtown and have already gone downtown with a day for deals in the East Village. LivingSocial also offers escapes, which make them, stand out from their competitor. However, these escape deals' are truly only applicable to those in a higher earning bracket. A post college grad would never even dream of spending a month's rent on a Caribbean vacation but these escapes may appeal to an older bracket, potentially giving them an edge over their competitor. Although these two names are well known in every household there are new deal sites popping up daily around the country to try and add some competition to what appears to be an extremely narrow race. These sites will have to be very creative and use even more clever marketing tactics. Through the proper use of social media it seems that these new competitors are potentially just a few clicks away from gaining household recognition too. These two daily deal kings better watch their backs for the up and coming daily deal sites.
