UPDATED 13:47 EDT / OCTOBER 07 2011

Daily Deals Are Super Charged With Funding, Acquisitions, and New Offerings

It’s an evident trend that many companies are extending their reach to consumers by leveraging daily deals marketing tactics in their many forms.  Now, we’ve got daily deal sites busy with acquisitions, rounding up funding, arriving at new locations and offering something different to consumers.

LivingSocial, one of the giants in the daily deals scene, disclosed that it spent $143 million in stock as part of a “business combination transaction such as a merger, acquisition or exchange offer.”  LivingSocial is probably referring to their acquisition of Korea’s TicketMonster and Turkish Grupfoni.  Also, according to the latest data from Yipit, LivingSocial surpassed Groupon’s gross revenues for deals in North America, 32% to 6%, respectively.

CrowdSavings, another leader in the daily deal industry, announced their acquisition of PLAYHawaii, the first daily deal site in the state of Hawaii.  PLAYHawaii is known for being locally focused and giving back to the community by supporting local charities through PLAYback deals.  CrowdSavings plans to keep that hyper-local focus in place.

Additionally, Canada-based Dealfind, after launching recently in St. Louis, just landed in Orlando to offer consumers to eat, play, shop and relax at 50 to 90 percent off.

“Dealfind’s growth has been spurred by our commitment to customer service and offering deals on products and services people actually want to purchase,” said Dealfind Co-Founder and President Gary Lipovetsky.

“Orlando is the unofficial capital of the U.S. for family entertainment with Disney World and all of the other area attractions. This hotspot gives Dealfind a network of compelling retailers to partner up with and offer discounts to both residents and incoming tourists looking to save money on their trip.”

CouponTrade, the only daily deal site offering an online marketplace that buys and sells gift cards, announced that they received an undisclosed amount of funding from Listen LCC.  What differentiates CouponTrade from other daily deal sites is that since they offer gift cards, they do not expire unlike the vouchers offered by other sites which are only valid until the promo runs.

“What drew me to CouponTrade is their holistic approach to savings.  Many of the other companies are focused on one aspect of the industry coupons, daily deals or gift cards,” Jeff Cantalupo of Listen, LLC told VatorNews.  “We live in a world where people are in control.  Brands that embrace that fact will win.”

Portland, Oregon-based daily deals website ZapHour launched their patent-pending “Make an Offer” service, which allows consumers to directly negotiate with business owners.  The ZapHour app can be downloaded for free via the Apple App Store or Android Market.  The app notifies merchants through a text message if a buyer makes an offer.

UK-based 02 Media recently launched Priority Moments, a daily deal program offered exclusively through mobile based off an app that recognizes location which offers customers unique experiences in their preferred location that can then be redeemed in-store with their mobile device.


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