Couponing: The Web’s Hottest Business Model

I’ve  been following the online coupon companies like Groupon and LivingSocial since March of this year. I started even paying  more attention to  such a new hot space, when noticed both Google and  Yelp were also gearing up for online couponing  last month. Not to mention our beloved DC-Based Living Social who just landed another cool $10 mil investment on top of their previously $49 Mil raised so far. The space is certainly HOT and getting very crowded.

Women on the Web: How Women Shaping the Internet

A new report by comScore titled  “Women on the Web: How Women are Shaping the Internet” shows more women than men across the world visit social networking sites and spend 30% more time per month using them.

Frankly, I am not surprised, women do pretty much the same things whatever communication tools you give them, whether it’s phone, TV, or the internet, they use it to talk to each other, look for deals, follow celebrity gossips etc.

The World of Digital Coupon about to get more Crowded

No, it’s not  another digital coupon company like Groupon or LivingSocial, I am talking the user generated review company, Yelp and soon about.com, and going.com, etc.

I spent about one hour a day on Yelp. I noticed this comment thread today that began late last month when one of their user Cam H noticed a deal running for $20 for $45 of services at a salon and other users have been yapping about it since then.

Demand for Digital Coupons on the Rise

Whether there is a recession or not, one space appears to be hot and will stay hot, is the digital coupon business. According to a new data released by Coupons.com, the demand for digital coupons has been picking up steam.

Coupons.com says savings from its coupons printed out or loaded to a loyalty card from its online properties doubled to more than $1 billion from $529 million a year ago. The value of savings in June alone hit $110 million, the highest monthly total to date. That increase has come despite traffic to the site actually dropping in the last year from 18.2 million monthly visitors to 14.5 million.

The company’s claim is right along with other surveys I have been reading past eight month or so including the one from NCH Marketing Services that also indicates a continuing upswing for digital coupons. The recent data from Google Insights also shows searches for “printable coupons” increased 67% over a year ago.

Groupon launches Daily Deals on Android

Android Market is certainly catching App Store, non only in number of apps, but also in quality of apps. The Deal-a-day company, Groupon released their app for Android yesterday. The free app enables users to buy deals in over 65 cities, access their purchased Groupons and find ones that are nearby.

The app is very similar to Groupon’s iPhone app, which was launched earlier this year. Upon launch, users will immediately see the current deal of the day with a timer that counts down the time left to buy. Users can also navigate to the My Groupons portion of the app to view the deals they have already purchased and filter by expiring, recent and nearby.

One question though:
Given Groupon emails you the deal of the day on daily basis, why would I need an app for it? I already see their deal when it pops up in my notifications. What am I missing? Unless, it allows me to show the deal’s barcode screen to the business owner which I doubt that is the case. I have to download it to find out. Anyone has already downloaded it?

LivingSocial Kicking Ass Taking Names

Nearly doubling its market, Washington DC-based LivingSocial, launched its Deals service in 25 more cities, including Baltimore.  The company, which has raised $49 million in funding since March, now operates the service in 51 or 52 cities, not quite sure.

Deals For Deeds Launches in Washington DC

by Elias Shams
The discount deal space getting more crowded. I just found out about a new site recently launched in our Washington, DC called Deals for Deeds.

Deals for Deeds has already been generating buzz for their unique way of connecting consumers, businesses, and non-profits via their daily discount deals. The site offers great deals on the best things to eat, see, buy, and do around Washington, DC, and a portion of the proceeds are donated to local community-based non-profits.

LivingSocial Lands more Cool Mils

by Elias Shams
Our beloved Washington based LivingSocial is raising money faster than I have been blogging. It was just last month I covered them when they had just raised $25 million. The company raised another $14 million in their third round yesterday, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.

U.S. Venture Partners, Grotech Ventures. and Steve Case Revolution also participated in the round, which boosts the company’s backing to $39 million.

Living In Social

by Elias Shams
It is time  for someone to come up with a similar James Brown’s iconic song “Living in America” but,  change “America” to “Social”. Given, the rise of social media, social networking, social search and now our daily social deals and coupons, wouldn’t you agree?

One of our local companies, LivingSocial in social deal and coupon space just raised another $25 m for their Second Round today:

LivingSocial was one of my first coverage back in December of last year as they had just partnered with Newsweek magazine. Their series A round of financing was  $5 million three years ago led by Grotech Ventures. Steve Case, the founder of AOL also personally invested.