The popularity of deal sites is on the rise, with more and more daily deal sites being created every day. This daily deal infographic* takes a closer look at the top deal of the day websites so you can see for yourself how Living Social, Groupon, Facebook Deals & Google Offers compare.
(*Scroll down to view the infographic)
Here's a breakdown of the facts listed in the daily deals infographic:
Living Social: 2007
Groupon: 2008
Facebook Deals: 2011
Google Offers: 2011
Living Social: $50 Million per month
Groupon: $100 Million per month
Facebook Deals: To be announced, but Facebook makes over $170 Million per month
Google Offers: To be announced, but Google makes 2.86 Billion per month
- Valuation: How much are these deal sites worth?
Living Social: $2.9 Billion
Groupon: Somewhere between $6- $15 billion
Facebook: $75 Billion
Google: $172 Billion
- Retailer Cut: Living Social, Groupon, Facebook Deals and Google Offers all take a cut of the deals sold on their sites....but how much do retailers get?!
Living Social offers retailers 60% of the cut while Groupon only gives retailers 50%.
Facebook Deals and Google Offers are still deciding how much they'll be taking.
- Membership Base: How many people are using these deal sites?
Living Social: Over 28 Million Subscribers
Groupon boasts a membership base of 70 Million + subscribers
Facebook Deals: 600 Million, potentially
Google Offers: 100-200 Million, potentially
- How do these deal sites advertise?
The infographic lists the Internet and Email as both Groupon's and Living Socials' main forms of advertisement but you can't forget about those controversial Super Bowl commercials from Groupon, as well as other television advertising both deal sites have participated in.
Facebook Deals advertises via Facebook Newsfeed, Facebook Deals Page, Sponsored Units, and Notifications
Google Offers advertises via Web, Email, Ad Networks and Google Reader
- Rules & Regulations: Minimum Purchase Required?
Living Social doesn't require a minimum purchase but the deal becomes free for consumers if three of their friends buy it.
Groupon requires a minimum to be purchased or else the deal is void, unfortunately, Google Offers will work the same way, based on the information listed in this infographic.
No minimum purchase required for Facebook deals.
Living Social has an iPhone app, while Groupon has a mobile app for iPhone, Blackberry and Android. Facebook Deals and Google Offers have not yet announced whether they will be creating an application for their daily deals (although I'm assuming they will both jump on the mobile bandwagon).
Paperless Option: How green are these daily deal sites?
Living Social, Groupon and Google Offers all offer a paperless voucher option.
All four of these daily deal sites accept debit and credit cards, while Facebook also accepts fb credits and Google also accepts payment via Google checkout.
Living Social features a family edition, living social escapes and even instant deals (only available in a test market at this point).
Facebook plans fo focus on social deals (i.e: concerts, events); Facebook also blurs the line between virtual currency and real world products and services with their use of facebook credits.
- What's their competitive advantage?
Living Social: Established deal brand
Groupon: Brand loyalty & first-mover advantage
FB Deals: Complete integration with facebook
Google Offers: Brand recognition, huge resources & they integrates with other Google services
- And the bottom line is....
Living Social is adjusting to the invasion of competition by varying its offerings. LivingSocial.com estimates that they will surpass Groupon's revenue in January of 2012.
Groupon has diverged from their original business model as the competition has grown, but the question is: Will Groupon's aggressive growth plans be enough to keep Groupon on top of the daily deal site charts?
Now Facebook's potential reach is immeasurable but only time will tell if consumers will want to buy money-saving deals and share them within their social circle on Facebook. And if that's the case, the other daily deal sites should watch out!
Google has an amazingly powerful reach also but there's nothing innovative and unique about Google Offers to help them stand apart from the competition. They need to step up their game if they want to be successful in the daily deal market.
[Source: wwwOnlineMBA.com]
