Up and Down with the Social Coupon Folk
PR heat can produce some interesting effects, and in recent days Groupon and Living Social have both felt those hype effects in very different ways. If popularity is a rollercoaster ride, the two category leaders in social couponing have been riding on opposite tracks of late.
First the upside. Living Social partnered with Amazon.com yesterday on a time-limited deal to offer $20 Amazon gift cards at half price. When the 24-hour offer ended last night, Living Social had sold more than 1.3 million of the gift cards. The company pointed out that that total represents a sell rate of more than 99,000 cards per hour, two thousand cards a minute, or 85 cards per second. The offer generated more than $13 million in revenue, which LivingSocial will now split with Amazon.
Even more, the promotion probably generated a lot of free media ad first-time traffic for LivingSocial, which is grappling with the twin problem of expanding into new markets beyond its current base of 170 metros while trying to escape the shadow of the larger and more recognized Groupon.
That was certainly helped by a steady stream of celebrity tweets about the offer from the likes of the Kardashians, Entertainment Tonight host Nancy O
