LivingSocial Offers Merchants a New Deal

Call it a pivot, of sorts: On Tuesday morning, LivingSocial — Groupon's biggest, though still privately owned, rival in the local daily deals space — sent out a statement to press, announcing that it's moving "towards being more of a marketing partner for merchants and an online marketplace destination for consumers," per a spokesperson's description.

And how does LivingSocial plan to accomplish that exactly? One, by quadrupling its deal inventory. That means adding more merchants or more deals, but more critically, persuading existing merchants to offer their deals for longer periods. The company is also encouraging merchants to offer promo codes, coupons and share sales information on its site and apps. If LivingSocial has its way, it will transform its website and apps into full-time destinations for deal-hunting shoppers — not just companions to its daily sales e-mail. Read more...