Yet another online group-buying service, or a daily deal website, has launched in Vancouver.
Toronto’s RedflagDeals.com, a decade-old bargain shopping community, is launching dealoftheday.ca, which promises to help residents save up to 95% on goods and services from local businesses.
The site has previously launched in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City.
As Business in Vancouver reported last week, nearly a dozen daily deal sites have popped up in Vancouver in the last year since San Francisco’s Groupon started the craze in its hometown. (See “Retailers down on daily digital deals” – issue 1107; January 11-17.)
Sites such as Indulge Living, Steal The Deal and Grooster all follow a similar model: they send their subscriber base a daily deal, which usually includes discounts on goods or services that range between 30% and 90%.
A critical mass of consumers taking up the offer is usually required for the offer to be completed.
Some Vancouver retailers are concerned the online discount trend isn’t the boon to retail that daily deal sites would have them believe.
“Some of my merchants [are] throwing their hands in the air and saying, ‘What do we do with this?’” said Sharon Townsend, executive director of the South Granville Business Improvement Association.
“I think there is a lot of pressure to use them. And I’m not convinced and I don’t think [retailers] are convinced that the payoff is there long term.”
How does RedflagDeals.com’s daily deal site plan to differentiate itself from the pack?
It has an advantage in the experience of its founder, Derek Szeto, who was delivering shopping deals to Canadians years before Groupon was even conceived.
And Yellow Pages Group, which acquired RedFlagDeals.com last February, will provide visibility to retailers through its network of properties, which includes yellowpages.ca.