Watch out Groupon, move over Facebook Deals, mega retailer Amazon.com is now in line for a piece of the daily deals pie with the (quiet) launch of AmazonLocal.
Much like its competitors, the online marketplace will allow users to buy coupons for goods or services from local businesses at a discounted price.
The new feature was recently rolled out without much fanfare for Amazon customers who wish to purchase deals in Boise, Idaho.
According to Amazon, the reason for choosing Boise as its initial launch location was the University’s blue football field.
“[The] blue football field represents just the kind of adventurous spirit we want our customers to experience every day. We will quickly be expanding to other cities, but we liked the idea of starting in a city that embraces fun.”
Amazon is sourcing the deals through Living Social, allowing the company to aggregate the deals that will appear on the AmazonLocal site.
Currently, AmazonLocal is only showing deals from Living Social, but there’s no reason why the company might not expand to offer deals from companies similar to Groupon.
Business Insider points out tapping into the daily deals market is essential to Amazon.com as it continues to grow its online e-commerce presence.
That said, penetrating the daily deals market proves difficult because it requires a huge sales force to source the local deals in every state and could potentially cause tax issues for the company.
When you buy a coupon through AmazonLocal it will be stored in the Your Deals section on Amazon.com. Until December 31st, users can earn five points for every dollar at AmazonLocal with the Amazon.com Rewards Visa Card. After December 31st users will earn three points for every dollar spent through the service.
(Via The Next Web)
