For every deal redeemed on LivingSocial, Groupon sells 14

Lara O’Reilly is Marketing Week’s digital and telecoms specialist and here she gives her own view on what companies from Apple to Zynga are up to in the wired world of the web

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LivingSocial’s UK, Ireland and Netherlands managing director told me in June that the site was to “overtake Groupon this year”. It still has a hell of a lot of catching up to do, according to recent analysis from deals aggregator Siftie.

According to Siftie’s data, Groupon currently commands a whomping 77% of the UK daily deal market, in terms of revenue. Livingsocial is in third place, behind KGB Deals, with just 5.5% of the market.

In monetary terms, Siftie says that Groupon sold £24m worth of offers in July, compared to KGB Deals’ £2.5m and LivingSocial’s £1.7m.

What’s perhaps more surprising is that KGB Deals, which only launched its first major UK marketing campaign back in June, is outselling LivingSocial three to two.

So why is LivingSocial still not a major player in the UK?

Is the fact that LivingSocial goes for quality deals over quantity (which has been argued of Groupon) affecting sales?

LivingSocial’s mobile optimisation of its e-mails also leaves a lot to be desired (at least on Android). Despite the fact that it offers a range of deals on a daily basis, when I open my LivingSocial e-mails, I can usually only see the headline promotion. Does Groupon’s simplicity on mobile make it a better proposition to consumers on the go?

Groupon has also signed some major partnerships (Foursquare, Live Nation and Asos to name but a few). Do consumers still prefer the “safe” brand names to local niche businesses?

I’d love to see your thoughts below. In the meantime, here’s an infographic to put it all into context.

(Hat tip to TechCrunch Europe for the report)

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