While LivingSocial struggles, Deal.com.sg launches 2nd collection point in ...

February 27, 2013 by Terence LEE    

Welcome to the land of the living dead — at least, that’s what the media and pundits will have you believe about the daily deals industry. Things took another turn for the worst when news broke that LivingSocial had to make large concessions to get USD 110M in financing.

For the rest of the daily deals industry, that’s horrible news. LivingSocial, being the second largest group buying company in the world, is the standard bearer for the others. LivingSocial’s valuation has sunk too — the company is now worth about USD 1.5B, down from USD 4.5B during the previous financing round.

Which brings us to a new development: Deal.com.sg, one of the largest daily deals sites in Singapore, has announced that it has launched a second physical collection point in the country. The news release certainly seems timely, coming shortly after word spread about LivingSocial’s debacle.

Speculations aside, what we do know is that there’s clearly a demand for physical collection points by daily deal customers in Singapore.  According to the company, its brick-and-mortar outposts have been getting ‘heavy foot traffic’ from people customers to redeem their items — a phenomenon that has been observed for Groupon’s store as well.

What we’re not so sure of is whether Deal.com.sg has been experiencing any revenue  or profit growth over the past year. We’ve contacted the company to find out and will update you if we hear any updates.

Anyway, it does seem like these companies are cognizant of  the downsides of daily deals. We’re seeing some of them diversify away from group buying recently — Deal.com.sg has gone into the online food ordering business, while Groupon Indonesia now operates an online retail store with its own inventory.

It sure seems that daily deals is fast diminishing as an industry in itself, instead becoming just another feature in the e-commerce landscape.

Find out more about SGE’s research arm: SGE Insights, providing customized in-depth research reports to help you navigate the business of technology in Asia.

About The Author

Terence LEE – Editor

Terence writes mainly about technology trends and startups in Asia. He believes in crafting smart content: Not just a regurgitation of text, but well thought-out pieces that serve the reader using a combination of data, design, narratives, analysis, and visual impact. His articles have been published on Venturebeat, Yahoo!, Straits Times, Today, and The Online Citizen. He also co-founded NewNation.sg, a satirical news site covering Singapore affairs. Engage him on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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While LivingSocial struggles, Deal.com.sg launches 2nd collection point in ...