Only two weeks after announcing the buyout of SA's home-grown collective-buying company, Twangoo, Groupon SA has announced its MyCityDeal site has gone live.
Groupon is a global collective-buying giant, and MyCityDeal.co.za marks the company's first steps into the local market.
Using the principles of collective buying, Groupon SA negotiates discounts from popular businesses, both nationally and on a city-by-city basis.
The new site is already offering introductory deals for Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. Both the Johannesburg and Durban deals were sold out by early this morning.
The daily deals are negotiated directly with suppliers, and redeemed in person using a coupon. The number of local cities covered by MyCityDeal.co.za is expected to grow quickly, according to a statement from Groupon SA.
“We must keep presenting the most incredible, amazing, have-to-have deals on our site every day and the key to great deals is great people who find the deals, and make sure every deal ends up in smiles for all involved,” says Wayne Gosling, COO of Groupon SA. Gosling was one of the co-founders of Twangoo.
In order to comply with data protection regulations, Twangoo.co.za customers will not be automatically migrated to MyCityDeal.co.za, and will need to re-register. Registration for MyCityDeal is free.
Global phenomena
Group buying and daily deal sites are global e-commerce growth phenomena, with millions of consumers taking advantage of considerable discounts on anything from gym membership and magazine subscriptions, to spa treatments.
Groupon's purchase of Twangoo came just months after it reportedly fended off a $6 billion buyout bid from Internet search giant Google, and shortly after it raised $950 million in venture capital.
The acquisition by Groupon has resulted in a significant investment into the South African company's infrastructure. Twangoo had not even celebrated its first birthday before the Groupon buyout.
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