group buying

Few companies have changed the e-commerce world in the recent past as much as Groupon, a local-deals broker that has gotten the nation hooked on half-price massages, discounted restaurant bills, and packages offering rock-climbing and yoga combos (though, ideally, not at the same time). It's earned rave reviews for customer service, thanks in part to its hiring of underemployed comedians as copywriters and service reps.

Yet Groupon has taken a beating in the past few weeks--not in terms of traffic, and not from the rise of any of its several dozen smaller competitors--but just because of a few bonehead … Read more

It might not be getting as much coverage as the geolocation wars, but the battle for dominance in online daily-deals sites has been brewing ever since some start-ups decided they wanted a piece of leader Groupon's success. The latest development is that a second-tier player in the space, LivingSocial, announced Thursday that it's raised $25 million in a Series B funding round geared strictly toward growth and expansion.

The round was led by U.S. Venture Partners with participation from Grotech Ventures and Revolution, the firm chaired by former AOL CEO Steve Case. The goal with the funding … Read more

I met a lot of entrepreneurs at the Stirr event tonight, in addition to the four that pitched their products on stage. Of the companies I had never heard of before, my favorite was Homeslyce, the brainchild of three Stanford undergrads. Homeslyce is part group buying tool (sort of like Chipin and Fundable) and part affiliate store. It's designed to help groups share the cost of birthday presents for their college friends.

To buy an item with Homeslyce, first you choose something from the site's selection, then enter in the recipient of the gift and the e-mail addresses … Read more