The power of group buying is all the rage these days, the more people that buy, the lower the price, what’s not to love!  Jasmere and Groupon are the most common and most popular, but they aren’t really local.  Jasmere is online and you have to be in the market for the deal of the day. Groupon doesn’t serve Roanoke yet so unless you buy for when you travel, it’s not really applicable to us here.  Doesn’t sound too encouraging for a shopping blogger, huh?
 
The Roanoke Times and roanoke.com are coming to the rescue of the group buying groupies with the Daily Deal!  The important details are that all the retailers, salons, restaurants, etc. are local (!!!), you need to go to http://dailydeal.roanoke.com to sign up for emails and a certain number of people have to purchase for the deal to be activated.  The full release is below with all the other information behind this great (and amazing and wonderful and exciting!) opportunity for Roanoke Valley shoppers and businesses alike!

If you’ve used group buying sites before, please let me know about your experiences in the comments section.  I would love to hear your feedback on the Daily Deal as we get going!!!

Local Group Buying Site Launched For Roanoke and New River Valleys

Daily Deal offers significant savings at restaurants and retailers

ROANOKE, Va. (August 17, 2010) —  The Roanoke Times and roanoke.com today launched roanoke.com Daily Deal, the area’s first online group buying website where consumers can access savings of 50 to 90 percent each day from local businesses including restaurants, salons and other retailers in the Roanoke and New River valleys.

Those interested in the deals can sign up at http://dailydeal.roanoke.com to receive the email every weekday. They are then encouraged to share the deal with their friends by email and through social networking sites. A certain number of people must purchase it for the deal to be activated.

 The deals will also publish in The Roanoke Times, but interested buyers must then go to http://dailydeal.roanoke.com to sign up and purchase the deals. As an additional incentive for sharing, consumers can earn credit toward future Daily Deal purchases when friends purchase the item that they have shared. Other features of the site include profiles and user reviews of the participating businesses. 

 “This is a win for both businesses and shoppers. Retailers gain new customers, and consumers get incredible deals simply by sharing and following their friends’ recommendations,” said Heather Hernandez, Advertising Director of The Roanoke Times and roanoke.com. “For more than a century, we have been connecting local advertisers with consumers they want. Daily Deal is a new twist using different tools but the same methodology – generating sales for area businesses.”

Group buying sites are a trend nationwide, offering businesses an effective way to expand their reach and raise awareness through referral marketing.

“Group buying platforms are popping up in many cities, and we are excited to provide it here in our market,” said Dan Wheeler, Director of Digital Media “Everyone is looking for a bargain, and with the explosion of online shopping and social media use in our area, this is an ideal way for businesses and customers to connect.”

 To find out more or to sign up, go to http://dailydeal.roanoke.com.

The Roanoke Times | roanoke.com is the leading news and information provider in Southwest Virginia, reaching Roanoke, Salem, Radford, Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Dublin, Pulaski, and other areas. The Roanoke Times is distributed across 19 counties with an average of 200,000 readers on weekdays, and more than 250,000 readers on Sundays. Consistently voted as the area’s most popular website, roanoke.com averages more than 600,000 unique visitors and 6.7 million page views every month. Founded in 1886, The Roanoke Times has provided award-winning news coverage and community information for nearly 125 years. Additional information can be found at http://www.roanoke.com.