14 DAY TRIAL // Google is not the only one getting into the daily deals business. Just a day after Google Offers launched in trial mode, Amazon quietly debuted its own deals site, dubbed AmazonLocal. The product is only available in a few locations in the US.
Amazon hasn't made too much fuss about it, but considering the hype around this type of sites and the fact that Amazon is the web's largest retailer with plenty of partners already it only makes sense for the company to get involved.
"Millions of customers already know and trust Amazon.com for their online purchases, and with the launch of AmazonLocal, they're now able to tap into unique deals from great local businesses right in their own neighborhood. While AmazonLocal has landed in Boise first, it will quickly be expanding to other cities," Amazon told Auctionbytes.com.
AmazonLocal is launching small, very much like Google Offers, but it should probably be expanding to other locations in the US very soon. Like most daily deals sites these days, it offers discounts at local businesses for a limited amount of time.
"AmazonLocal works with companies like LivingSocial to feature businesses that are a good match for our customers," Amazon continued.
Interestingly though, Amazon is not sourcing the deals itself, at least not at first. In fact, it partnered with Groupon's second largest competitor, LivingSocial, which will be providing the actual deals for AmazonLocal.
However, Amazon says it may partner with other companies to bring new deals to the site and it may start offering deals coming from Amazon itself, or discovered by an internal team.
Amazon certainly has a lot going for it, it's the web's biggest retailer and already attracts millions of customers each month. Of course, Google is no small player either, it may not be too strong in sales and payments, but it's a force to be reckoned with. But Groupon is going strong as well, so the future of the daily deals space is still up for grabs.