LivingSocial

What LivingSocial does

LivingSocial is an online daily deals marketplace offering discounted vouchers for local services, travel packages, and consumer goods, operating from Washington, D.C. and incorporated as LivingSocial, LLC in Delaware. The platform is organized into four product surfaces: LivingSocial Local (beauty, dining, fitness, home services, automotive, retail, activities), LivingSocial Shop (electronics, housewares, gifts), LivingSocial Travel (hotels, air-inclusive trips, all-inclusive resorts, cruises, family and spa getaways), and digital Gift Cards, with a Merchant Program enabling businesses to list promotional deals.

The technology stack is not proprietary: LivingSocial runs as a white-label on Groupon's deal management and voucher redemption infrastructure, sharing merchant onboarding, payment, and fulfillment rails. The platform's media assets (logos, imagery) are served from grouponcdn.com, and the merchant portal routes through Groupon's campaign management systems. There are no disclosed APIs, SDKs, integrations, AI capabilities, patents, or proprietary technical features.

LivingSocial makes money by taking a commission on each deal transacted through the marketplace (transaction-fee revenue model). Consumers access the site for free and pay only when purchasing a discounted voucher; merchants and national brands supply the deal inventory and pay the take rate. Distribution is product-led: email newsletters drive top-of-funnel traffic, supplemented by organic social (Facebook, Twitter) and a third-party affiliate program operated through CJ Affiliate. The company serves value-conscious U.S. consumers as its primary audience, local SMB merchants and national brands as supply-side partners, and operates exclusively in the United States as a Groupon subsidiary.

Name

LivingSocial

Legal name

LivingSocial, LLC

Website

https://livingsocial.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

LivingSocial is a U.S. daily deals marketplace offering discounted vouchers for local services, travel, and consumer goods to value-conscious consumers, operating as a white-label subsidiary of Groupon and monetizing via transaction commissions on each deal sold.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Deals Marketplace

NAICS

General Merchandise Retailers (455)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Social Commerce & Livestream Shopping Platforms (BPAMAGAJ)

Keywords

• Daily deals marketplace
• Local deals platform
• Discount vouchers online
• Travel deals marketplace
• Local experience deals

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Deal Commission/Transaction Fees: LivingSocial earns revenue by taking a commission on each deal purchased through its platform. Merchants list deals (typically offering 50-80% discounts) and LivingSocial retains a percentage of each transaction. The platform also facilitates deals for physical goods, travel, dining, and experiences.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

LivingSocial operates an online daily deals marketplace that aggregates discounted vouchers from local merchants and national brands across categories such as local services, consumer goods, travel, dining, beauty, fitness, and home services. The platform sells vouchers directly to consumers at discounts of up to 80% off retail and earns a commission on each transaction, while also offering a merchant program for businesses to run campaigns.

Product overview

LivingSocial is a daily deals marketplace offering discounts up to 80% off across local services, products, and travel experiences. The platform operates through multiple channels: LivingSocial Local (for local services like beauty, dining, fitness, and activities), LivingSocial Shop (for products and goods), LivingSocial Travel (for travel deals and vacation packages), and a Merchant Program for businesses to list deals. Users can browse deals by category, purchase vouchers, and redeem them at participating merchants.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• LivingSocial Local Deals Daily deals platform offering discounted local services including beauty and spas, food and drink, health and fitness, home services, automotive, personal services, retail, and things to do, for individual consumers seeking savings on local experiences.
• LivingSocial Shop (Goods) Online marketplace for discounted products including gadgets, electronics, housewares, gifts, and other consumer goods, targeted at individual consumers shopping for discounted merchandise.
• LivingSocial Travel Deals Discounted travel packages including hotels, air-inclusive trips, all-inclusive resorts, beach destinations, cruises, family trips, and spa getaways, offered to individual consumers seeking affordable travel.
• LivingSocial Gift Cards Digital gift cards available for purchase on the platform, allowing consumers to give the LivingSocial deal experience to others.
• LivingSocial Merchant Program Platform enabling businesses to run deals and campaigns to attract customers through LivingSocial's consumer marketplace, targeted at local merchants and SMBs seeking customer acquisition.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• GrouponcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLivingSocial is operated as a subsidiary of Groupon. The platform uses Groupon's infrastructure, merchant tools, and redemption systems. LivingSocial branding continues while utilizing Groupon's deal management technology and merchant network.
• CJ AffiliateminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCJ Affiliate provides LivingSocial's affiliate program infrastructure, allowing publishers to earn commissions by promoting LivingSocial deals to their audiences.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Travelzoo: Direct competitor in the discounted travel and experiences category, publishing curated deals on hotels, packages, and local experiences. Closely comparable in the Travel vertical of LivingSocial's offering.
• Slickdeals: Community-driven deals aggregation platform with a comparable value proposition of connecting consumers to discounted goods and experiences. Operates a similar self-serve marketplace model with affiliate-driven merchant relationships.
• Groupon: Direct parent and direct competitor — operates the largest daily deals marketplace in the US with overlapping categories (Local, Goods, Travel). LivingSocial itself runs on Groupon's infrastructure, making them simultaneously parent, infrastructure provider, and substitute marketplace.
• DealNews: Curated deals publication covering discounted products across categories. Comparable marketplace model targeting deal-seeking consumers with hand-selected merchant offers.
• CouponFollow: Coupon and deals aggregator serving the value-conscious consumer segment across retail and services. Comparable affiliate-driven model and similar GTM motion focused on organic deal discovery.
• RetailMeNot: Direct competitor in the digital coupon and deals space, offering discount codes and cashback offers across thousands of retailers. Comparable marketplace model connecting value-seeking consumers with merchant promotions.
• Rakuten: Cashback and deals platform serving value-conscious consumers across retail categories. Competes for the same consumer wallet share through cashback, coupons, and curated deals.

Emerging players

• Honey (PayPal): Browser-based coupon and cashback extension owned by PayPal, serving the same value-conscious consumer base through automated deal application at checkout. Represents the modern evolution of the deals category.

Broad incumbents

• Yelp: Local business discovery platform with overlapping SMB and consumer audiences. While not primarily a deals marketplace, Yelp serves local merchants seeking customer acquisition and consumers researching local services — adjacent to LivingSocial's core.
• Amazon Local: Amazon's local deals offering, leveraging Amazon's commerce infrastructure and consumer base. Competes for the same local deals and experiences use cases but as part of Amazon's broader commerce portfolio.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/livingsocial
• Facebookfacebook.com/livingsocial
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/livingsocial

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds9 records

Investors9 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A10 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about LivingSocial