If you want to enter the daily deals market without anyone knowing, introduce it in a state with 15 people per square mile. That’s what Amazon did yesterday, rolling out AmazonLocal in Boise, Idaho. Despite Amazon’s stealth, The Next Web picked up on the story.
Amazon’s online marketplace allows the nearly 200,000 residents of Boise City to redeem goods and services from local businesses after buying vouchers or deals off the site. While it sounds remarkably similar to Groupon, Amazon has added a new dimension to its daily deals. Rather than producing their own deals, AmazonLocal accumulates them from other companies, starting with LivingSocial.
According to Business Insider, LivingSocial “counts Amazon among its biggest investors,” creating an obligatory partnership between the two. Amazon’s aggregation system allows the retail giant to jump into the daily deals market without the hassles of major tax issues.
So why Boise? Apparently it came down to the “Smurf Turf,” Boise State University’s blue football field. According to Amazon: “[The] blue football field represents just the kind of adventurous spirit we want our customers to experience every day. We will quickly be expanding to other cities, but we liked the idea of starting in a city that embraces fun.”
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