Just a few years ago, daily deal sites dominated the market with a concept so fresh that many businesses and customers jumped onto the concept with many believing it was a win win situation for both businesses and customers. Businesses were able to get exposure for their business and customers through the door and customers were able to get a great deal on a product or service.

With the popularity, many daily deal websites opened up and made huge numbers. There were so many around that the smaller players who could not afford the same level of advertising either folded or was swallowed by one of the bigger guys.

It became a daily habit of many consumers to browse daily deal sites to see what was on offer. In New Zealand there were great sites such as Treat Me, GrabOne and Groupon. Get a Treat Me coupon here.

The way that these sites were able to lure customer’s in was by time limiting many of the offers. Many would jump onto the offer even if they weren’t completely sure of wanting it just because they didn’t want to miss out.

After all the excitement started to wane, it seemed like daily deal sites disappeared almost as quickly as they appeared with many of them going out of business and even the big players losing a lot of steam and customers.

Part of the reason was that many consumers had negative experiences with their vouchers, especially at food establishments. Customers felt like they weren’t treated like real customers when they used the voucher. There was also lots of media attention given to situations where businesses were negatively impacted by customers who purchased the daily deal vouchers.

Although many companies have folded some are still doing well including 1-day.co.nz.