Group buying Web site launches for Springfield

Group buying and coupon Web site Groupon.com launched in Springfield Nov. 15.

Groupon partners with area businesses, allowing customers to receive discounts provided a set number of people purchase the deal within the time allotted. One deal is provided per day.

The first deal for the Springfield version of the site was a $10 buy-in for $20 worth of food at Bambu Vietnamese Cuisine, 1338 E. Battlefield Road. A minimum of 20 coupons needed to be purchased for the deal to go through, but 125 total tickets were sold by day's end.

Nguyen Huynh, owner of Bambu, said the site seemed like it was a good service.

"It went pretty well, sold more than we expected," he said, nothing that he would consider using the service again in the future.

Today's deal is a $10 buy-in for two tickets to any show at The Skinny Improv, with a 20-person minimum. It had already been met as of 9:06 a.m.

If the minimum purchase amount isn't met, customers are refunded the money spent.

Since its launch in November 2008, 13 million purchases have been made through the site, according to a Groupon fact sheet. The site now has 25 million subscribers in 125 North American markets and 31 countries.

The service is similar to 417 Magazine's Deal of the Day program and the livingsocial Web site, which also offer bargain prices to area businesses with minimum buy-in deals.[[In-content Ad]]