BuyWithMe

BuyWithMe
Web address	http://www.buywithme.com
Slogan	For the best local deals
Commercial?	Yes
Type of site	Electronic Commerce
Registration	None
Available in	English
Owner	Gilt Groupe
Launched	May, 2009
Current status	Defunct

BuyWithMe was a social commerce company that was known as the first competitor to group buying website Groupon. Launched in Boston and then later based in New York, BuyWithMe allowed consumers to leverage group buying power to get discounts with local merchants online.

BuyWithMe launched May 2009 and was acquired by Gilt Groupe in November 2011, ^[1] It has been absorbed into Gilt Groupe's Gilt City daily deals division.

Business Model

In a similar manner to Groupon, except that their deals always lasted a week, BuyWithMe introduced at least one new deal every day in each of the local markets it served. The deal was emailed to all local BuyWithMe subscribers, made available on the company's website and distributed through a network of group buying media partnerships (including Boston.com, owned by New York Times). The deal only completed if a minimum number of consumers signed up, therefore assuring the merchant a minimum return.^[2]

BuyWithMe was funded by venture capital films Matrix Partners, Bain Capital Ventures, and Pinnacle Ventures. BuyWithMe's first market was Boston, with San Diego and Washington DC following.^[3] By October 2009, BuyWithMe served nine markets and its major competitor was Groupon.^[4] They had partners such as Foursquare In January, they appointed Jim Crowley as CEO Then, in June 2011, the company was pursuing a significant push into loyalty with an acquisition of a card-linked offer company . The sale to Gilt came as Crowley struggled to raise venture capital

References