This Wednesday, the hyperlocal daily deals company LivingSocial will launch their “Instant Deals” program in San Francisco with an opening event dubbed the "Dollar Lunch Day."
Instant Deals are time-sensitive “now deals” that can be bought online or “instantly” through a mobile device, for usage between the current one to three hour window. Examples of some past deals in other cities include, $10 for $15 for Thai between the lunch hours of 11:00 am and 2:00 pm. The deals are meant to be purchased for immediate use at a nearby restaurant.
According to LivingSocial, it’s a win-win situation for both customer and merchant. The merchant views the deal as a terrific marketing opportunity, and the customer gets a bonus discount for their meal. Also, because of the time sensitive nature of the deal, the merchant can prepare in advance for an onslaught of traffic right around lunch hour. Said Gary Santana, the proprietor of a diner that has participated in both the Groupon and LivingSocial daily deals services, "It's like doing a Groupon deal, but we know what time the chaos is [going to] happen."
To celebrate the citywide launch of Instant Deals in San Francisco, LivingSocial and participating merchants will sponsor a citywide “Dollar Lunch Day” this Wednesday the 13th. Using the LivingSocial deals service, lunch eaters can purchase an “Instant Deal” as stellar as $1 for $25. Deals will vary depending on restaurants, and the exact list of participants will be a suspense factor till that day.
Dollar Lunch Day deals can be purchased as early as 6 AM from the Living Social mobile app on iPhone or Android or on their website.
In Washington, a previous Instant Deals launch city, over 24,000 vouchers were sold by lunch time on their “Dollar Lunch” launch day. Voucher holders began gathering in long lines at over 100 eateries to redeem their deals even before these restaurants opened.
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