BuyWithMe was a

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...

e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain managem ...

company that was known as the first competitor to group buying website

Groupon Groupon is an American global e-commerce marketplace connecting subscribers with local merchants by offering activities, travel, goods and services in 13 countries. Based in Chicago, Groupon was launched there in November 2008, launching soon af ...

. Launched in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and then later based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, BuyWithMe allowed consumers to leverage group buying power to get discounts with local merchants online. BuyWithMe launched in May 2009 and was acquired by

Gilt Groupe Gilt is an online shopping and lifestyle website based in the United States, launched in 2007. On January 7, 2016, The company was sold to Hudson's Bay Company for approximately $250 million. Prior to the Hudson’s Bay acquisition, sales were ex ...

in November 2011, It was absorbed into Gilt Groupe's Gilt City daily deals division.

History

In a similar manner to

(except that their deals always lasted a week), BuyWithMe introduced at least one new deal every day. The deal was

email Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic ( digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" mean ...

ed 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 ''Boston.com'' is a regional website that offers news and information about the Boston, Massachusetts, region. It is owned and operated by Boston Globe Media Partners, the publisher of ''The Boston Globe''. History ''Boston.com'' was one of t ...

, owned by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''). The deal only completed if a minimum number of

consumer A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or uses purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. ...

s signed up, therefore assuring the merchant a minimum return. Initially founded by a group of local Boston-area friends, including Andrew Moss and Seth Rosen. In 2009 BuyWithMe raised $5.5M; and then 2010, BuyWithMe was funded with $36.5M by

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to start-up company, startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth poten ...

firms

Matrix Partners Matrix Partners is a US-based private equity investment firm focusing on venture capital investments. The firm invests in seed and early-stage companies in the United States and India, particularly in the software, communications, semiconduct ...

Bain Capital Ventures Bain Capital Ventures LLC is the venture capital division within Bain Capital, which has approximately $160 billion of assets under management worldwide. The firm's early-stage investments have included Attentive, Bloomreach, Clari, Docusign, Fl ...

, and Pinnacle Ventures. BuyWithMe's first market was Boston, with

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

and

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

following. By October 2009, BuyWithMe served nine markets and its major competitor was

. BuyWithMe had partners such as

Foursquare Four square is a ball game. Four square may also refer to: Internet and entertainment * Foursquare City Guide, a local search and discovery app * ''4 Square'' (game show), a British game show * ''4 Square'' (TV series), a Canadian children's s ...

. In January, the company appointed Jim Crowley as CEO. In June 2011, the company was pursuing a significant push into loyalty with an acquisition of a card-linked offer company. The sale to

came as Crowley struggled to raise

. The BuyWithMe founding team went on to other businesses, including Booster by Customink.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official WebsiteComparisonPhiloshopi WebsiteLetBuyBest WebsiteLiteComparison.com
Deal of the day services Defunct American websites Online retailers of the United States Retail companies established in 2009 Internet properties established in 2009