Potential customers register as members of the deal-a-day websites and receive online offers and invitations by email or social networks.
As of 2011[update], deal-of-the-day sites have continued to grow in popularity, although new concerns have arisen over the longevity of the concept and the financial viability of one-day deals for small businesses.
[1] The deal-of-the-day concept gained popularity with the launching of Woot.com in July 2004, although Woot itself was a modified version of earlier dot-com bubble sites such as uBid.
[2] Other online businesses, including Facebook,[3] and Google tested their own daily deal sites, withdrawing them after they proved unsuccessful.
[citation needed] Some sites allow members to receive an e-mail either daily or weekly or to be notified of all current offers.
Several morning shows and daytime talk shows have adopted the deal-of-the-day format to sell various items, with ABC's Good Morning America featuring two brands of the concept; The Right Stuff which often is timed with an online retail sale, and GMA contributor Tory Johnson's own vertical integration segment, Deals & Steals, along with The View's View Your Deal.
Most businesses which run contracts with daily deal websites consider doing so as a marketing activity rather than a direct means of generating profit.
Many customers who purchase daily deals are "price-sensitive deal-seekers" who are unlikely to return to the business in the future without similar discounts.
There has been a surge in the private shopping club sector with niche products and offerings such as luxury home ware and high-end food gaining in popularity.
Analysts predicted that industry revenues would reach several billion dollars, at an increasing at annual rates in excess of 100% by the end of 2011.