AT&T announced today that its YP.com online directory (formerly known as YellowPages.com) will be offering Groupon-like deals within the next couple of months in an attempt to tap into the massively popular deals market.
With the success of sites like Groupon and LivingSocial, AT&T is hoping to take advantage of the daily deals group buying model and banking on its large network of advertisers, salespeople and users will give it an edge over the competition.
In an interview with Dow Jones Newswires earlier today, AT&T Interactive Chief Executive David Krantz said, “We think we can be a fast follower. It’s about getting the pieces together.”
The company is still in the process of working out a deal with a smaller technology company that would manage the distribution and tracking of each coupon, Krantz said, although he did not name the company. AT&T intends to follow the one-deal-a-day model in each market that it covers with YP.com.
According to Roger Cheng of Dow Jones Newswire:
“While YP.com doesn’t carry the buzz of other listing websites such as Yelp, it does boast 30 million visitors a month, while its mobile application is loaded on 40 million cellphones. It also employs 5,000 salesmen–the largest local sales force in the country–allowing it to potentially garner more attractive discounts.”
He went on to add that Krantz believes that even with a crowded market, there is still room for well-known brands, either with smaller niche start-ups or by partnering with larger companies to take advantage of their wider reach.
