The e-commerce numbers are growing across the globe and daily deal sites are a large reason for the sector's growth. Looking specifically at the Italian market, the growth and role of daily deal sites in e-commerce is no different. According to leading industry executives, companies like Groupon and LetsBonus are surging in Italy and contributed to the country's double-digit growth in 2011 online retail sales. The presence and success of these sites is noteworthy and the degree to which they continue to grow and attract online shoppers will greatly affect the trajectory of the e-commerce industry both in Italy and other markets. As such, looking at the future of this sector, internet retailers have an opportunity to employ specific practices, among them being SEO, to push coupon sites forward driving more traffic and growing conversions.

Analysts point to the economic downturn and the fact that shoppers are proactively trying to manage the way they spend money. Cutting on spending is a part of this; however, shopping smarter to get quality at an often exceptionally low price is a larger element as many shoppers are trying to maintain a certain quality of life. Looking at the industry players, Groupon has expanded into 48 countries and like in many others, the company holds the top spot in Italy. Holding the second ranking in the country is the Spanish leisure discount site Groupalia. Other key players in the Italian market besides the three mentioned are Glamoo, Jumpin, Poinx, and Prezzo Felice, and Amazon has entered the ring in Italy as well beginning to offer daily discounts.

Driving Further Grow
So what can discount sites do to encourage greater growth in the discount sector?

• Personalization - Businesses can promote loyalty apps to their customers that track shopping activity and generate personalized discounts based on shopping history. Customers would welcome these discounts as they are loyal customers of the brand and they opt-in willingly to download the apps.
• Geo-Targeting - Discount sites can use positioning technology to locate shoppers and send them coupons relevant to their geographic location bringing greater relevance and convenience. This holds great potential for local businesses and markets.
• SEO - Daily deal and discount sites can optimize their web properties to drive more keyword and location targeted traffic. In addition, they can optimize pages relating to specific local coupons to drive more organic local mobile shopping traffic for people that are searching for deals on their smartphones.

Reach out to me directly at rbuddenhagen@webimax.com for more information regarding ecommerce and daily deal sites in Italy or how your business can utilize internet marketing and SEO to push business forward. If you are considering partnering with an SEO company, check out this white paper entitled "Six Things You Must know About Choosing the Best SEO Firm" to learn more about what to look for in an SEO company.