• Bloomberg Businessweek, Wednesday, June 29, 2011 12:41 PM

Little by little, Groupon appears to be losing its stranglehold on the daily deal market. From April to May, its share of online daily deals slipped from 52% to 48%, according to Bloomberg Businessweek, citing new data from deal aggregator Yipit. At the same time, rivals like LivingSocial.com are closing in on the deal leader. From April to May, LivingSocial's marketshare grew from 20% to 24%, according to Yipit, which studied online daily deals in 30 major North American cities for its analysis.

"The main reason you're seeing Groupon's market share fall is that competition is still on the upswing," David Sinsky, data product manager for Yipit, tells Bloomberg Businessweek. "Groupon pioneered a brand new space a year and a half ago, and because of their success they have attracted a lot of competition."

In sheer dollar terms, Yipit's researchers estimate that Groupon made $64.7 million in sales in May -- more than double LivingSocial's $31.6 million. Industrywide, online daily deals are now delivered by 345 sites, and account for about $133 million in revenue in top North American markets, according to Yipit.

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