• by Tanya Gazdik , October 25, 2010

The Body Shop sent out an email blast Monday morning to its loyalty customer list members, alerting them to the deal, which offers $40 in merchandise for $20 and is set to expire at midnight. The email offers a hyperlink to the main Groupon site and also includes information about the terms and conditions of the deal, which must be redeemed by Feb. 25.

This is the first time The Body Shop has partnered with Groupon, according to Shelley Simmons, The Body Shop's director of brand communications and values. "We commit ourselves to providing a great customer experience through a variety of channels," Simmons tells Marketing Daily. "And so, as a retail brand, it's our job to keep a keen eye on how our consumer shops, where she shops and what she is looking for when she's making her purchasing decisions. Groupon is a fascinating concept and we are excited to explore the possibilities of this collaboration."

As of 3 p.m. ET, Groupon had already sold 80,000 of the deals, which are on track to be one of the five top-selling Groupons ever. "The deal is running in the majority of our cities; however, customers can click to any city's deal page to purchase and redeem in their own area since the deal is good at all brick-and-mortar Body Shop locations," says Julie Anne Mossler, Groupon's PR and consumer marketing manager.

This deal was already in the works when Groupon's last big nationwide deal with the Gap ran back in August, Mossler tells Marketing Daily. The Gap offer also ran in Canada while The Body Shop offer is only posted on Groupon microsites for U.S. cities. The Gap offer resulted in more than 445,000 Groupons being sold, Mossler says.

Groupon, launched in Chicago in November 2008, is in more than 250 markets in 29 countries. Customers can redeem the coupons at any Body Shop location in the U.S., not just at the stores in the cities where the Groupons appeared, Mossler adds.

Using the principles of collective buying, Groupon negotiates discounts with businesses. Groupon subscribers get free daily emails alerting them to the deals. The deals are activated only when a minimum number of people agree to buy, encouraging subscribers to share the promotion with family and friends.

Meanwhile, also on Monday, Groupon and eBay announced co-marketing incentives. Visitors to eBay will now find daily updated deals from Groupon featured throughout the site. Members of the eBay Bucks Rewards Program who purchase Groupon deals from the eBay site earn 5% of the purchase price back in eBay Bucks. EBay will use geolocation to determine the closest deal for each user.