• Bloomberg Businessweek, Tuesday, September 13, 2011 11:37 AM

Since its inception, Groupon has traded in services and locally sold goods so it couldn't be undercut by e-commerce giants like Amazon. Ready for something new, however, the daily deal leader has decided to offer heavily discounted products online -- at least in the U.K. As Bloomberg Businessweek reports, the move immediately thrusts "the Internet-coupon company into closer competition with the likes of Amazon.com Inc. and EBay Inc."

Its prospects for success? Not bad, Bloomberg Businessweek believes. "Groupon ... may be able to bolster its growth by adding vouchers for e-commerce sites," it writes. Seconds Scot Wingo, CEO of ChannelAdvisor Corp.: "With its ability to send discounts to more than 115 million e-mail subscribers, Groupon could attract sellers that normally hawk their wares on Amazon and EBay."

Wingo, whose company provides services for online merchants, also thinks it's only a matter of time before Groupon brings its e-commerce strategy stateside. "It seems to be working really well, and I'm guessing once they get it to the point they feel good about it, they can bring it to the U.S.," Wingo tells Bloomberg Businessweek.

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