The Body Shop Runs National 'Groupon' via eBay

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Thanks to Groupon's new deal with eBay, The Body Shop's campaign today could end up being the most widely distributed group-buying effort ever.

Groupon and eBay have agreed to include daily deals on eBay.com. The move significantly extends Groupon's platform beyond the e-mail realm (15 million subscribers) and general traffic to its website. According to comScore, eBay was the No. 14 site in the U.S with 69 million unique visitors during August. eBay visitors can now sign up for Groupon deals and earn 5 percent back via the e-commerce site's "eBay Bucks" program.

The Body Shop's $20-for-$40 voucher offer on Monday is essentially a nationwide campaign as it is running in all Groupon markets that have a Body Shop location. Smaller markets without a location - like Savannah, GA, or Corpus Christi, TX, for instance - received a different local offer. The Body Shop, which is part of L'Oreal, is looking to drive foot traffic into stores; purchasers cannot redeem the offer online.

While neither Groupon nor The Body Shop was available to comment, the extra reach provided by eBay suggests that the skincare brand's stint might reach more viewers than the Gap's high-profile run. So far, though, it doesn't look like the campaign is going viral to the extent that the Gap's offer did. The clothing retailer's initiative grossed grossed $11 million, which included around 440,000 purchases. With about a half of a day remaining in The Body Shop's campaign, here are some results: 7,700 people from Chicago had purchased the 50 percent off voucher; 4,800 from New York; 4,100 from Washington; 3,000 from Los Angeles, 500 from Kansas City.

For localized campaigns, the deals on eBay.com will apparently be served according to viewers' IP address. Therefore, mom-and-pop restaurants and shops that run a Groupon campaign for their local market will also appear on eBay.com to site visitors from that area. They will appear above-the-fold in the upper left-hand corner on the auction site's homepage. The 440X267-pixel box ad is using the headline copy, "Today's Deal For [City Name]".