Amazon's Daily Deal Hits 600K Sold, Crushing Gap's 'Groupon'

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Amazon just sold its 620,000th LivingSocial voucher, and there are still 18 hours left in the $20-for-$10 campaign. As of 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, that's $6 million in sales for the offer, which is on pace to crush Gap's $11 million Groupon effort that included 440,000 vouchers moved on Aug. 19.

Amazon's offer is limited to one per buyer and can be used for any product category on the site other than gift cards. There's a strong viral aspect in play: When viewers buy the voucher, they see webpage copy that encourages them to e-mail, tweet, or Facebook post the offer to their friends. If the person gets three friends to buy the Amazon offer, his credit card will be reimbursed for the $10 purchase. A unique URL that the person places in his message to friends links the referrals back to him.

Without question, Amazon's enormous footprint with consumers is the biggest reason the offer has gone viral. And with the e-retail giant's name on this campaign, it's an unusually good opportunity for LivingSocial to grow its e-mail list by the hundreds of thousands in a single day. Indeed, voucher buyers opt in for future LivingSocial messages.

It seems reasonable to wonder if Amazon deals on LivingSocial will become a regular e-commerce affair. After all, the Seattle, WA-based retail brand invested $175 million in the group-buying platform in early December.

If Amazon sees an average order size well above $20 for the effort, the two brands will likely work together again.