Social Buying & Digital Deals

The Internet booms again – on shopping. “Groupon.” “Living Social.” We look at how and why the Web is changing the way we buy now.

E-commerce – online shopping – is cooking this year. Up and up, as Americans scramble onto the Internet for deals and convenience and holiday gifts.

But the biggest thing of all this year is a whole breed of super bargain hunting and consumer leverage online. Gangs, hordes, wolf packs of consumers banding together to leverage great deals from local retailers. It’s a boiling phenom.

The biggest outfit doing it is called Groupon. The company is two years old and last week turned down a $6 billion dollar buyout offer from Google. And there are others. We click through.
-Tom Ashbrook
Guests:

Natali Morris, news anchor for CNET TV and technology contributor for CBS News.

Chris Steiner, staff writer for Forbes Magazine, where he covers the Internet and financial technology. He wrote the August cover story on Groupon for Forbes.

Tim O'Shaugnessy, CEO and founder of LivingSocial. His company is the 2^nd biggest website for daily deals behind Groupon and has major expansion plans.

Scott Steinberg, CEO and founder of Tech Savvy Global. He's a tech entrepeneur and analyst.