When the daily deals trend collapses, the third-party client apps that streamline daily deals will be the first to go. We’re getting a whiff of that today with the announcement that CityPockets, a New York-based e-coupon organizer that aggregates all of your deals, is shutting down.
In an email sent out to users today, CEO Cheryl Yeoh wrote:
I deeply regret to announce that CityPockets will completely shut down on June 30, 2012, since we are no longer able to maintain the product for a variety of reasons….We’d like to direct you to our friends at DealsGoRound and Yipit, both offering deal management services and we hope that they will fulfill your needs.
Ouch. Directing your users to former competitors? That’s gotta sting.
“We’ve always been friends with DealsGoRound and Yipit, and wanted our loyal fans to have an alternative to store / manage their vouchers,” Ms. Yeoh told Betabeat via email. “It’s only fitting for us to show some love to our fellow daily deal friends.”
Fortunately for CityPockets fans, Ms. Yeoh also took the opportunity to announce a new venture: It’s called Reclip.It, and it’s a “social catalog” for the sharing of deals, coupons and discounted products. The social component means that you can follow “deal bloggers, friends, or brands and get notified whenever they clip a good deal into their folder.” It looks pretty much exactly like a Pinterest for coupons.
Even though CityPockets will be completely shutting down on June 30th, ReClip.It’s similarities–both in industry and concept–make it seem more like a pivot than anything else.
“People have been clipping coupons for decades and the industry that has been primarily driven by ad-ridden, cluttered and outdated coupon sites is ripe for disruption,” said Ms. Yeoh.
“We’re initially focusing on serving the mommy bloggers who curate coupons and deals on their website to the 32M moms who subscribe to them,” she added.