Social coupon service Groupon has acquired Ditto which specialized in connecting users with other local customers interested in the same type of food and entertainment options.
At this time it appears that Groupon purchased the company as part of a “talent acquisition” and will shut down the company’s iPhone app.
The possibility of integrating Ditto type services with Groupon is exciting, for example Ditto created a system in which friends could follow one another to determine what they are doing, friends could then decide to join in on a movie or lunch. The company also integrated its service with Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare so plans could easily be shared across various networks.
It’s not clear how much Groupon paid for Ditto.Me which currently has a 4.5 out of 5 stars rating with just 58 reviews and 1000 Facebook likes.
On the official Ditto blog the team said they can’t reveal their future plans but admitted that the Ditto app would be shutting down on April 30th.
Groupon in recent months has been purchasing various company’s that will likely help the company blend its social coupon service with social network integration. By convincing local friends to purchase coupons their own friends recently purchased the company could greatly boost its sales volume. For example you could see a friends restaurant purchase, sign up for the same groupon offer and then connect with that friend when you realize they are heading to that restaurant to use their recently purchased Groupon.
