AOL’s Patch Partners with Amex’s Serve to Offer Groupon-Like Service
Under the new partnership, Serve will power the Patch Deals platform, which will offer Groupon-style users deals and discounts, on the American Express network. Patch Deals, like Groupon and Living Social, is a group-buying deals program that targets local communities. Users sign up for free to receive email alerts from businesses and can then click on any deal interests them.
There is a growing number of these services, including the recently launched Google Offers. While less known than Groupon or LivingSocial, a differentiator for Patch Deals may be the benefit to the merchants. On Patch, merchants can list their deals for free, but will not have to share as high a percentage of revenue as with Groupon or Living Social.
