newjerseynewsroom.com

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Daily deal site LivingSocial, has run grocery offers at regional sites or smaller retailers before. But they claim their deal with Whole Foods Market, Inc. is the first of its kind to be offered on a national level.

According to the Los Angeles Times, anyone who signed up on the LivingSocial website was able to pay $10 to receive a $20 voucher. Then the buyer exchanges the voucher for a $20 gift card at a Whole Foods location. Whole Foods was able to sell one million coupons.

USA Today reports that Whole Foods will be giving 5 percent of the sale price to its Whole Kids Foundation, which supports children's nutrition.

There are always going to be questions about this kind of deal. CenterNetworks.com reports that some information about the deal had not been disclosed.

They say that some people are claiming that LivingSocial is sponsoring or partially subsidizing the arrangement with WholeFoods to gain new subscribers. And the LivingSocial referral system where buyers pick up referral codes was removed. Also, the system that LivingSocial uses to pay for referrals, Deal Bucks, could not be used to pay Whole Foods.

Opinions seemed to be swinging in both directions on Tuesday in the world of Twitter. “$10 for $20 to Spend at Whole Foods Market. Which should buy you... a carrot,” one read Tuesday, according to the Washington Post. “Thanks, LivingSocial. Whole Foods wasn't totally crowded enough already,” another person complained. Happier consumers were posting, “Things that make my morning,” and “Can’t believe [it]!”

LivingSocial is the second-largest daily deal company behind Groupon. According to the Washington Post, Whole Foods has been called “food porn” by the media in the past, and the company has been the inspiration for rap songs.