Amazon Local offers users daily discounts on anything from restaurant outings to gym memberships to entertainment events. Users in possession of deal vouchers can still use them “according to their terms,” the Seattle-based company said.
The decision to shutter the service comes as competitors in the once-hot daily deals space take similarly cheerless steps. Take Groupon, for example: One of the market’s main players and once described as “the fastest growing company ever,” the firm announced in September it was axing 1,100 positions from its global workforce and pulling out of seven countries in a bid to streamline its business.
According to GeekWire, which first spotted the announcement, Amazons Local expanded to 40 locations across the U.S. during its lifetime. Despite its imminent closure, the company insists it’s not turning its back on local businesses entirely, with plans afoot to continue expanding its Home Services program connecting customers with local providers for home improvements. It’s also continuing to partner with local restaurants for fast meal delivery via its Prime Now service.
Commenting on its decision to shutter Amazon Local, a spokesperson for the e-commerce giant told GeekWire, “We’ve learned a great deal from the daily deals business and will look for ways to apply these lessons in the future as we continue to innovate on behalf of our customers and merchants.”
The company added that Local’s closure won’t affect offers such as its Deal of the Day, Gold Box Deals, and Kindle Daily Deals.
Constantly reviewing the viability of its plethora of services, it’s inevitable that Amazon occasionally brings the curtain down on those it views as unsustainable. In September it quietly shuttered Destinations, a travel-deals service that launched only six months earlier.
