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"Groupon emailed a select group of the company's \"best customers\" this week an exclusive invitation for Groupon VIP access.\nThe testing period will last three months. After its release the Groupon VIP program will cost $30 per year. VIP in the daily deals world guarantees early access to deals, first dibs on reservations, access to closed or sold-out deals, and swap-in deals for Groupon Bucks, even after a package has expired. \nGroupon's CEO Andrew Mason said at this week's 2012 Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference that the company hopes to continue to change the local deal commerce market, calling this \"the first inning.\" Groupon stock hasn't been doing well since the company announced its IPO at $20 a share in November, dropping below $17 a share during its first week. \n\u201CFor consumers, we\u2019re allowing them to experience more buying power,\u201D Mason said. \u201CFor merchants, we\u2019re helping them do a better job with wasted inventory.\u201D \n\nSEE ALSO: Groupon Shares Continue Free Fall, But Why?\nLivingSocial, the number two competitor in the daily deals industry, is testing a similar premium product called LivingSocial Plus. The plan costs $20 a month. If you are a LivingSocial frequent user, it may be a smart option since you'll receive $25 Deal Bucks every month as a premium subscriber. \nLivingSocial Plus subscribers are similarly promised $20 of the $25 Deal Bucks rollover if not used, plus, priority access to closed deals and refunds at any time. \nTell us in the comments if you would sign up for Groupon VIP or LivingSocial Plus?\n\n\nGroupon's Major Milestones\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGroupon Offers One Local Deal Per Day, Nov. 2008\n\nThe social buying website Groupon provides one remarkable deal every day for each city they support - Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, and Washington DC.\nUsers can also subscribe to the Groupon mailing list to make sure they have the daily deals emailed to them.\nImage courtesy of Flickr, Jason Rosenberg\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGroupon's Staff and Company Worth Skyrockets\n\nAfter Groupon's launch in 2008, the company's staff rose to over 350 in a year and a half, and was worth over $1 billion within 16 months.\nImage courtesy of Online MBA, Online MBA\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGroupon Launches App for iPhone and Android, March 2010\n\nGroupon's mobile application offers the same complements as the website and allows users to obtain deals and view their purchased Groupons from their mobile phones.\nImage courtesy of iStock, MerveKarahan\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\neBay Highlights Groupon Daily Deals, Oct. 2010\n\nIn 2010, Groupon and online auction house eBay agree to a business relationship that placed regional daily deals on the pages that eBay users visit.\nMembers of eBay's rewards program earn 5% of each Groupon purchase amount in eBay bucks, which members could use towards other items on eBay.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGroupon Turns Down Google's $6 Billion Offer, Dec. 2010\nGroupon decides that is it better off independent and rejects Google's $6 billion acquisition offer.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGroupon Raises $950 Million, Jan. 2011\n\nAfter rejecting Google's $6 billion offer, Groupon raises $950 million from several venture capital firms and late-stage investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Battery Ventures, DST, Greylock Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield &amp; Byers, and Maverick Capital, among others.\nImage courtesy of iStockphoto, slobo\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSocial Buying Competitors\n\nAfter the launch of Groupon, many more group buying sites popped up on the web every day. A few of the popular social buying websites over the past few years include LivingSocial, My Daily Deals, Jasmere, 8 Coupons, Tippr, Dealster and Scoop St.\nImage courtesy of iStock, fazon1\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFoursquare and Groupon Pair Up, July 2011\n\nFoursquare users in the U.S and Canada can  find Groupon's daily deals in the Explore tab of the Foursquare application.\nImage courtesy of iStock, MerveKarahan\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGroupon vs LivingSocial, Aug. 2011\n\nFrom 2010 to 2011, the number of visits to the LivingSocial website came close to the visits to the Groupon site. Visits to Groupon's site also dropped %.5 between May and August of 2011.\nImage courtesy of Online Marketing Trends, Online Marketing Trends\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGroupon's Revenue Growth Plummets, Oct. 2011\n\nAt %111 growth in the fourth quarter in 2010, Groupon plummets to %10 in the third quarter in 2011.\nImage courtesy of Yipit, Yipit\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGRPN Begins Trading, Nov. 2011\nGroupon raises $700 million after setting its strike price, and begins trading publicly Nov. 4. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThumbnail image courtesy of iStockphoto, slobo\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2012/02/17/groupon-vip-program/>