S.F.'s Blissmo Urges Foodies to Go Green via Web Discounts

The flash sales marketer wants consumers to support what it deems good-guy businesses.

​According to a Change.org article published this week, "flash sales," or e-mail and Web operations offering time-sensitive discounts on products, are "the hottest segment of the consumer web market." How has market top-dog Groupon managed to do over $500 million in revenue this year so far? By not only enabling participating businesses to score profits on their discounted products and services, but by guaranteeing them exposure to a fresh crop of customers.

Fresh-faced San Francisco newcomer
Blissmo may follow a similar model, but the goal is different: to encourage conscientious shoppers to support sustainable, good-guy businesses by drawing attention to them and making their products affordable. The first week's promotion is almost over, and with it the opportunity to enjoy (with a swift button-click) a 50 percent discount on a two-person tasting at Sonoma County's green J Vineyards and Winery.

The Bay Area being what it is, food and drink enterprises stand to gain by getting involved. The article characterizes the Blissmo spirit as inherently optimistic about consumers, as the company is wedded to the idea that "there are a lot more people who would be buying sustainably than those who are now, if it was easier [to do so] and if they had good ways to learn about products that actually lived up to their values."

So what's in store next week? Since the company is keeping its lid shut tight, we're forced to speculate. A two-for-one deal on pastured chickens at Soul Food Farm, a coupon for a fry-scented biodiesel fill-up, or a deal on the installation of a solar panel-powered egg incubator perhaps? Time will tell.