Groupon, Living Social Skew Urban

Demography might not be destiny, but it is close. The places there are lots of people are the same places there are lots of small businesses, lots of mobile phone users, lots of everything, in fact.

As is the case for just about anything else related to people and business, the places there are dense concentrations of buyers are the places there are equally-dense concentrations of suppliers.

For that reason, the typical Groupon and Living Social user, in fact, is about 13 percent more likely to live in a metropolitan area with a population of more than 400,000 people, according to Nielsen Co. data, and about 10 percent more likely to live in a city with more than three million people.

Those aren't huge disparities, or even surprising. Where are the places it will make most sense for a local retailer to pitch offers at people? Where are there enough retailers to support a business offering coupons and offers?

Groupon, Living Social Are Skewing Urban