New York Times Thinks It Can Take on Groupon

The New York Times is preparing to introduce its own daily deals service called TimesLimited later this month, preferring to go it alone rather than teaming up with Groupon or LivingSocial.

“We looked at partner options when we began looking at the space a few months ago,” said Denise Warren, senior vice president and chief advertising officer for the NYT Media Group and the NYTimes.com GM. “But we realized that we have the assets, the consumer reach, and the relationships with advertisers to do this on our own.”

TimesLimited will be aiming a little more upscale and providing a more “curated experience” than the more general offerings of other sites, Warren sniffed.

Over the past few days, TimesLimited was quietly sending offers to print subscribers and registered online users. It will publicly debut in the New York area shortly, with other areas to follow.

“Right now, we’re building our e-email list and making sure we have users permission and interest,” Warren told PaidContent, a trade publication.

Skeptics may say the Times doesn't have a chance against the wildly successful Groupon and its followers but those of a more traditional bent think the Times brand means a lot. And, they note, this isn't the first dive into ecommce for the Times Company.

In addition to theNYT Wine Club -- dubbed a "glorified affiliate program" by one longtime Web observer -- that was unveiled in the summer of ‘09, the NYT has other e-mail-based marketing programs, including the Sophisticated Shopper, which offers readers “an inside look at exclusive luxury shopping deals,  and Great Getaways, which spotlights “last-minute retreats, vacation packages and exclusive travel destinations.”

The TimesLimited project comes as the Times continues dithering with its metered paywall, said to be in the “final testing phase.” The Times thinks its content – much of which, like all other newspapers, comes largely from the wire services – is so outstanding that consumers will rush to pay for it rather than read news stories from, ahem, lesser publications.