Bargain Babe LA: Social Maps for Shopping

Tip sheets on local bargains seem like an obvious local media play. I even sketched one out at dinner with friends last winter. Bargain Babe LA is better than anything I was thinking of.

Launched in July by former LA Daily News Reporter Julia Scott, BBLA’s tagline is “daily tips for savvy shoppers.” The site uses Serra Media’s new TownLuxe platform to let shoppers throughout the Southland add tips for shopping, products and services, blog style.

Shoppers can easily add tips for their own neighborhoods, or for different areas. For instance, one shopper posted “Shopping Tips During Van Nuys Jury Duty.”

Here are some Bargain Babe LA tips that especially appealed to me: free bagels and cream cheese for registering at Junior’s Deli; a $1 off coupon code for Jamba Juice; and a BOGO –buy one, get one free — at Daphne’s Greek Café.

On Bargain Babe LA, all the tips are conveniently “social mapped” on a local map. The home page itself features a map that jumps from neighborhood to neighborhood with shopping bargains. It’s good entertainment, and highly social. Hundreds of tips have been submitted at this point.

The site plans to be ad supported, and TownLuxe includes a self-serve advertising tool. The infrastructure of the site is the same that is used for Serra’s NewsGarden site, which similarly sorts news on a social-and-geo basis.