Groupon offers could make hot gifts

— -- Daily-deals sites such as LivingSocial, Groupon and Gilt are becoming a go-to source for gift-giving this year as shoppers become more attracted to their convenience, steep savings and "experiential" offers.

Consumers continue to look for ways to save but don't want to skimp on gifts, which is why they gravitate toward the savings and personalized experiences daily deals provide, says Graham Jones at daily-deals aggregator PriceGrabber.

He says that when shoppers buy a voucher for $25 that gives them a value of $50, everyone wins. "The savings goes to the gift giver. The value goes to the gift receiver," Jones says.

Starting on Cyber Monday, LivingSocial will offer deals including a voucher for half off on wine at Wine.com. Gilt City, the location-specific arm of daily-deals site Gilt, will offer holiday deals that cater to specific categories, such as a reduced-price basket of beauty products for the "beauty maven" in your life.

"Every year, people are wanting to customize their gifts more and more, just as the world becomes more customizable," says Cameron Glass, a retail strategist at consulting firm Kurt Salmon. She says daily deals are "a way to give interesting gifts that stay on budget."

Almost 60% of consumers plan to use daily-deals sites to shop for gifts this year, a PriceGrabber analysis of 2,322 online shoppers found. LivingSocial says more than half of 3,500 respondents said they think they may receive a daily deal as a gift.

Glass chalks those numbers up to the fact that consumers are gaining more confidence and savvy in making online purchases.

Similarly, shoppers are attracted to Gilt City because they have become more sophisticated, President Nathan Richardson says.

Daisy Johnson of Manassas, Va., says she plans to take advantage of daily deals "if the right ones come my way."

"Daily deals provide the perfect opportunity to try something new that one wouldn't otherwise," she says.