Austin-based aDealio.com announced that they’re expanding service from their Austin roots to the Dallas market. The flash buying meme is definitely hot, with several companies in this market being based in Austin and over 100 nationwide. What remains to be seen is who can scale, innovate, and survive a crowded market.

Regional expansion is certainly the first piece of that puzzle. But it’s not just a matter of turning on a new page to a website. My biggest criticism of Groupon (as a business model) has always been the need to actually have sales people on-the-ground to surface the deals at the retail locations. Independent bars, restaurants, and day spas generally aren’t executing digital marketing campaigns on their own, and are too small to hire an agency for that. So the deal websites all need sales people.

Innovation in this business is important. aDealio doesn’t require a certain minimum number of buyers for a deal to be in effect, which is a nice touch. Also, the first few buyers get an additional 5% off. If you refer your friends to the website, you can earn aDealio bucks, which will eventually make some of the offers free. Innovation tends to be grounded in features, and features are easy to replicate. We’ll see how long it takes competitors to copy each other.

As a consumer, I prefer deals on restaurants where I eat frequently and enjoy the food. If you can get me a deal at Perla’s or Justine’s I’ll buy five. But there is the rub — the popular restaurants don’t need to discount and offer coupons. I believe that whichever of these sites builds long-term digital marketing relationships with the top locations will come out on top.

aDealio has plans to open up 12 more cities as demand grows. Congrats to them on their expansion!