It took some doing but it seems as though a company has found a new twist on the daily deal model. Loopt has introduced a feature to its Loopt u-Deals service that allows consumers to request daily deals from local businesses.

For instance, a customer could ask a local restaurant for a $50 coupon for a weekday meal or $10 off a manicure pedicure at a local salon. Loopt must accept the deal and then it asks the consumer to share its proposed with his or her friends via such social channels as Facebook, Twitter and so on. Only then is the actual company contacted with the deal proposal.

Venture Beat writes that it sees several challenges to this model including fending off ridiculous requests, getting enough people to join in the deal and then getting the company to go along - basically there will be a challenge to every step of Loopt's process.

That said, it is not smart to underestimate the power of the daily deal market which has sprung out of seemingly nowhere to become a multibillion dollar industry. Consumers are getting ever more accustomed to the deep discounts offered by Groupon, LivingSocial and the like - and are moving to the point where they will not be favorably disposed to having a local service provider deciding to opt out.

The discounts offered on these sites tend to be far deeper than typical retail promotions, Dan Hess, CEO of Local Offer told the E-Commerce Times.  "The average discount across all categories is 53 percent off of the normal selling price. In some cases it is considerably higher," he said. In health, medical, beauty and dental services the average is 62 percent, Hess added.