I think there are so many ways technology can help mom + pop type small businesses inexpensively stay competitive with the numerous forces working against them (including retail giants with substantially better technology), and the huge interest in daily deals justifies this assertion--at least in some small way.

But the technology needs to help the small business actually improve. Groupon doesn't do this. For the most part, it plays smoke and mirrors with revenues and the costs or profits are not entirely known because the small business cannot measure them.