Read the whole article, but wanted to stop after the second paragraph. Choice quotation:
"The real innovation Groupon brought ... was their ability to profit off of closing the attribution loop in online-to-offline commerce. And this is a huge land grab that others had completely missed."
That's funny, because I thought that Groupon showed just the opposite of that. How exactly has Groupon proved that there's a profitable business in hooking up customers and businesses with slash-and-burn deals? Even taking half of the revenue, Groupon is bleeding money and admits that it is going to have to invest even more to keep up the growth curve.
I get that Groupon is popular, sure, but they'd be even more popular if they didn't take 50% of the coupon revenue. Of course, they'd be out of business sooner, as well. The "naysayers", like myself, are pointing out that Groupon (willfully or otherwise) hasn't found a balance that allows them to grow and actually turn a profit. What they have done is grow their userbase at an astonishing rate by raising and spending huge chunks of cash. That's not a business, that's a party. And parties, while fun to attend, are a bitch to clean up.
Even taking half of the revenue, Groupon is bleeding money and admits that it is going to have to invest even more to keep up the growth curve.
I live in a moderately large regional area - Raleigh/Durham - close to a million people in the metro area. I've gone to groupon.com several times, and each time it doesn't seem to remember me - I end up putting my email in again each time, and then I'm shown a few 'deals', but nothing to suggest they're 'daily' (maybe they are, but I can't easily tell).
When I hear 'daily deal site', I'm sort of expecting to get emails daily with a deal. I've given my email address. I want these things. If they can't make that happen in a metro area with nearly a million people, and having a large org (8,000 people?!) I just don't get how this will survive long term, other than perhaps by name recognition (it's a damn catchy name).
"The real innovation Groupon brought ... was their ability to profit off of closing the attribution loop in online-to-offline commerce. And this is a huge land grab that others had completely missed."
That's funny, because I thought that Groupon showed just the opposite of that. How exactly has Groupon proved that there's a profitable business in hooking up customers and businesses with slash-and-burn deals? Even taking half of the revenue, Groupon is bleeding money and admits that it is going to have to invest even more to keep up the growth curve.
I get that Groupon is popular, sure, but they'd be even more popular if they didn't take 50% of the coupon revenue. Of course, they'd be out of business sooner, as well. The "naysayers", like myself, are pointing out that Groupon (willfully or otherwise) hasn't found a balance that allows them to grow and actually turn a profit. What they have done is grow their userbase at an astonishing rate by raising and spending huge chunks of cash. That's not a business, that's a party. And parties, while fun to attend, are a bitch to clean up.