While no one has ever doubted Groupon’s impressive topline growth - the question has always been around the defensibility of a business that has so few barriers to entry. In its long awaited S-1, it's clear that … [Read more...]
The Daily Deal Stack
Analogies to mature markets are useful in predicting how new ones will evolve. One framework I like for Daily Deals is how the display ad technology landscape* shaped up. A friend of mine, Paul Knegten, pointed me to … [Read more...]
Dead Heat: Groupon Down Another 32% in March, LivingSocial Ties It Up
We were all surprised to see Groupon's US revenue decline 30% in February, but apparently that's just the beginning. Yipit, as a daily deal aggregator, indexes offers from more than 400 services, including Groupon and … [Read more...]
Is Groupon Stores Dead On Arrival?
At the beginning of December, Groupon announced two radical new features: Groupon Stores and the Deal Feed, the former a self-serve deal platform for merchants, the latter a Facebook-like experience for Groupon users. … [Read more...]
Lawyers, Largest YP Advertisers, Prohibited From Using Groupon in NC
A North Carolina State ethics subcommittee has proposed an opinion stating that is not ethical for lawyers to offer their services via Groupon according to the ABA Journal. The opinion states that a lawyer is not allowed … [Read more...]
Travelzoo's Groupon Competitor Already Valued at $400 Million
Five months ago, Travelzoo, an old internet 1.0 company, decided to expand their business by launching a Groupon competitor. In September, Travelzoo Launched a Groupon Competitor They have always been known for sending … [Read more...]
Daily Deal Success is All About New Customers
A major concern for Daily Deal space is whether deal promotions are profitable for individual merchants. The argument being: if the average discount is 50+%, and the Daily Deal service takes 30-50% in commissions, then … [Read more...]
2011 Daily Deal Predictions: Thousands of Sites, A Super Bowl Ad, Credit Cards and More
Update on Prediction #2: Groupon is confirmed to run pregame spots on Super Bowl XLV. The company attempted to purchase game spots, but the inventory was already sold out (AdAge). Ahh predictions posts, truly a … [Read more...]
Is Thrillist Building a Groupon for Guys?
Thrillist has started quitely testing a new daily deals product called Thrillist Rewards in New York City. They will now join DailyCandy, Fresh Guide, Vital Juice Daily and UrbanDaddy as daily email newsletters which … [Read more...]
Real Reason Groupon is Selling: They're Another AOL?
I'll start by saying that, yes, $6 billion is a lot of money. It would be Google's largest acquisition ever and a complete grand slam for Groupon, its employees and its investors. Why Sell Now? On the other hand, why … [Read more...]