Mucker Blog

Does Groupon Have a Future Beyond Daily Deals?

Below is an editorial I wrote for MediaPost a few weeks back.  It was published today.

It may be premature to talk about the “second act” of a company that just went public a few weeks ago and is the “fastest growing company in history.” But the data supports the theory that Groupon’s core local daily deal business here in the U.S. is hitting the wall.

To meet Wall Street’s expectation that is priced into its valuation, Groupon needs to act quickly and decisively. What Groupon has going is that it has built the first new and growing nationwide local sales platform in the last 15 years. With the platform, Groupon has the opportunity to revolutionize adjacent local businesses and continue to expand at unearthly rates by selling additional products or services to SMBs.

The following are some of the major opportunities beyond daily deals that Groupon must consider.

  • http://www.facebook.com/projectwong MD Wong

    Its not premature at all.  To fight their current retention they either need to modify their game plan or come up with part duex.   From personal experience speaking with SMBs, they feel Groupon destroyed their business during the time their offer was published.  Some would say its on the business but the trust has been broken over and over again.  If you get enough businesses with this sentiment you’re going to have major problems with retention (already a problem) and also getting new businesses, even if you have an army selling it for you (google: ‘groupon scam’).  Nice Job on the article!  Hopefully Groupon is listening. 

  • Shane Wolf

    Great article.  One of my main thoughts regarding Groupon is that their business model is one of the few that really benefitted from the recession and continued down economy.  SMB’s are out there dying to get new customers and keep their doors open, therefore they are using Groupon’s platform as more of a marketing tool than anything.  They need to get that first purchase from their customers and hope they come back, even though most people never go back.  Once the economy picks up again the SMB’s most likely wont be offering up deals all the time.  So when that time comes, I agree they need to explore the opportunities you discuss.  I am also very surprised the facebook deals didn’t gain big time traction.