Groupon: A comprehensive Strategy TM583 – Course Project By Jesse Marcano Cory Shenault Clifton Leonard Table of Contents Introduction 2 Section 1 - Strategy 3 Section 2 – Core Competencies 6 Section 3 – Industry Dynamics 10 Section 4 – Technology Sourcing and Internal Innovation 13 Section 5 – Product Development Strategy 16 Section 6 – Strategy to Protect Innovations 17 Conclusion 20 Bibliography 20 Introduction Groupon did not invent the daily deal website; however, they introduced the concept of using the group buying power of online shoppers to receive substantial discounts from local merchants. Their model has been easy to replicate, which has lead to many clones operating in the same market as …show more content…
“In May of 2010, Groupon moved 19,822 tickets in eight hours and split the $238,000 profit with the tour operator” (Steiner, 2010). Groupon has since established a presence in 88 U.S. cities as well as 22 countries including Poland, Russia, Chile, and Turkey. With competition getting stronger in Brazil and New York, Andrew Mason hired 250 salespeople and 70 writers. Many of those writers were chosen from the improv comic strip in Chicago to create witty and unique sales pitches for upcoming deals. “We want to do for local e-commerce what Amazon did for normal consumer goods,” said Mason (Steiner, 2010). As of March 17, 2011, Groupon has acquired more than 70 billion subscribers worldwide. Groupon’s primary strategy for growth is sales and marketing. They use complex analytics to segment customers not only by city but more specifically, by neighborhood. They target these customers with marketing that is close to home and relevant to their demographic. They provide local businesses with instant access to droves of local customers and in exchange they split the revenue from the sales of “groupons” with the local businesses. Groupon’s market name recognition and vast data warehouses containing intimate customer data give them an advantage over competitors. They use this data to buy Google Ad Words that will attract the most customers and provide an
Groupon is a deal based business that brings customers discounted deals from the businesses. As a result of massive success and the growing competition, the business is faced with the option of either selling to Google or developing an effective marketing strategy for continuing its own. In the due context, the underlying report proposes a marketing plan for successfully dealing with the market challenges (Chatterjee, O”Keeffe, and Streiff, 2012).
Groupon targeted consumers with emails, and social media exposure such as Twitter and Facebook. Advertising relied on word of mouth from friends and families, and referral vouchers. Groupon also engaged in marketing campaigns related to gimmick consumer challenges to drive activity in an attempt to increase email subscribers. The positives of Groupon to the consumer were the perception that products and services were being acquired and utilized for a discounted price. The perception that a consumer was receiving a discounted deal was very
Frank Sennett’s book Groupon’s Biggest Deal Ever chronicles the rise to internet glory of multi-billion dollar company, with an unlikely captain at the helm. That man is Andrew Mason and eccentric computer nerd who ended up finding himself touted as the next Mark Zuckerberg. Book tells the unlikely tale of a 29 year old start-up geek and the cold calculating but reasonable investor behind him, Eric Lefkofsky. Together they would go on to eventually found a company that would turn down Google’s 6 billion dollar offer, the biggest deal in internet history.
Andrew and his partner, Eric Lefkofsky came up with another company and created Groupon, which launched in November 2008 where it first started in Chicago. Eric provided Andrew $1 million in “seed money” to drop out of school and got Groupon started because Eric developed the idea. Groupon’s first deal was to buy two pizzas for the price of one in a restaurant on first floor of the building where Groupon started.
I noticed that Grill Em Steakhouse & Sports Bar is currently using Groupon, and we also understand how Groupon works. We have talked to many restaurants in San Jose area who used deal sites such as Groupon or Livingsocial in the past and many of them have one thing in common. They are definitely not happy because restaurants lose money on every single deal, regular customers become coupon users, and customers stopped coming back.
Groupon’s vision is that they are an online website where any costumer, seemingly anywhere around the world, can purchase coupons at highly discounted rates, for items or services that they would originally pay full price for. Its mission is mainly based off of two things; its values and their promise (to the costumer). When it comes to their values, it all starts with the customer. Groupon is always striving to the best they can be, “Always imagining new ways to exceed the expectations of all our customers—both consumers looking for great experiences at a great value and merchants seeking solutions to attract more customers and run their businesses ' better.” (Groupon) Groupon also believes that great people make great companies. They believe that they’re “A home for creative, problem-solvers, and innovators alike—those with the passion and know-how to transform
The development of Groupon was very rapidly in early stage. In October 2008, it launched its first deal. It is incredibly that, in 2010, Groupon was serving more than 150 market in North America, 100 markets in Europe, Asia and South America, and
Everyday Groupon features a unique, new experience at a discounted price in cities across the world. From restaurants and theaters, to spas, stores and special events, Groupon partners with local businesses to offer daily deals.Groupon deals you can get as much as 50-90%
“Groupon consumers follow the same purchase decision process common to many consumer purchases.” (Kerin & Hartley, p. 111). Groupon has grown quickly due to the understanding they have of consumer behavior. They have built their concept around different consumer behaviors, such when or how they may want to receive or view deal notifications. Although Groupon’s discount price offerings may be an activation point for someone to subscribe, they
Groupon is a deal-of-the-day website that is localized to major geographic markets worldwide. Launched in November 2008, the first market for Groupon was Chicago, followed soon thereafter by Boston, New York City, and Toronto. Groupon has over 50 million subscribers across 300 cities in more than 40 countries. The idea for Groupon was created by Andrew Mason who is currently the company’s CEO. [update]Groupon serves more than 150 markets in North America and 100 markets in Europe, Asia and South America and has amassed 60 million registered users. The growth in the future is likely to be at a slower pace, primarily because the company is already one of the largest in the local deals space.
Groupon Founder & CEO Andrew Mason is very good at understanding customers’ behavior about shopping. He considered the following factors as the key features to attract customers.
Local businesses participating in Groupon’s offerings have a dual benefit. On one side, they can get a guarantee demand for their products, getting rid of excess capacity and attaining economies of scale. Second, and perhaps more important, Groupon’s offerings create Word-of-Mouth and buzz for new products and services, helping them reach the “tipping point.”
I believe that Groupon has become successful for many different reasons. First of all, Groupon was the first to transport the traditional “Coupon clipping” to the online world. This opened many opportunities. It was something new, exciting to consumers that they hadn´t seen in this way. So Groupon had a first mover advantage even though they only connected already existing ideas and technologies in a new way. By being online Groupon could reach many, possibly millions, of people at once. This was a strong argument when Groupon talked to local merchants. As most of these merchants did not have an extensive marketing budget and were not necessarily familiar with new
With the internet technology, everyone can stay at home for online shopping. What’s more, if you can enjoy daily discounts with all the information, home delivery and 24-hours daily operation, that’s all can be found by buying Groupon. Groupon, the company has successfully captured millions of online consumers throughout the world. The marketing strategy of Groupon captures the consumer behavior. Consumer buying behavior, defined as... “The buying behavior of final consumers, individual and households who buy goods and services for personal”.Groupon consumers mainly responses to: