Groupon Reports Net Loss of $81.1 Million For Q4, With Revenue Up 30pc

I've received one offer too many in my inbox. And probably so have many.

It's had a fair bit of bad press in the UK.

Several companies that signed up and hadn't forseen what they were getting into, went bust in short order.

The UK Office of Fair Trading also got involved on at least one occasion.

I don't take any notice of the offers, mainly because there are too many of the same things, which are aimed at women.

It seems there's a change at the top.

Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN), the global leader in local commerce, today announced a leadership change in which Executive Chairman Eric Lefkofsky and Vice Chairman Ted Leonsis have been appointed to the newly created Office of the Chief Executive, effective immediately, replacing Andrew Mason. Lefkofsky and Leonsis will serve in this role on an interim basis. The Board has commenced a search for a new Chief Executive.

"On behalf of the entire Groupon Board, I want to thank Andrew for his leadership, his creativity and his deep loyalty to Groupon. As a founder, Andrew helped invent the daily deals space, leading Groupon to become one of the fastest growing companies in history," said Lefkofsky.

"Groupon will continue to invest in growth, and we are confident that with our deep management team and market-leading position, the company is well positioned for the future," said Leonsis.

The company's guidance for first quarter and full year 2013 outlined in yesterday's earnings announcement remains unchanged. Groupon Announces Leadership Change [investor.groupon.com]

From a business point of view [ not my personal viewpoint above ] , the feedback is that it's too hard and costly to engage in this to build brand.

It leads to revenue dilution and all consumers are hanging out for is the next competitors offer or alternative purchase.

There may be some who can use it well, but for the majority i sense this is not the case and the durability of this tactic is wearing thin.

if you haven't read ex-ceo andrew mason's goodbye to groupon employees it's worth a minute.

http://www.jottit.com/v5wux/ [jottit.com]:

After four and a half intense and wonderful years as CEO of Groupon, I've decided that I'd like to spend more time with my family. Just kidding - I was fired today.
...
You are doing amazing things at Groupon, and you deserve the outside world to give you a second chance. I'm getting in the way of that.
...
If there's one piece of wisdom that this simple pilgrim would like to impart upon you: have the courage to start with the customer.
...

If their financial performance trend continues on the course it's now on they might soon be able to offer all their office furniture for a real good deal.

I think their are multiple problems with Groupon starting with not giving merchants enough information to properly create offers that don't lead them to the brink of financial ruin.

This was a widely known issue that has probably scared off many potential advertisers.

Additionally, they don't give enough granularity for people to narrow down the types of offers they want which makes it rather unmanageable as a potential customer IMO.

Therefore, something with high potential risk for the advertiser and cumbersome for the consumers spells a simple recipe for failure.

I think it could be fixed easily and turn it around but I don't work there, not my problem ;)