Groupon CEO Drinks Too Much Beer, Says His Site Needs to 'Grow Up' Groupon CEO Andrew Mason told company employees during a town hall meeting Wednesday that the daily deal site needs to grow up — right after apologizing for drinking too much beer during the meeting.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the 31-year-old CEO said the company doesn't "have any margin for error," while at times swigging from a beer bottle as he outlined the corporate goals for the next six months. At one point during the meeting, Mason's voice broke, prompting him to apologize: "Sorry, too much beer. " The town hall meeting, available via webcast, is a weekly initiative by Groupon in which employees have the chance to ask questions of company executives. The meetings are informal to the point that beer is available for everyone in the room, says a Groupon spokesperson. Among the corporate priorities Mason outlined were increasing financial controls and hiring more finance staff. "I got the company this far. Still, some of Mason's comments were firm on Wednesday. Groupon CEO Explains His Plans for Domination - Digits. Gaopeng, Groupon’s Flagging Effort in China, May Be Headed For A Merger with FTuan.
This post is contributed by Ben Jiang, editor of TechNode, a bilingual blog based in China.
Gaopeng, a joint venture between Groupon and Tencent, may be headed for a merger by the end of next month with FTuan, according to reports from local Chinese news agencies. Notably, FTuan is a rival Chinese daily deal service that Groupon’s local partner Tencent invested in. If such a deal happened, it would underscore Tencent’s increasing control over the venture and Groupon’s retreat in the Chinese market. Gaopeng’s constant losses have apparently made Groupon think twice about its China venture. Groupon did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Gaopeng’s Downfall Here’s the history: Groupon and Tencent set up Gaopeng with $100 million ($50 million from each) in February of last year when there were already countless competitors fighting for the market.
However, in this case, one plus one doesn’t equal two. But it failed in China. Merge with FTuan. "Groupon continue de développer son activité de vente de biens physiques" Désormais présent dans 80 villes, Groupon France a adjoint à son activité de deals locaux, la vente de voyages et de biens physiques.
Son DG fait le point. JDN. Groupon Buys Social Shopping Platform Mertado To Bolster Groupon Goods. Groupon Scheduler Rolls Out in Beta as Part of Tech Ambitions - Tricia Duryee - Commerce. Groupon doesn’t want to be known as just a deals company.
As many others have proven (Google, Amazon, LivingSocial, etc.), that business is easy to replicate. Instead, the Chicago-based company wants to be known as a technology company for local merchants. To that end, it has rolled out Groupon Scheduler, an online calendar that enables small businesses, like spas and salons, to book appointments online. The service is based on technology Groupon acquired from OpenCal, a Vancouver, Canada-based company, in September. After pilots in Sacramento and Miami, the company is rolling out the tool in the U.S. and Canada today. The calendar operates a lot like other online services, such as Google Calendar, except that it is tailored for businesses. Today, many small businesses are still logging appointments over the phone and writing them into a paper calendar, or paying fees for equivalent online services.
Groupon UK told to clean up after record complaints. Over the last year, the U.K. arm of Groupon has been the subject of a record number of complaints about the way it advertises deals to users, makes claims about products on sale and treats users.
Now the company has been told in no uncertain terms that it needs to stop and clean up its act. After an investigation that was started in December by the Office of Fair Trading — Britain’s equivalent of the Federal Trade Commission — the site was told that it had breached consumer regulations on a wide range of occasions and given a three month deadline to fix its wrongdoing, or face legal action. In a statement from the OFT on Friday, the organization said that “widespread” breaches and serious worries about the way it works.
“The investigation found widespread examples of Groupon’s practices which in the OFT’s view breached consumer protection regulations,” said the watchdog. Groupon acquires Uptake in a move to double down in data and travel. Groupon has acquired Uptake in a move that may see the deals site make good on its pledge to get more deeply involved in travel.
Uptake had raised some $12 million from the likes of Shasta Ventures and Trinity Ventures. AllThingsD pegged the acquisition price at “teens” of millions, but the full payout, with most of the Uptake team joining Groupon, is believed to be substantially more than that. Groupon, l'instantanéité au service des achats groupés. Groupon On A Shopping Spree: Buys Mobile Payment Specialist Kima Labs. Another acquisition for Groupon, and a sign of how the e-commerce company is getting more focused on mobile as a route to future growth: it has picked up Kima Labs, which makes mobile barcode reading app Barcode Hero and mobile payment app TapBuy. The terms of the deal were not disclosed; we’re trying to find out. Groupon VIP: New Groupon premium loyalty program - chicagotribune.com. February 17, 2012|By Wailin Wong, Chicago Tribune reporter Groupon Inc. is testing a new program called Groupon VIP, a subscription-based loyalty program that represents the Chicago-based daily deals company's first foray into a paid product for subscribers.
The program costs $29.99 a year after a three-month free trial period and provides early access to deals, as well as the ability to purchase deals that have closed or sold out to regular subscribers. In addition, Groupon VIP members have one-click access on the website to process refunds on coupons that they were not able to redeem in time, with the refund coming in the form of Groupon credit.
Groupon spokeswoman Julie Mossler described the program Thursday as "a must-have for Groupon addicts" but cautioned that it is still in test mode. The company is "quietly testing in a handful of markets," she said. Washington, D.C. "In the next two to three months, we're doing a few things to make (personalization) even better," Mason said. Groupon: Offering Deals With No Time Limits?
When Groupon was gearing up for its IPO last year, there was a lot of talk about whether the company would be able to sustain its business on a diet that mainly consisted of daily deals.
Today, a little sign of what Groupon might be cooking up for its next course. Over in Germany, Groupon has launched a new site, Groupon Deals, an Amazon-like storefront that sells a range of goods, from boots to bodysuits. Like Groupon’s mainstay-daily deals, the products are being sold at big discounts, of up to 70 percent on some items. Unlike the daily deals, these products do not have timeouts on buying them. According to the site, Groupon Deals offers consumers a “complete shopping experience,” although at the moment, the selection of goods on offer is pretty small. Groupon rachète Uptake, sa 3ème acquisition du mois. Le site de coupons poursuit ses emplettes technologiques en mettant la main sur un service en ligne de recherche d'informations touristiques locales.
Le site de coupons enchaîne les acquisitions. 5 Reasons To Stay Skeptical About Groupon.