When will Groupon and Living Social go public...and how have the sites already changed the way older companies do business? With high profit margins leading to steep valuation, it looks like the group coupon market is poised to explode!
People who run smaller group-buying sites say the aggregators are by far the best source of new customers and new traffic. And LivingSocial, while big and valued at $1 billion, is still a whole lot smaller than the big kahuna Groupon. So why would LivingSocial take this tack?
Already the global group-buying leader and growing much faster than its competitors, Groupon is getting a lot more funding. For what? For world domination, of course. . .and here's how Groupon is likely to put that new-found cash to work.
Groupon, the online social coupon site launched in 2008, is looking to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in expansion-related funding after rejecting a bid from search giant Google worth as much as $6 billion, Bloomberg News reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the process.
Although many media pundits have declared that newspapers are in a death spiral, group buying may -- just may -- have an antidote. This business is a perfect fit for the existing newspaper sales force, which has a deep Rolodex of local customers.
While news that Groupon has rebuffed Google's $6 billion offer has stolen the limelight, Amazon's $175 million investment in LivingSocial could end up shaking up the daily-deal business and helping the No. 2 e-coupon company gain ground against Groupon.
Just a few days after Google reportedly offered $6 billion for the top group-buying site, Groupon, the service's biggest rival, LivingSocial, has scored a $175 million investment from Amazon. But how long will these hot deals last?
Some pundits have decried the Groupon model as easy to emulate, and predicted fierce competition and price wars. Web industry watcher Alex Salkever used to believe that, too -- but not anymore. Here's why.
Watch out, Groupon: Local reviews site Yelp has begun rolling out weekly deals in a number of cities. While the group buying site has a big leap on Yelp, there are many reasons why the latecomer could bridge the gap quickly.
