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err.. aren't you also proving that Groupon isn't a scaleable business, since it requires an army of salespeople to negotiate deals with retailers, and massage t
by knowsnothing613 16y ago
err.. aren't you also proving that Groupon isn't a scaleable business, since it requires an army of salespeople to negotiate deals with retailers, and massage the pricing beforehand.
I've read blogs (Techcrunch & the FDA groupon fail) that say groupon ask retailers to raise prices a month before, so when they offer deals, it appears as though you're getting 50% off, but you're really getting 50% of a product/service that has been marked up 30% a month beforehand. Price msassaging requires direct sales contact, and it'd be hard to automate, since you need sales personnel to follow up.
I'd like to know how EBITDA profitable Groupon is. None of this revenue b.s. It's a meaningless data point, without the context of EBITDA.
- us 16y agoI agree on the profit and not on the revenue that matters. But that said, we're talking about Groupon clones here. Groupon itself has proven to gain traction and has made the model work. I'm sure they're profitable. They do have an army of salespeople. While I personally hate that portion of their model, I can't argue they're doing well (figuratively speaking).
- roel_v 16y ago"that Groupon isn't a scaleable business, since it requires an army of salespeople to negotiate deals with retailers" Requiring people doesn't make it non-scalable. Doesn't McDonalds scale? If you have a process to acquire, train and retain sales personnel, it can be made to scale. 'Scale' != 'throw more/better hard/software at it'.