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They need to move on from low margin stuff like food and physical services. * Copy AppSumo and sell software/webapp services. * Try to work out deals on high
by jolan 15y ago
They need to move on from low margin stuff like food and physical services.
* Copy AppSumo and sell software/webapp services.
* Try to work out deals on high value items like automobiles where there's lots of wiggle room in pricing.
* Talk to Apple. They have high demand and large margins.
Do anything to get rid of thousands of cold calling sales people.
- joeguilmette 15y ago$4 billion in revenue would be much more impressive if it could scale efficiently and without a $430 million loss.
- euroclydon 15y agoSo Groupon is a massive affiliate network scheme built using humans, software and hype. The lesson for nearly everyone here on HN, is that this market is huge! I'm signing up for Groupon, Living Social, and others, and I plan to just sit back and absorb the marketplace for a couple of months and brainstorm about how to get a piece of the pie!
- r00fus 15y agoAgreed. The article says that Groupon has no real moat, so that means this business model is ripe for niche players (ie, be better at, say, furniture or massages than Groupon/LivingSocial)
- stevenj 15y ago>Do anything to get rid of thousands of cold calling sales people. If I remember correctly, it sees its sales force as a competitive advantage.
- pdxgene 15y agoThousands of employees, slim (if any) margins... sounds a bit like Kozmo.com...
- originalgeek 15y agoLet's see, give 50% off and then pay 35% of what is left to Groupon. Merchant nets 32.5% of the original purchase price. I don't believe there is 67.5% margin in an automobile.
- kprobst 15y agoThere's nothing wrong with low margin, look at Wal-Mart. The problem is getting the customers through the door (or in this case through the website).