Groupon is reportedly testing e-commerce deals in the UK. There have been a lot of questions and uncertainty about just what the future holds for Groupon, and this would appear to be Groupon being in the midst of making a huge move for its future.
Bloomberg Businessweek reports that Groupon has begun offering discounts of up to 80% on products sold on the web, to UK customers. Customers get a code to enter on the manufacturer’s site for the discount on their online order.
Nothing groundbreaking there, but it could provide another huge source of revenue for Groupon if it expands to the rest of Groupon’s markets, and it could do a whole lot for e-commerce businesses who struggle in their quest for online visibility.
Groupon’s classic pitch to businesses is that they can get repeat customers after offering a deal on Groupon, but I could see this being an even better pitch to online businesses. It’s a lot easier for a customer to come back to a web site than it is a brick and mortar store. As long as you offer them a great experience when they get there, they may just come back for future purchases. E-commerce businesses will want to make sure their sites are at the top of their games when they run an e-commerce Groupon.
But for now, this appears only to be a limited test, and there’s a chance it will never become more than that. Groupon’s not talking about it, but if the test goes well, we can probably expect this to become a widespread offering for Groupon.
A study released this week finds that businesses who offer Groupons tend to have lower reviews on Yelp, indicating that Groupons aren’t the best for a business’ reputation.
Meanwhile, Yipit reports that Groupon’s revenue increased 13%T from July to $121 million.
