An interesting assessment that I've heard from someone who would have reason to know is that Groupon is moving towards pivoting away from the "Daily Deal" business and monetizing their network of small business relationships using a different business model.
That would explain the reduction in ad-spend on end-user acquisition. If my sources are correct, we'll see something new popping up in the next 120-180 days from our friends over at Groupon somewhat unrelated to the coupon business.
If so and if successful, this will demonstrate the value of a good customer list. Something for business school books.
Tens of thousands of local businesses that have a history of being experimental in their marketing is not something to be sneered at. It can be pretty hard to find and contact these businesses in any kind of a scalable way.
Recent Groupon acquisitions are in line with this strategy. For example, Zappedy (acquired in July 2011), is an online CRM platform for small businesses.
That would explain the reduction in ad-spend on end-user acquisition. If my sources are correct, we'll see something new popping up in the next 120-180 days from our friends over at Groupon somewhat unrelated to the coupon business.