Scooping The Wall Street Journal on Groupon
Retailers have learned the hard way that coupon sites like Groupon Inc. don’t always deliver such a sweet deal.
Many businesses felt burned after their early experiences with Groupon. Now the small retailers that form the base of its business have become savvier about working with Groupon and other social coupon companies.
With a glut of Groupon clones competing for their attention, merchants are carefully negotiating better revenue splits and tweaking the fine print of their offerings to make deals work in their favor. That, in turn, could tighten margins in what has been a fast-growing business.
–“Burned by Daily-Deal Craze, Small Businesses Get Savvy“; The Wall Street Journal (3/24/2011)
So, who could foresee that Groupon would confront increasing resistance from retailers, inspire copycats, and face squeezed margins?
Amongst others, this blog . . . last Fall!
See, “Memo to Groupon: Hurry! This Deal Expires Soon,” and “Groupon’s Sales Price: No Bargain?”
