Untitled document - WHAT WOULD YOU DO? Groupon Headquarters, Chicago, Illinois From 400 subscribers and 30 daily deals in 30 cities in December 2008 to 35 million subscribers and 900 daily deals in 550 markets today, Groupon got to $1 billion in sales faster than any other company, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who was an eBay board member and is now a Groupon Investor and board member, said, "Starbucks and eBay were standing still compared to what is happening with Groupon. I candidly haven't witnessed anything quite like this. They have cracked the code on a very significant opportunity Eric Lefkof- sky, who chairs Groupon's board said, "The numbers got crazy a long time ago, and they keep getting crazie! So what is propelling Groupon's astronomical growth? How does it worke Groupon sends a daily email to its 35 million sub scribers offering a discount to a restaurant, museum, store, or service provider in their city. This coupon becomes a groupon" because the company offering the discount specifies how many people like a group must buy before the deal tipe For example, a local restaurant may require 100 people to buy. If only 90 do, then no one gets the discount, Daily deals go viral as those who buy send the discount to others who might be interested. When the deal tips and 99% dol, the company and Groupon split the revenue Why would companies sign up, especially since half of the money goes to Groupon Nearly all of Groupon's clients are local companies, which have few cost effective ways of advertising, Radio newspapers and online advertising all require upfront payment (whether they work or not). By contrast local.com panies pay Groupon only after the daily deal attracts enough customers to be successful. Another problem with traditional ads that they are broadcast to a wide group of people, many of whom have little interest in whats being advertised. The Vianature of Groupon coupons, however along with tailoring deals based on Subscribers ages, interests and discretionary dollars lets companies target Groupons day deals to custom ers who are more likely to buy Groupont CEO Andrew Mason said. "We think theme has the potential to change the way people discover and buy from local businesses Because there are few barriers to entry and the bask web platform is easy to copy, Groupon's record growth and 80 percent U.S. market share has at tracted start-up competitors like Living Social, Tipp Bloomspot Scoutmob, and Buy With Me, along with offerings from Google, Facebook and Walmart. Glob ally, Groupon's business has been copied in 50 coun- tries China alone has 1,000 Groupon-type businesses including one that has copied Groupon's website down to its domain name (www.groupon.cnl. Likewise, Taobao, which is part of Alibaba Group Holdings, one of China's largest internet companies, has a group buying Service callu Hua Suan' which translates to "Group Bargain So although Groupon has grown to $1 billion in sales faster than any other company, competitors threaten to take much of that business, especially in in- ternational markets. As Groupon goes global should it adapt its business to different cultures? For example, it relies on a large Chicago-based sales force to build and retain business with merchants, and 70 comedy writers to write a copy. Similarly, who should make key decin sions-managers at headquarters or managers in each country in short, should Groupon run its business the same way all around the world? How should Grou- pon expand internationally? Should it licenseits web services to businesses in each area, form a strategic alliance with key foreign business partnerst rejected Googles 56 billion offer in the United Statesor should it completely own and control each Groupon business throughout the world? Finally, deciding where to go global ways important, but with so many foreign markets already heavy with competitors, the question for Groupon is where to expand, but how to expand Successfully in so many different places at the same if you were leading the international expansion of Groupon what would you do? Untitled document - WHAT WOULD YOU DO? Groupon Headquarters, Chicago, Illinois From 400 subscribers and 30 daily deals in 30 cities in December 2008 to 35 million subscribers and 900 daily deals in 550 markets today, Groupon got to $1 billion in sales faster than any other company, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who was an eBay board member and is now a Groupon Investor and board member, said, "Starbucks and eBay were standing still compared to what is happening with Groupon. I candidly haven't witnessed anything quite like this. They have cracked the code on a very significant opportunity Eric Lefkof- sky, who chairs Groupon's board said, "The numbers got crazy a long time ago, and they keep getting crazie! So what is propelling Groupon's astronomical growth? How does it worke Groupon sends a daily email to its 35 million sub scribers offering a discount to a restaurant, museum, store, or service provider in their city. This coupon becomes a groupon" because the company offering the discount specifies how many people like a group must buy before the deal tipe For example, a local restaurant may require 100 people to buy. If only 90 do, then no one gets the discount, Daily deals go viral as those who buy send the discount to others who might be interested. When the deal tips and 99% dol, the company and Groupon split the revenue Why would companies sign up, especially since half of the money goes to Groupon Nearly all of Groupon's clients are local companies, which have few cost effective ways of advertising, Radio newspapers and online advertising all require upfront payment (whether they work or not). By contrast local.com panies pay Groupon only after the daily deal attracts enough customers to be successful. Another problem with traditional ads that they are broadcast to a wide group of people, many of whom have little interest in whats being advertised. The Vianature of Groupon coupons, however along with tailoring deals based on Subscribers ages, interests and discretionary dollars lets companies target Groupons day deals to custom ers who are more likely to buy Groupont CEO Andrew Mason said. "We think theme has the potential to change the way people discover and buy from local businesses Because there are few barriers to entry and the bask web platform is easy to copy, Groupon's record growth and 80 percent U.S. market share has at tracted start-up competitors like Living Social, Tipp Bloomspot Scoutmob, and Buy With Me, along with offerings from Google, Facebook and Walmart. Glob ally, Groupon's business has been copied in 50 coun- tries China alone has 1,000 Groupon-type businesses including one that has copied Groupon's website down to its domain name (www.groupon.cnl. Likewise, Taobao, which is part of Alibaba Group Holdings, one of China's largest internet companies, has a group buying Service callu Hua Suan' which translates to "Group Bargain So although Groupon has grown to $1 billion in sales faster than any other company, competitors threaten to take much of that business, especially in in- ternational markets. As Groupon goes global should it adapt its business to different cultures? For example, it relies on a large Chicago-based sales force to build and retain business with merchants, and 70 comedy writers to write a copy. Similarly, who should make key decin sions-managers at headquarters or managers in each country in short, should Groupon run its business the same way all around the world? How should Grou- pon expand internationally? Should it licenseits web services to businesses in each area, form a strategic alliance with key foreign business partnerst rejected Googles 56 billion offer in the United Statesor should it completely own and control each Groupon business throughout the world? Finally, deciding where to go global ways important, but with so many foreign markets already heavy with competitors, the question for Groupon is where to expand, but how to expand Successfully in so many different places at the same if you were leading the international expansion of Groupon what would you do