Groupon's future is more like a traditional shopping site?

If Groupon, America's biggest Groupon, is actually a coupon site, the future of Groupon is starting to look more and more like a traditional shopping site.

Groupon, headquartered in Chicago, has quietly begun testing the new concept of Groupon Stores, allowing any brand or retailer to create Groupon stores and sell their goods, sources said. Groupon has told businesses that they sell goods through Groupon stores at least 5% cheaper than the same product they sell online. In addition, Groupon will charge a 15% commission for each transaction. Bill Roberts, Bill Roberts's PR director, has confirmed the news, but says Groupon is still testing a reasonable discount and commission structure.

"It is a huge but untapped opportunity for us to turn the Groupon market into a bigger online and mobile shopping destination by increasing inventories and providing the strength of our platform to more businesses," Roberts said in an e-mail. ”

Groupon hereby, the online retail service, has been the main driver of Groupon's overall growth since 2011, when it launched a discounted business for consumer electronics, jewellery and apparel. A year after the launch of the project, Groupon hereby has accounted for 33% of Groupon's overall revenue. Last year, Groupon hereby accounted for nearly 56% of Groupon's overall revenue. In 2014, Groupon hereby revenue of $1.8 billion, a 55% increase from 2013. Groupon bought Ideeli, a discount clothing retailer, in early 2014. Today, Ideeli has been renamed "Ideel".

A year before the launch of the Groupon store, Groupon has developed a self-service tool for local businesses to create Groupon deals on their own, without contacting Groupon sales representatives. Either Groupon's self-service tool or the "Groupon store" that started testing is part of a multi-year strategy for Eric Lefkofsky, the company's chief executive, designed to Eric Levkovsky Groupon from a group buying site that relies on email marketing To become a consumer when you need to buy a product or service, first sign in to the shopping site.

Groupon's ambition seems a bit silly because it means Groupon wants to compete with internet giants like Amazon and ebay. At present, about 40% of Amazon's revenue comes from third-party retailers. In fact, Groupon does not need to be able to become a legitimate online commodity market. With the growth of the US e-commerce market as a whole, and the slow growth of physical discount stores online and mobile, Groupon is able to achieve its goals. Groupon's iphone app is now the sixth-most popular app for Apple apps.

"Unlike Amazon or ebay, Groupon stores are mainly for stores to sell inventory backlogs or discounted items," Groupon said on its official website. Groupon does not charge a shelf fee, but we demand that the goods must be cheaper than those sold on Amazon, ebay and other sites. ”

"Groupon is focused on price-oriented buyers with the best selling price on the internet," said Scot Wingo, chief executive of Channel Advisor, who helps online retailers sell goods automatically on multiple E-commerce platforms, Scott Winger. This attractive approach is consistent with Groupon's brand positioning. At the moment we don't support the new Groupon store and we will keep a close eye on its development to see if it attracts buyers and marketers. "(Mingxuan)