Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) analyzed its data on Black Friday shopping, and concluded that people in Texas and Illinois purchased the most gifts for themselves. Groupon sorted its Black Friday data state wise to determine which state purchased the most items for gift purposes and the states where people bought products for themselves.
Groupon IDs ‘gifters’ and ‘selfish’
The online retailer tracked sales numbers from its data on the recent holiday weekend, which were the best four days in the company’s history. The states that mostly purchased items to gift to others were Idaho, New Mexico and Montana. On the other hand, the states where people opted to treat themselves included Texas, Illinois and Alaska.
Groupon has seen spectacular sales during the holiday season, selling around 40,000 Ugly sweaters since mid–October. The sweaters that were designed to be ugly were among the top sellers between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Nicolas Halliwell, spokesman for the company, said that they offered two-dozen ugly sweaters deals since October including the sweaters for toddlers, as well as for dogs. Groupon also hosted an ugly sweater event in mid-November, which ran for two days showing 20 different styles.
Ugly sweaters is one effort by retailers trying to lure customers using humor because of the lack of the significant must-have items this year. Brick and mortar retailers are no different in experimenting with humor-related sales. At J.C. Penney Co.’s Manhattan store, ugly sweaters were shown in a window display near the entrance.
Analysts positive on Groupon
Shares of Groupon were recently upgraded to a Buy rating from Neutral by analysts at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch. The analysts raised their price target from $8 per share to $9.50, noting that the company’s “downward estimate revision cycle could be ending.”
Within the report, analysts noted that the strategic asset value of the company and the capacity to maintain its growth will keep the stock moving upwards. According to Bank of America analysts, Groupon is looking promising on account of its turnaround, and expects it to benefit from its increasing customer base. Moreover, a decline in e-mail headwinds would allow the company to register an increase in the local billings, which are expected to continue to increase during the fourth-quarter.
