It would seem that Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) will soon be on its death bed, despite assurance from its CEO, Andrew Mason that it would bounce back, and recover the market share it had lost.
Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) the online daily provider is facing more problems with shares having gone down at least 50% since its IPO in November last year. But this is not the only problem that the firm is facing, with merchants pulling out of this firm that was once a darling of Wall Street.
Analysts are of the opinion that the best days of Groupon are already behind it, and that the only way that it can now go is down. This is because the geo political marketing landscape has been changing with time, and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Facebook are some of the entrants that have virtually destroyed the market share for Groupon.
Google and Facebook have been creating geo political marketing strategies; days apart from each other and this, is seen as the death knell for Groupon.
Furthermore, the Smartphone generation has meant that Groupon may soon not be able to meet on an even footing as it has recently been found that over 74% of Smartphone owners use location based services in order to look for information. While Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has been able to adapt to this form of marketing, Groupon it would seen is still stuck since it means that people will actually have engage their mobile application so that they can access deals, and coupons.
Google on the other hand is using its latest update, Google Maps for Android, which supports a platform where local merchants can be able to attract clients and customers to their stores using coupons or free giveaways which can be seen on pop ups by Android users in real time. This platform is almost similar to the Groupon daily deal platform, and it seems that Groupon will be facing the slayers knife using its own designs.
The fact that Groupon does not have social media access means that people who visit it, and find that they are not engaged are likely to jump ships and move to Google, or Facebook, since these are firms that can use in site offers since people are already there.
Furthermore, the SEC tribulations that Groupon has been facing do not help its earning position. The firm had been called out for running like scheme, since it was using money from new investors to pay old ones, so that there could be an illusion that company was running well, and making profits. In addition, the firm has been using questionable accounting methods, and it was only when they were caught that they stopped.
We will see further how the company is doing when it reports earnings in two hours.
