40 Facts About Groupon

1.

Groupon is an American global e-commerce marketplace connecting subscribers with local merchants by offering activities, travel, goods and services in 13 countries.

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2.

Idea for Groupon was created by former CEO and Pittsburgh native Andrew Mason.

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3.

Idea that would eventually become Groupon was born out of founder Andrew Mason's frustration trying to cancel a mobile phone contract in 2006.

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4.

Groupon's first deal was a two-pizzas-for-the-price-of-one offer at Motel Bar, a restaurant on the first floor of its building in Chicago.

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5.

Groupon named a new Chief Operating Officer on June 2, 2015, Rich Williams and in November, Williams was named CEO.

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6.

On September 22, 2015, Groupon announced they would be eliminating approximately 1, 100 positions, primarily in their sales and customer service operations.

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7.

In January 2016, Groupon signed a lease in Seattle for 42, 000 square feet of space in the 1201 3rd Avenue building in downtown.

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8.

In May 2016, Groupon sued IBM, claiming that IBM had infringed the patent of technology that allows solicitation of customers based on where the customers are located.

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9.

Groupon filed the lawsuit shortly after IBM accused Groupon of infringement in a previous lawsuit.

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10.

In October 2018 the separate lawsuit was settled, with Groupon paying IBM $57 million to cover the infringement and licensing of four patents.

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11.

In November 2016, Groupon began to reduce its area of coverage from 27 countries down to 15.

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12.

Groupon owns numerous international operations, all of which were originally deal-of-the-day services similar to it, but most of which was re-branded under the Groupon name after the acquisition, including the European-based MyCityDeal, the South American ClanDescuento (June 22, 2010), the Japanese service Qpod.

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13.

In May 2012, Groupon acquired Breadcrumb, a point of sale system and iPad app that targets local restaurants.

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14.

On September 24, 2012, Groupon acquired restaurant reservation and discount site Savored for an undisclosed amount, providing Groupon with an inlet to higher-end restaurants.

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15.

Groupon announced that it would continue to operate Savored independently from the main Groupon website.

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16.

In December 2013, Groupon acquired Boomerang, a Lightbank-backed start-up that allows people to share gift cards and other deals from local merchants with their friends.

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17.

On January 11, 2013, Groupon acquired real-time location sharing mobile app and small business service provider Glassman, which was founded and led by Geoffrey Woo, Jon Zhang and Jonathan Chang.

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18.

On September 9, 2013, Groupon announced acquisition of European last-minute travel app Blink, which provides same-day hotel reservations.

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19.

On October 2, 2014, Groupon unveiled Snap, a new app specifically for giving customers cash back when they buy certain items at the grocery store.

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20.

In November 2014, Groupon acquired In-Store Analytics And Marketing Start-up, Swarm Mobile, a start-up that helps businesses connect with and track their customers while in stores.

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21.

On July 16, 2015, Groupon announced its acquisition of food-delivery service Order Up.

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22.

In May 2018, Groupon acquired Bristol, UK-based Cloud Savings company for $65million.

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23.

The Groupon worked as an assurance contract using The Point's platform: if a certain number of people signed up for the offer, then the deal became available to all; if the predetermined minimum was not met, no one got the deal that day.

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24.

Unlike classified advertising, the merchants advertising on Groupon do not pay any upfront cost to participate: Consumers are able to search and browse deals via web or mobile and can subscribe to receive emails featuring deals they are interested in based on preferences they input.

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25.

Groupon employs copywriters who draft descriptions for the deals featured by email and on the website.

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26.

Groupon offers a mobile application which allows users to browse, buy deals, and redeem them using the screen as a coupon.

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27.

Groupon has served markets in several countries including, the United States, Canada, Ukraine, Germany, Greece, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Denmark, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, New Zealand and others.

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28.

Groupon subsequently entered into the China market in a joint venture with Tencent and launched "Gaopeng".

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29.

Groupon launched in the MENA region with Groupon UAE on June 16, 2011.

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30.

Groupon entered the Indian market through the acquisition of local company SoSasta in Jan 2011.

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31.

In February 2011, Groupon Russia announced it would join the Russian Company Mail.

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32.

In 2011, Groupon developed an application, Groupon Now, aimed at smartphone and tablet users.

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33.

The Groupon Promise is essential in dissipating cognitive dissonance and perceived risk.

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34.

On February 20, 2012, Groupon announced a "VIP Membership" program, with a membership fee of $30 annually.

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35.

Groupon MerchantOS is a suite of products and tools for merchants running with Groupon.

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36.

Groupon Payments offers merchants an infrastructure for accepting credit card payments at a low cost.

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37.

Groupon aired a controversial Super Bowl XLV advertisement in which actor Timothy Hutton begins by making a plea for the people of Tibet before delivering the punch line: "But they still whip up an amazing fish curry.

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38.

The following day, Groupon responded by defending their commercial and their philanthropic stance.

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39.

In March 2011, Eli R Johnson filed a lawsuit in federal court against Groupon, based on a claim that the company issues "gift certificates" that are not allowed under the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act.

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40.

Groupon notified Massachusetts subscribers of a temporary suspension in the use of its discount vouchers for alcohol at participating restaurants.

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