Groupon has taken social buying by storm and in a time when daily deal sites are popping up as fast as McDonald's serves up burgers, the only next natural step for the group discount site is to expand it's wings internationally. Back in August they stepped foot into Japan and Russia through acquisitions of Qpod and Darberry. Followed by capturing the the Asian market through acquisitions of uBuyiBuy, Beeconomic and Atlaspost to stake their claim in Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines and Taiwan. And now they have their sights squarely set on China, a market American .com's struggle for success in.
However, with such rapid growth comes missteps and mistakes, such as Groupon Japan's New Year's Day PR nightmare when Japanese restaurant, Bird Cafe, couldn't keep up with the demand that it's Groupon discount generated for osechi. Overwhelmed by the response, the osechi purchased by 500 Groupon members was delivered in sub par quality. Thus prompting members to do what everyone does in the digital age...they take to the web posting their dissatisfaction over what they received. Only 6 months in and Groupon's CEO is already posting a YouTube apology.
How will they fare in China, a country already notoriously difficult for non-Chinese companies to have any measurable success in? Groupon is betting on Chinese internet giant Tencent to help them. Rumor has it that Groupon and Tencent are discussing a co-branded joint venture, which one can only speculate will be the way in which Groupon is truly accepted in that country.
And as far as I can tell, saving money is a universal language. I think it will be a success, what do you think?
Posted by Shannon Nelson on January 17, 2011 12:57 PM
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