Groupon Analyst Report; Still a "Show Me" Story by BrokerBank Securities, Inc.

NEW YORK, July 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) is a global leader in local commerce, making it easy for people around the world to search and discover great businesses and merchandise.  Groupon acts as a third party marketing agent by selling vouchers ("Groupons") that can be redeemed for products or services with a merchant. Groupon also sells merchandise directly to customers in transactions for which the company is the merchant of record.  Over 50% of its global transactions were completed on mobile devices and nearly 70 million people have now downloaded its mobile applications worldwide.  Groupon operates online local marketplaces throughout the world that connect merchants to consumers by offering goods and services at a discount. Groupon's operations are organized into three principal segments: North America, EMEA, and Rest of World. In 2013, 49.5%, 34.5% and 16.0% respectively, of Groupon's gross billings was generated in North America, EMEA and Rest of World. 

Recent customer response to Groupon's efforts has been quite encouraging, and Groupon is generating promising sales growth.  However, management's execution has been spotty, and points of failure are many. The co-founder and CEO Andrew Mason was fired last February after a tumultuous tenure blemished by accounting gaffes.  Mason was replaced by fellow co-founder Eric Lefkofsky, who served as Groupon's interim co-CEO, along with Ted Leonsis.  The transition from a "push" strategy, where the company sends out e-mails to users, to a "pull" strategy under which it attracts users to its website in search of deals, has reduced pressure on customers to buy immediately. Gmail's message-sorting promotions tab has also reduced email open and click-through rates.  The company's marketing expense is expected to increase in future periods as the company continues to grow its active customer base and increase mobile application downloads. If the expectations regarding marketing efforts and strategies prove incorrect, Groupon's ability to generate profits may be less than estimated.  Many of the company's efforts to generate revenue are new and unproven, and any failure to increase revenue, as well as any changes in mix of sales between higher and lower margin categories, could prevent from attaining or increasing, or could reduce, profitability.

An analyst report which details an overview of the company, competitive analysis, recent developments, risk factors and analyst recommendation can be viewed in its entirety by using the link below. There is no cost obligation required to view this report: 

http://bit.ly/-GRPN-AnalystReport

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BrokerBank Securities, Inc. is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, CRD number #130116.

SOURCE BrokerBank Securities, Inc.