Groupon: annual net income/loss 2009-2023
In 2023, U.S.-based coupon site Groupon suffered a net loss of over 50 million U.S. dollars. This represents a major change compared to 2021, when Groupon registered more than 120 million U.S. dollars in net income.
Declining financials
Groupon generated record-high revenues of over three billion U.S. dollars in 2016. In later years, revenues dwindled, reaching only 599 million dollars in 2022. Due to the grave financial situation, Groupon was forced to lay off personnel, especially merchant sales representatives and sales support staff. This resulted in a massive discharge of the global sales force that dropped by 75 percent when comparing the first quarter in 2016 to the same period in 2023. The “daily-deal” site was also forced to make other strategic cuts-backs, such as discontinuing sales of physicals products and focusing solely on services consisting of digital vouchers.
Competitors in the rebates market
Groupon remains one of the most popular discount sites in the United States. Still, the coupon site does not make it on the global top list. That list is dominated by Rakuten, Slickdeals, and Capital One Shopping. Tokyo-based Rakuten, which originally started as an online marketplace, was the most visited coupon, promo code, and sale website worldwide. It accounted for almost ten percent of global desktop visits in April 2023. Slick deals, in turn, made up 8.7 percent of the visit share, followed by Capital One Shopping at five percent.