On Friday, Chicago real estate brokerage Dream Town Realty launched a week-long deal on Groupon, hoping to tap the popular social buying model to attract clients. Get the full story »
Groupon
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Groupon launches deals for home, garden
Crain’s Chicago Business | To broaden its reach, Groupon has launched targeted daily deals with the first in the home and garden category. The category specific deals last more than a day, a departure for the coupon site.
Groupon president and COO leaving
Groupon Inc.’s president and chief operating officer, Rob Solomon, is stepping down as the Internet company remakes itself from a small start-up to a major online player.
The move comes as Groupon, which offers group discount deals, has experienced explosive growth. Solomon, a Silicon Valley veteran who joined the company a year ago, said in an interview he is stepping down partly because “Groupon got really big.” When he joined the company a year ago, the company had 200 employees, but today it has some 6,000, he said. Get the full story »
Groupon hosts 1st Ill. Innovation Council meeting
Groupon's headquarters at 600 W Chicago Ave. (Brian Cassella/ Chicago Tribune)
Popular daily coupon website Groupon’s Chicago headquarters was the site of the first meeting of the Illinois Innovation Council. Gov. Pat Quinn’s office says the Monday meeting focused on where Illinois can be a hub for innovation and where Illinois is an emerging leader, like clean energy, biotech and life sciences and information technology. Get the full story>>
Groupon to start offering movie tickets
A promotional still for "The Lincoln Lawyer," starring Matthew McConaughey, right. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)
Groupon launched a two-day national deal Wednesday offering discounted tickets for the upcoming movie “The Lincoln Lawyer,” partnering with Lionsgate in what the studio said was a first for the feature film industry.
“The Lincoln Lawyer,” starring Matthew McConaughey in the lead role, opens nationwide on Friday. Groupon is selling $6 tickets to the film. Subscribers who purchase the deal will get a special code to redeem their tickets on Fandango at any time during the movie’s theatrical run.
Lionsgate said it is the first Hollywood studio to promote a major feature film through Groupon. Movie tickets have been featured on daily deal sites in the past; earlier this month, Groupon rival LivingSocial offered a national deal where consumers could purchase two tickets on Fandango for $9. Get the full story »
Super Bowl ad boosts Groupon traffic just 3%
From Fast Company | Daily discount service Groupon spent millions of dollars on a couple controversial Super Bowl spots and what did it get them? During the week following the Super Bowl compared to the week prior, Groupon increased traffic by a paltry 3 percent — a negligible boost given the hundred million-plus consumers who viewed it live.
By comparison, GoDaddy.com’s ad boosted traffic 41 percent in terms of unique visits, the biggest lift for any sponsor. Volkswagen and HomeAway traffic jumped 27 percent and HomeAway.com. Even Mercedes-Benz saw a 9 percent boost. Get the full story >>
Info-tech consultant taps Groupon for half-off deal
A local information technology consulting firm is tapping group-buying site Groupon to offer its services at a steep discount — a $12,500 discount, to be precise.
Rolling Meadows-based Ajilitee, which specializes in analytics and cloud computing, on Tuesday launched a deal on Groupon that offers buyers $25,000 worth of consulting services for $12,500. The firm’s foray into group buying makes them among the first companies to experiment with the technology platform for the business-to-business sector, as Chicago-based Groupon and its rivals primarily offer consumer deals such as discounts on restaurants and salons. Get the full story »
Magazine: Chicago ‘tops’ for corp. investment
Corporate expansion last year “from Groupon to U.S. Steel” has landed Chicago as the top metro area for corporate investment by Site Selection magazine, World Business Chicago said today. Get the full story »
Groupon revenue surged to $760 million in 2010
Daily deals Web site Groupon Inc. saw its revenue surge to $760 million last year from $33 million the previous year, with more than a third of its 2010 sales coming from outside the U.S., according to an internal memo.
The e-mail, sent by Groupon Chief Executive Andrew Mason to staffers in early January, also reveals the founder’s grand ambitions for the company started three years ago. Mason writes that he hopes to achieve “billions in revenue” in 2011. Get the full story »
