ASSIGNMENT

Assignment

Assignment

In order to succeed they will need to target and sell their business to two very different target markets, the customer and companies that will be sold using Groupon. Discuss how these different target markets and how should Groupon market their service to both?

Marketing basics for attracting both companies and customers

Marketing is considered as the back bone of the sales of any organization. Every organization that understands the role of marketing in their business always focused on the latest and effective trends in marketing to promote their products in the market. In online industry, if marketing is not performed well, then your product may lead towards complete failure. The reason of this failure is that if people not attract towards your product then how they buy your product (Kotler, 1991, P 3-12). Therefore, to increase sales and to widen the business, marketing is the only key tool for organizations especially in online business where competition is so high and a new technique of marketing is used to attract customers.

SWOT analysis

SWOT analysis is the only tool through which organization can understand the position of its markets, and also other factors that affects its markets. In the case of Groupon, it is also very important and the only way to get success in marketing to attract both customers and organizations to do their business through Groupon. If Groupon take advantage through opportunities and reduces weaknesses and threads through its strength, then it is very easy for Groupon to attract customers and industries in the market of online business.

Strengths

Large Subscriber Base

Due to Groupon's amazing growth in the last few years, they have acquired a subscriber base much larger than their competitors. Clearly, this is a primary goal in the Daily Deal industry. On the other hand, it is unclear whether or not there will be significant first mover advantages in acquiring many customers quickly, as switching costs are currently very low.

Access to International Markets

Through continued acquisition of foreign Daily Deal sites that have emulated Groupon's business model, they have been able to capitalize on markets that are relatively untouched. While this may provide additional revenue for the time being, it may only be a positive in the short or medium run as competitors begin to exploit international markets more fully.

Weaknesses

Reliance upon Rapid Subscriber Growth for Revenue Growth

Although many analysts expected Groupon to show a positive net income for the first time in Q4 2011, the company was unable to attain that goal. As explained in our financial analysis, Groupon has been able to grow revenues and display positive cash flow mainly through rapid expansion into new markets and high marketing costs. The sustainability of this strategy is doubtful and is Groupon's most glaring weakness in the long run, so the company must find ways increase profitability within existing markets in order to show positive net income.

Difficulties with Growth

Quality issues arose as Groupon's employee count grew. Service failures were recorded, as well as deals that led to high customer and merchant ...