GRPN dropped 90% value in a year, What to Do With Groupon's Stock What makes investors nervous about Groupon’s stock is shrinking profit margins on new business lines, especially overseas, which make future earnings and revenue growth unsustainable. That’s certainly not a surprise to anyone who follows the company closely. Groupon prompts consumers to shop as groups rather than as individuals, so they can gain deep discounts from local businesses. But there’s a catch: The discounts apply only if a certain number of customers sign up for the deal.
In essence, Groupon is turning consumers into salespersons and marketers, which is nothing new. Amway and Avon (NYSE:AVP) products have been exploiting this idea for many years—though in different format, turning consumers into entrepreneurs and independent business owners, rather than spreading the word to other consumers.
While Groupon’s model is simple, it isn’t sustainable, for two reasons.
First, as has been the case with other web-based companies like Netflix(NASDAQ:NFLX) and Open Table (NASDAQ:OPEN), Groupon is selling other companies’ products – companies that have the upper hand in any deal negotiations. Second, Groupon has plenty of competition from direct offerings from companies and from other web-based companies with a broad user base like Google(NASDAQ:GOOG), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Yahoo(NASDAQ:YHOO), Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE), Priceline.com(NYSE:PCLN) and Travelzoo (TZOO).
Compounding the problem is the product nature of Groupon deals.