We breakout publicly with three core segments, Local, Goods and Getways, so this is core to what Groupon is. Getaways is the fastest growing business within Groupon. How important is travel to Groupon's business? Would you say that it's now a core part of the business? Travel now represents more than $250 million in annual revenue for Groupon North America. Tnooz spoke with Simon Goodall, VP and GM of Groupon Getaways, about the growth in revenue and current focus of the Getaways product. Here's a shot from the group's own research - again, this is internal research, but shows how the company is positioning itself as a value-add and not net-detractor from regular sales channels for travel suppliers: The key to Groupon's strategy is incrementality - the idea that many of their customers are not using Groupon as a replacement for other trip planning and purchasing activities, rather as an additional trip they wouldn't have taken otherwise. These purchases brought essential knowledge in the last-minute and tours/activities space, forging a clearer path to compete on the "anything, anywhere" value proposition. Most recently, Groupon locked down last-minute hotel startup Blink, followed by tours and activities startup SideTour. This brought a heavy search/SEO and data capability to the team as they began to ramp up into travel. The company has also completed several high-profile acquisitions, starting with UpTake two years ago. The brand wants to be both the single source for things to do and places to stay in cities across the globe, and also a profitable cog in the revenue management machine of hotels and other travel suppliers. With travel now representing more than a half of a billion dollars in revenue for the brand, the product is gaining more focus on both the consumer and supplier side. This growth accelerated into the fourth quarter, with the company claiming $66 million in billings - a 38% YoY increase. Globally, Groupon Getaways billed $696 million throughout all of 2013, coming off the strength of 70 million cumulative downloads of its mobile app. Groupon Getaways has quickly become a core part of the Groupon business, with North America billings last year increasing 46% to $264 million.
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