Less than a week after its $700 million initial public offering, Groupon is launching new personalization features that will help target those subscribers who are most likely to become a business’s repeat customers.
“The features, including an option that allows some users to purchase deals after they’ve expired, will be live in all of Groupon’s 175 North American markets starting Wednesday,” Mashable reported.
The daily deal digital discounter is rolling out new features that assign tags to each deal, and users can “heart” certain characteristics they like as they peruse deals or choose tags from a “profile” tag. Tags are assigned to each deal, for example: “Always Learning,” “Bring the Kids,” “DIY” and “White Tablecoth.”
Groupon Consumer Products Lead Suneel Gupta told Mashable that the features are intended to pinpoint specific tastes of subscribers.
“It’s still about discovery,” Gupta said. “It’s not set categories, but tastes,” she told Mashable.
The discounter’s new dashboard design also allows subscribers to switch between multiple default cities, meaning they can set different cities for home and work.
The new features are likely to attract more local clients for Groupon, since they can reopen deals for customers who best fit their criteria – if a subscriber has “hearted” the qualities that suggest a good chance of repeat business. This is the first time customers will be able to buy deals after the day they expire, Mashable said.
Groupon raised about $700 million with an initial public offering of stock last week, TechZone360 reported. The IPO, which was “priced well above expectations,” was set late Thursday at $20 per share, above the anticipated range of $16 to $18, The Associated Press reported.
Share of the Chicago-based company have surged, more than 50 percent in their stock market debut – rising as high as $31.14, or 55.7 percent above the IPO price. Groupon Inc. made its trading debut Nov. 4 on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker symbol “GRPN.”
According to The AP, “the IPO’s price gives based Groupon a market value of $12.7 billion. That makes Groupon’s IPO the second largest by an Internet company behind only that of Google Inc. in 2004.”
Erin Harrison is Executive Editor, Strategic Initiatives, for TMC, where she oversees the company's strategic editorial initiatives, including the launch of several new print and online initiatives. She plays an active role in the print publications and TechZone360, covering IP communications, information technology and other related topics. To read more of Erin's articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Rich Steeves
