Groupons Growth And Globalization Strategy: Structural And Technological Implications Of International Markets

Groupon is the fastest growing company in the daily deal social e-commerce arena. For this reason, their growth and globalization strategy is of particular interest to any researcher or investor interested in understanding this industry and its potential future growth and development. In this first follow-up article on mergers and acquisitions as Groupons primary growth and globalization strategy, the researchers discuss the structural and technological implications of expanding into developing international markets. The research method utilized in this article was a case study. In a previous article, the researchers evaluated Groupons success in utilizing M&As as its growth and globalization strategy, by applying Ruess and Voelpels (2012) Post Merger Integration (PMI) Scorecard. The factors discussed under the PMI Scorecard included strategic, structural, personnel, cultural and stakeholder integration. In this article, the researchers take an in-depth look at structural and technological implications of acquisitions made by Groupon in developing international markets. A well-developed transport and communications infrastructure network is a pre-requisite for the access of less-developed communities to core economic activities and services (Schwab, Sala-i-Martin & Greenhill, 2011). Effective economies therefore depend on sufficient and uninterrupted electricity supply that would enable unimpeded business functioning. The ability to adopt existing technologies, specifically information and communication technologies (ICTs) is indicative of a countrys level of technological readiness. In countries with limited access to the Internet, mobile broadband, smartphones and social media (like Facebook), Groupon has not managed to build an extensive database of customers. Although they may have reached a particular level of customer saturation in the USA, it cannot be argued that they have succeeded in building the same extensive network of customers in other markets, which calls into question the spending on acquisitions in other markets in order to expand their global reach.