With its recent launch of the Groupon Partner Network, a new affiliate marketing platform, Groupon has begun its journey to become the most widely used network for local e-commerce. The popular deals site is attempting an expansion of Yahoo and Google proportions, adding significantly to its affiliate marketing program and planning for the future. In my opinion, this comes as quite a surprise; Groupon is not the first website I would think of when it comes to a web takeover similar to that of Yahoo or Google. However, Groupon is clearly poised for a massive level of growth in the near future.
Affiliate Marketing
The Groupon Partner Network is a global platform that is reaching affiliate marketing partners in 34 countries. Groupon has been using affiliate marketing on a much smaller scale since 2009, and it has proven to be extremely lucrative. In fact, in comparison to other forms of promotion, affiliate marketing has the highest rate of conversion to actual sales. What their new platform will bring is the ability for Groupon to be the primary ad distributor on an international basis. This means that Groupon can eventually pay less to third parties, while affiliate partners can see a higher return.
The End Goal
Ultimately, Groupon is aiming high as it strives to compete in terms of advertising with Google Adwords and Yahoo! Bing Network. Groupon is also hoping to expand to hundreds of thousands of partner sites rather than the current 10,000. Currently, they are partnered with some of the most popular site in the industry, such as ShopAtHome.com and Dealnews. Finally, Groupon is also open to the eventual promotion of other services from third parties.
When it comes to this announcement, the question on everyone's mind is whether or not Groupon's strategy will actually work. Aiming to have as much influence on the web as the two biggest giants, Google and Yahoo, is certainly an ambitious goal. By focusing on affiliate marketing, their largest generator of conversion from advertisement to sales, Groupon appears to be looking in the right direction for significant growth.
Do you think Groupon's goals are achievable? How might this strategy work for your industry? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!