by What was once South Africa’s go-to place for heavily discounted spa deals, adventures, restaurants, fitness and more, Groupon, has now shut its doors indefinitely. This following an announcement this morning.
Groupon Issued The Following Statement On The Homepage Of Their Website:
“We are sorry to inform you that as of 4 November 2016, Groupon has wound down its operations in South Africa and we are unable to offer you any deals today.
For our customers, this means we will stop offering deals on our website from tonight. All current vouchers bought will remain valid until the date stated on the voucher. The terms and conditions on the voucher remain the same.
For any customers who are uncomfortable with using their voucher, we are offering a cash refund option if they contact us before 30 Nov 2016.
Goods purchased up to 4 November will be fulfilled. Should you need to return a Goods item you purchased, please do such before 30 November.
We are sorry not to be able to offer you any great deals today but thank you for your interest in Groupon.
and Groupon has wound down its operations in South Africa and Groupon SA has stopped offering deals in the country.”
Cutting Down On It’s “Country Footprint”
Groupon had recently announced that it was exiting numerous countries in order to have more of a “streamlined country footprint” and was downsizing from 27 to 15 countries.
When researching the other countries Groupon has exited, the writing was clearly on the wall that all was perhaps not well with the company. This as early as January 2016.
Since September last year, Groupon has exited Turkey, Greece, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Austria, Ukraine, and Italy – just to name a few.
“We are pursuing strategic alternatives and other options to exit the remaining countries, which we expect will continue into 2017.”
The company adds that, despite the runaway success in the United States, markets around the world have not reflected a similar success.
While it is sad to see one of South Africa’s most iconic deal sites shut its doors, there are countless other marketplaces who perhaps have already started to take its place. These include PriceCheck, Daddy Deals, DealZone and Wiki Deals, to name a few.
