Groupon's Newly Acquired ideeli Unveils Redesigned Website
By Hannah Ash, contributing writer
Groupon builds momentum as omni-channel flash sales, deal-of-the-day leader
Recent Groupon expansions, such as its January acquisition of flash sale retailer ideeli, are part of a strategy to provide more channels for customers to shop for bargains.
Following its purchase by Groupon, ideeli unveiled a new website designed to enhance the consumer experience on all fronts. ideeli CEO, Stefan Pepe, stated, "Now that we've officially joined the Groupon family and broadened our reach, it's a great time to refresh the website and put our best foot forward.” The new ideeli website has been revamped to improve the customer experience: changes include a fresh look and a streamlined navigation system that lends itself to more seamless shopping. The site’s makeover features larger images, modern graphics, a refreshed logo, and an updated color palette — this re-design showcases ideeli’s products more fluidly and delivers greater inventory visibility to consumers. The addition of features such as image zoom and accompanying lifestyle-imaging work are designed to provide shoppers with the 360-degree experience today’s consumers demand. Newly pared-down navigation provides more open space and reflects the current web design trends of simplicity and clean navigation.
ideeli, which continues to operate independently of Groupon following its acquisition, functions as a savings club by offering its members exclusive discounts of up to 70 percent on fashion and accessories on limited inventories. While ideeli has not yet turned a profit, Groupon acquired the company for a sum of $43 million — a loss for ideeli’s shareholders.
Though Groupon’s fourth-quarter earnings report in February showed the company is still reporting losses, the report also indicated that revenue was up 20 percent from Q4 last year. It appears that Groupon, a global leader in deal-of-the-day ecommerce, is looking to expand its net, and the recent acquisition of ideeli is one of many strategic moves the local commerce dealer has employed in recent months. Also in January, Groupon purchased Korea-based TicketMonster, from Living Social for a total of $260 million. In September of 2013, Groupon acquired two additional flash deal vendors: Blink Booking and Sidetour. Groupon’s recent group of purchases indicates forward momentum toward becoming the leader in omni-channel flash sales and deal-of-the-day e-commerce.