Groupon discontinues its service in Switzerland

"We are sorry to inform you that Groupon ceased its business activities in Switzerland on January 25, 2016 and we are therefore unable to offer you any deals," the Swiss customer is informed on the local website. Customers who click on Groupon's Swiss website are taken to a page stating that the service was discontinued in Switzerland on Monday, January 25. A call to the numbers provided for customers or merchants leads to a waiting queue, which informs you that unfortunately all employees are currently in customer meetings: "Your call is important to us" and: "Please be patient for a moment".

No one could be reached for comment on the Groupon service in Switzerland. However, the headquarters in Chicago announced last November that the company had lost 27.6 million dollars in the previous quarter. A loss of over 21 million dollars had already been reported in the previous year. And turnover had stagnated at 713 million dollars. The share price plummeted on the stock exchange.

Rapid expansion led to high losses

And last September, Groupon announced in the USA that 1100 of its estimated 12,000 employees worldwide would be made redundant. The provider also announced its intention to withdraw from seven countries. At the same time, up to 200 million dollars more were to be spent on marketing in 2016. As reported by Blick on Tuesday, Groupon informed its Swiss customers that, following a market analysis, it had come to the conclusion that there was no basis for profitable business activities in Switzerland in the near future. In the first few years, Groupon grew rapidly and was at times traded as a stock market star. However, the hasty international expansion led to high losses. Restaurants, service providers and other businesses can offer discount coupons on the platform. In addition, Groupon itself sells goods at a discount. (hae/SDA)