Groupon China Off To A Bad Start
Oliver Samwer, who runs Groupons international operations from Berlin, is flying to Beijing today to talk about the latest problems.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/groupon-china-off-to-a-bad-start-2011-2#comment-4d5e379849e2aecd0f5a0000#ixzz1EIkVkqrp
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/groupon-china-off-to-a-bad-start-2011-2#comment-4d5e379849e2aecd0f5a0000#ixzz1EIkM4CWP
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business model for groupon is not sustainable anyway, so, we won't be talking about them soon in a couple of years time, key points raised however are very pertinent not only for moving into China, but also to other culturally different market(s).
It might be a blessing in disguise, as Tecent can launch a much more applicable and sustainable model for China instead of the groupon model/JV.
not hiring local (mostly) nor adapting the products/services before launch for China is a death sentence.
Equally, for likes of alibaba (who was hiring a new marketing director for their europe push) who was hiring pedigree/apparently proven internet executive to expand could also be a wrong move, as it will NOT be easy for a european employee to understand the success of likes of Alibaba in China and try to 'emulate' the success for them in rest of the world as the competitive landscape, sophistication & expectation of target audience and ability to deliver are rather different indeed.
may we live in interesting time. ;)
@GarethWong