33% Of All Groupon Clones Have Been Shut Down Or Sold

One of the most common Groupon critiques is that the business is easily replicated. Yes, some might say, there are few barriers to entry. But there appear to be many barriers to success.

According to data from deals aggregator Yipit, 33 percent of daily deals sites have been shuttered or sold so far in 2011. That's 170 out of 530 deals sites overall. Growing operating costs appear to be an issue. 

Groupon spent about $7.99 to acquire each subscriber who actually redeemed a daily deal in the first quarter of 2010, according to regulatory filings. By the second quarter of 2011, that figure had nearly tripled to $23.46.

Overall, Groupon spent $378.7 million in marketing initiatives in the first half of 2011, up from $35.5 million in the same period a year earlier, according to regulatory filings. Many smaller websites don't have the war chest to compete, you might surmise.

At the same time, daily-deal sites also increasingly have to hire more salespeople to line up coupon offers from local merchants. Operating costs grow

Yes, there are few barriers to entry, but there appear to be significant barriers to success.

33% Of All Groupon Clones Have Been Shut Down Or Sold