A Busy Month for Groupon (Highlighted by the Announcement of Groupon Now aka "2.0") and Opportunities in the B2B Market

Groupon Now will give mobile app users two choices: I'm Hungry or I'm Bored.

Since our last post Groupon has *deep breath*: been readying an IPO somewhere between $10 and $25 billion, dealing with the President and COO Rob Solomon abruptly stepping down, reportedly had revenues for February plummet [check that] increase, watched visits to Living Social approach their numbers for website visits (post Groupon Super Bowl fiasco), and announced a radically new business model called Groupon Now [aka "Groupon 2.0"].

Drawing an interesting boundary/context in which to analyze for a three month research paper is difficult enough without the company, entire industry even, keeps acting like a moving target! At least we can never complain about picking a boring topic.

We also had a great chat with the founder of Boss Rocket, a B2B group buying startup based in D.C. (and BU MBA alum). While it was interesting to talk about the differences faced in the B2B versus B2C space from a marketing perspective, comparing notes on Groupon and group buying in general was extremely helpful. Speaking with someone who is in the field creating these it's easy to see why group buying has proliferated - contracts can be completed fairly quickly when framing these deals as a win-win for both parties.

Assuming Boss Rocket targets small/medium businesses that have authority to purchase deals on impulse, do you think a "B2B Groupon" can be successful?