Groupon Tests Amazon-Like Approach

Groupon has partnered with shopping-center giant Westfield to offer deals from its locations in Australia, including this one in Sydney City, where Zara is among the numerous tenants.

Image: YouTube

Groupon, increasingly looking at ways to expand and improve upon its business model, is testing out some new ideas overseas, but seems to be eyeing a veteran e-commerce player here in the States as its muse: Amazon.

Groupon Australia announced that it has teamed up with shopping-center group Westfield in a new partnership, called “Groupon Powered by Westfield,” that will allow shoppers to save as much as 70 percent on products and services offered by stores within Westfield’s shopping centers, Daily Deal Media reports today. Although the partnership is just for Groupon Australia users wishing to shop at stores within Westfield-owned shopping centers there, Westfield also operates major shopping centers in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

On its own, the Australian market is a sizable one, with research firm Telsyte indicating that the group-buying market in Australia is set to reach $1 billion by 2015.

Telsyte senior research director Sam Yip told Australian business site Smart Company that the Westfield-Groupon deal is a “match made in heaven” because as brick-and-mortar retailers seek more online deals, group-buying sites are attempting to move more into physical products rather than services.

"We're seeing a lot of products being sold in the group-buying market. With Westfield and Groupon, you've got two giants, one of the biggest group-buying sites in Australia partnering up with the biggest retail giants,” Yip said.

The partnership is being promoted now, and the deals are available starting February 29.

That’s not the only way that Groupon is raising some international intrigue. As TechCrunch reported yesterday, Groupon has launched a new site called Groupon Deals in Germany with “an Amazon-like storefront that sells a range of goods from boots to bodysuits.” And while the daily deals will be sold at the usual discounts of up to 70 percent off, there won’t be time limits on the deals.

Sounds like Amazon or eBay, right? Well, Groupon says it's just something that the company is trying.

Groupon’s director of communications, Julie Mossler, told TechCrunch in an email: “We’re testing a new site design for Germany, and, based on customer and merchant feedback, we’ll evaluate how to move forward.”

It’s not like Groupon is new to merchandise. It launched Groupon Goods to U.S. subscribers back in the fall, but the deeper dive into the category overseas suggest that as it moves forward, the sale of merchandise is going to be more and more part of the plan.