In the early days of Groupon, email was king. The daily deals site used email to offer users discounts to local businesses in a way few e-commerce companies had done before, which helped it (at the time) become the fastest growing startup ever to reach a $1 billion valuation.
But today, Groupon has evolved from more than just a daily deals site. And email isn't the only way people are finding killer discounts.
Groupon announced Monday that it has reached 200 million app downloads across iOS and Android. The company says it's seen "significant mobile growth" in recent years as more and more consumers shop from their smartphones, with more than 80 percent of Groupon's users visiting its marketplace via a mobile device.
“Groupon, very early on, recognized the disruptive potential of mobile and the power of what it could do for our business, consumers and local businesses,” Groupon Chief Product Officer Sarah Butterfass said in a statement. “We’re excited to continue to evolve our app to meet the demands of our ever-changing marketplace.”
Groupon also said Monday that its app is the third most visited retail app in the United States, behind only Amazon and Walmart.
Monday's milestone proves how Groupon remains a relevant e-commerce business, even if it's fallen from its pre-IPO glory days. Groupon debuted at $28 per share when it went public in 2011, but has failed to reach that mark since. The company, which also famously turned down a $6 billion acquisition offer from Google, is currently trading around $3.50 with a market cap of about $2 billion. Last quarter Groupon posted a revenue of nearly $800 million, which beat analysts estimates but was down 8.4% year-over-year.
