In another sign that the mass coupon business isn’t cutting it anymore, Groupon acquired the e-commerce goods distributor CommerceInterface over the holiday season. Based on the website, CommerceInterface has shut down its other operations immediately and will be working exclusively with Groupon.
Launched in 2007, CommerceInterface gave retailers the tools to streamline physical goods gathered from multiple vendors, most notably Amazon and eBay. In April 2012, it began working with Groupon, specifically the new Groupon Goods branch that gives deep discounts on a variety of items.
As we reported in November, Groupon is struggling right now with the very coupon business that created it. It reported a net loss of $3 million for Q3 2012, pushing the stock down 30 percent to a record low of $2.66. At the time, Groupon CEO Andrew Mason said that “Groupon Goods has evolved into a second major category that our customers clearly love.”