Look Out, Clones: Groupon 2.0 Is Coming

Now that it has a whole mess of copycats chasing after its subscribers, Groupon must change to keep ahead of the competition (and likely to keep its rumored $5 billion offer from Google alive). Thus, Time Out Chicago says the company plans to introduce Groupon 2.0: a platform that offer services instead of products, and allowing customers and vendors to communicate more efficiently.

Basically, vendors will claim their page in a feature called "Groupon Stores." Users can then follow those Stores, which will alert them to future deals. Also, each user will be able to receive personalized deal feeds based on his or her age, location, and previous purchases. They can then post each deal they buy on Facebook, in case their friends receive different deals.

Perhaps most interesting is the feature that allows businesses to message Groupon users directly - circumventing Groupon's current revenue-sharing system in which the website takes up to a 50% cut of each deal. Which is kind of how Groupon makes its money?

So, will having a personalized, streamlined site push Groupon beyond their many clones? Or will folks abuse the system and destabilize the company's finances?

· Groupon 2.0 [TOChicago]
· All Groupon Coverage on Eater [-E-]