Groupon Reports Progress in Transformation Plan

Groupon is demonstrating progress with its transformation plan, interim CEO Dusan Senkypl said Wednesday (Aug. 9) during the company’s quarterly earnings call.

The marketplace for local experiences and services saw positive adjusted EBITDA generation of $15 million in the second quarter of 2023 and is making changes to its organizational structure, people, culture, processes and systems, Senkypl said during the call. Its aims include reducing its reliance on promotional spending while improving the connection between marketing campaigns and top deals.

“After completing the first quarter as interim CEO, I have better visibility into how much work is waiting ahead,” Senkypl said. “At the same time, I can see that we are on the right path towards successful transformation of the company.”

Senkypl was appointed interim CEO on March 31, with Groupon saying at the time that he would implement and refine the company’s previously announced supply-led transformation strategy.

The company had said about seven months earlier, in August 2022, that it aimed to lower its annual expenses by $150 million and execute a turnaround strategy.

During Wednesday’s earnings call, Senkypl said Groupon is also evaluating higher investments into its sales networks, and has improved its performance marketing stacks. Through artificial intelligence (AI), the company is improving its deal creation, copywriting and other areas to create a better experience for consumers, merchants and employees.

Senkypl said: “As we realign our teams and simplify our processes, we are enabling the company to become more externally focused to better understand the needs of our customers on both sides of the marketplace and fast build solutions to help solve our problems.”

Groupon is exploring options to enhance its liquidity position, such as cost-saving actions, additional financing and potential asset monetization, Chief Financial Officer Jiri Ponrt said during the call.

“While we are not providing formal guidance at this time, I would like to share with you our updated outlook,” Ponrt said. “For our third and fourth quarter revenue expectations, we expect to see slight improvements in the rate of year-over-year declines each quarter. As our transformation strategy takes hold, we expect to see an increase in the year-over-year local billings by early 2024.”