“After careful consideration Groupon will discontinue its operations in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland as of 16 November 2015. We will work closely with our merchants and customers to ensure that all Groupon commitments are met. Our focus is also on our staff in this market and supporting them fully at this time”, Simon Johns, Head of communication in Northern Europe writes to Breakit in an e-mail.
Groupon’s service consist of offering targeted discount coupons and discounts to their sites customers. If the customers buy something through Groupon, the company gets a kickback.
The employees we’re informed about the discontinuation earlier on Monday and the sites will be shut down already later this week.
The message was hardly a shock for the employees. Breakit has previously reported about grumbling and discontent among the employees. Earlier in 2015 the situation resulted in the firing of both the Head of Nordics, Saira Gill, and the Head of Northern Europe, Roy Blanga.
The company has been going down hill world wide for the last couple of years.
In EMEA the company’s revenue declined by almost 20 percent i Q3 2015 compared to the same time period in 2014. Recode reported earlier this fall that the company cut 1.100 jobs world wide and shut down operations in nine countries on four continents.
No numbers have been presented from the Swedish branch for 2014 or 2015. In 2013 Groupon Sweden’s revenue was just $11 million down from $15 million the year before.