Who knew the peeps behind Groupon were funny?
Two weeks after retail giant Amazon announced its plans for a super-clever, high-tech ‘drone’ method of delivery, popular deals website Groupon has announced its own plans for speedy delivery to its customers…via catapult, no less.
Featuring the tag-line, “From our dungeon to your doorstep”, Groupon last week launched a YouTube video in which they openly mocked ‘certain other’ companies “That drone on about their risky, experimental, new methods of package delivery” – without naming any names, of course. Instead opting for the more tried-and-tested methods of old, Groupon declared they were “Looking forward by looking back”, themselves employing “Principals of package delivery that have been around since the time of King Arthur – look, that guy knew something about keeping precious cargo safe”.
Featuring a hilarious testimonial from one satisfied customer, the woman goes on camera to explain how, thanks to Groupon’s catapult technology, “I got 35 percent off my wireless headphones – and I didn’t even have to come face-to-face with a flying scary robot.”
Summing it all up for us, by the end of the video we learn that Groupon is basically all about “Great deals, great service and medieval catapults”.
But as ridiculous and unrealistic as Groupon’s mock advertisement is, according to eBay Chief Executive John Donahoe and The New York Times’ economic and political columnist Paul Krugman, so is Amazon’s. When asked for his thoughts on the ‘drone plan’ last week, Donahoe told Bloomberg TV that his own company is not currently concentrating on any “long-term fantasies”, while Krugman made the comment that Amazon’s plan is just plain and simple technologically unfeasible.
So while Amazon’s drone delivery plans and Groupon’s catapult piss-take both made us laugh in recent days, the very real rivalry between the two companies is actually no laughing matter. Despite the fact that Groupon’s couponing and e-commerce business experienced some teething problems during the first two years that followed its arrival, the reality of the situation is that the company’s current market capitalisation sits at around US$7 billion and continues to pose a threat to both Amazon and eBay when it comes to mobile local commerce. Add to that another interesting fact – that the company’s executive suite includes a number of former Amazon employees such as CFO Jason Child and COO Kal Raman – and it becomes clear that Groupon isn’t likely to get off Amazon’s case any time soon. Starting with the live launch of the catapult in early 2014.
Keep your eye on the sky.
