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Groupon snatches up retail warehouses as it takes aim at Amazon

Groupon snatches up retail warehouses as it takes aim at Amazon

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The coupon king is buying up warehouses to store Groupon goods

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Groupon stock logo
Groupon stock logo

Groupon, which made its name selling daily deals at a huge markdown, is planning to purchase warehouses where it would store an array of full-price goods. The move, reported by the Wall Street Journal, puts Groupon up against Amazon, a company renowned for its expansive and efficient inventory management.

The shift from flash sales and daily deals to full-price goods has prompted other companies to transform what had been web-only businesses into brick and mortar operations. Instead of selling overstock items, Fab began building out its own supply of full-price items last year. Along with this move, CEO Jason Goldberg announced the company was creating physical retail stores. By April of this year he announced that less than 40 percent of the company's revenue came from flash sales.

Other big names in this market have had a tougher time transitioning to full-price items. Gilt Groupe was forced to shutter its foray into full-price clothing, Park & Bond. Notably, it never made the move to create its own retail stores.

Groupon's fully priced offerings have been one of the bright spots in its business, with revenue from this effort more than doubling year over year. Eric Lefkofsky, who recently took over as Groupon CEO, told the Journal this new effort would be similar to Costco or Sam's Club, with a limited selection of items available at steep discount.