Groupon Regroups With Q1 Revenue Gains, Mobile Growth

Groupon reported a better than expected first quarter thanks to strong North American revenue growth and an uptick in mobile customers. That helped send the daily deal website's stock soaring Wednesday.

The company reported revenue of US$601.4 million, an 8 percent jump from the $559.3 million from 2012's first quarter. Analysts had expected closer to $592 million.

Groupon was especially excited about its gains in the mobile space. The company had 7 million app downloads during the past quarter, and mobile purchases now account for 45 percent of its North American transactions, compared with 30 percent from the same time a year earlier.

That's an impressive statistic, considering that so many other tech companies are struggling with the transition to mobile, said Arvind Bhatia, analyst at Sterne Agee.

"One of the interesting dynamics of the Groupon story is the increasing percentage of its business on mobile," he told the E-Commerce Times. "Unlike many Internet companies, Groupon's business on mobile is a natural extension of its desktop business."  FULL ARTICLE AT TECHNEWSWORLD