As reported in B&T yesterday, daily deals website Groupon is dropping out of seven international markets and laying off 1,100 employees in response to poor sales. 

A local Groupon spokesperson contacted B&T, saying: “The primary impact is in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and there are no significant reductions expected in Australia”.

Yesterday, Groupon’s COO Rich Williams said in a statement that the company would be shedding about 10 per cent of its workforce, mostly in the company’s sales departments.

“Over the next several months we will eliminate approximately 1,100 positions, primarily in international deal factory and customer service.

“Our teams have done great work to streamline our operations in these and other areas, and our global capabilities and strong regional service centers allow us to do more with less while still providing the high level of service our customers expect and trust.

“Alongside this process, we’ve also taken a close, honest look at where we do business.

“We believe that in order for our geographic footprint to be an even bigger advantage, we need to focus our energy and dollars on fewer countries. So, we decided to exit a number of countries where the required investment and market potential don’t align. You likely saw that we recently exited Greece and Turkey. We are also ceasing operations in Morocco, Panama, The Philippines, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, Thailand and Uruguay.”