Someone should give Groupon a hug. Its stock has slid to $21.74 after climbing near $30 earlier this month, and now it's getting a two-pronged slam by small businesses from around the world.
What's more, in a recent survey from iContact, it was revealed that:
70 percent of small businesses hate Groupon. The biggest haters? Financial services/investors, at nearly 80 percent. Considering the love consumers have for $10 mani/pedis, it may not surprise anyone that Groupon had less hate from professional services, like spas and salons (45 percent).
Now, "hate" is an awful strong word. And to be fair, the same survey revealed that many small businesses on the whole strongly dislike social media, so maybe those surveyed were just a bunch of Luddite fuddy-duddies.
Something a little more concrete, however, is Rachel Brown's plight.
The London baker ran a Groupon for 75 percent off a dozen cupcakes, but because she failed to put a cap on how many Groupons wold be sold overall, Brown wound up making 102,000 cupcakes for thrifty sweet-toothed spenders -- a staggering task that reportedly cost the store $20,000 and necessitated hiring extra workers.
But as mentioned above, Brown isn't the only one associated with Groupon losing money right now. And, again, to be fair: Other tech stocks fell more than two percent.
