LivingSocial is an online marketplace that enables registered users to buy and share things to do in their city. Previously headquartered in Washington, D.C., LivingSocial has approximately 70 million members worldwide by 2013. The company shrank from a peak of 4,500 employees in 2011 to about 200 by 2016.
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Histori
LivingSocial was founded as a Hungry Machine in 2007 by four employees from Revolution Health Group. The company's first major app is their Visual Books Shelves app on Facebook that allows users to catalog and share their favorite books with friends. Later, the company released other PickYourFive and Polling apps, making LivingSocial the number one app developer on Facebook as measured by page views. After acquiring BuyYourFriendADrink.com in 2009, LivingSocial launched a daily transaction website, which has since been its best-selling business to date.
It was reported that the company has raised $ 800 million and is worth $ 4.5 billion. In 2011, it generated $ 238 million in revenue but lost $ 499 million. In 2012 a class action lawsuit was filed against LivingSocial in connection with the termination of the agreement, following similar action against Groupon. Temporary settlement reached in November 2012.
In 2012, the District Government of Columbia offers the company a number of tax breaks and incentives to open offices and hire workers in Washington, DC. However, a year later the company did not reach the required size for tax breaks to kick in, as the company began laying off workers and subleased offices purchased earlier. He also announced a change of focus from daily transactions to websites and mobile apps.
On April 26, 2013 it was announced that the LivingSocial database has been hacked, affecting 50 million registered users. The announcement states that credit card information is stored in a separate database and is not compromised, but user information including passwords, previously encrypted by LivingSocial as a precaution, has been exposed. On May 1, 2013, the Attorney General of Connecticut and Maryland sent a joint letter to LivingSocial requesting additional information about the incident, as well as more details on company data management policies and procedures.
In November 2013, the LivingSocial website dropped nearly 48 hours after a database error.
In 2014, 400 employee layoffs, and by 2015 lay off 200 employees with about 800 employees, down from a peak of 4,500 in 2011. By 2016, it laid off half of the remaining workforce.
The Washington Post reports that growth and decline are similar to AOL, and many workers are dismissed or set off to form a new technology company in the home town of LivingSocial in Washington, DC. After the layoffs, the Washington Business Journal reported that the company was "risking its survival" on a new restaurant program.
Change of leadership
Since its founding, LivingSocial has undergone many leadership changes. In March 2012, co-founder Eddie Frederick resigned as President and Board of Directors. A year later in March 2013, co-founder and CTO Aaron Battalion resigned from his post. Recently, in January 2014, the CEO of LivingSocial, Tim O'Shaughnessy announced his resignation, remains CEO until a replacement is named. In July 2014, it was announced that Gautam Thakar, then CEO of Shopping.com on eBay, would replace the CEO.
Acquisitions
- In October 2010, LivingSocial announced the acquisition of the social adventure company Urban Escapes, which led to the launch of LivingSocial Escapes and LivingSocial Adventures.
- In November 2010, LivingSocial purchased a $ 5 million controlling stake in Australian social shopping website Jump On It. In March 2012, LivingSocial bought Jump On it for $ 40 million.
- In January 2011, LivingSocial acquired a majority stake in LetsBonus, which now operates in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico. Launched in September 2009 in Barcelona, ​​LetsBonus is the earliest operator of a collective purchasing service in Europe, particularly in the Spanish market. It sells LetsBonus in 2015.
- In March 2011, LivingSocial obtained InfoEther, Ruby/Rails consultancy. Ruby on Rails is the workspace that LivingSocial runs.
- In June 2011, Dubai Based GoNabit, an Arabic-language website for daily transactions, was acquired by LivingSocial. GoNabit operates in UAE, Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan, and claims to have saved consumers over $ 5 million in 2010-2011. Group buying websites usually register various businesses to offer discounts, and take a percentage of revenue.
- In June 2011, LivingSocial acquired DealKeren, which offers daily deals in Indonesia, and its parent company, Ensogo, which offers daily deals in Thailand and the Philippines. Officially launched in June 2010, Ensogo currently has more than 800,000 members. Ensogo claims that its members have saved more than $ 25 million USD in 2010-2011. Ensogo is supported by Rebate Networks, an international capital business group specializing in social commerce.
- In August 2011, LivingSocial acquired TicketMonster for $ 350 million. TicketMonster is one of the largest daily transaction sites in South Korea and has an annual payment rate of $ 800 million in bills. In November 2013, LivingSocial sold TicketMonster to Groupon for $ 260 million.
- As of April 2012, ONOSYS, a mobile and online booking provider, was acquired by LivingSocial. ONOSYS operates in Cleveland, Ohio, and serves more than 75 restaurant chains including Papa John's Pizza International Inc., Panera Bread, and Applebee's International Inc.
Many of these acquisitions have been sold.
In October 2016, Groupon Inc. buy LivingSocial for an undisclosed amount. The Washington Post then reported this amount of $ 0. Groupon began laid off all remaining employees and closed the office of LivingSocial D.C.
Maps LivingSocial
References
External links
- LivingSocial
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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