Groupon expects to “significantly” reduce its online marketing spending for subscriber acquisitions, according to a regulatory filing made by the daily deals company on Oct. 7.
Groupon said in the filing that it believes “over time” the company’s online marketing spending for subscriber acquisition will not generate “sufficiently attractive investment returns due to a variety of factors such as changes in subscriber economics, achievement of subscriber saturation levels in various markets or a determination that subscriber growth objectives can be satisfied though alternative means.”
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the first half of 2011, Groupon spent $345.1 million on online marketing related to subscriber acquisition. Overall marketing spending for the period totaled $432.1 million.
Groupon filed to go public in June but reportedly delayed its IPO after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission asked the company to revise its accounting metrics, which were derided for excluding subscriber acquisition costs. Groupon revised those metrics in August.
