While You’re Watching Groupon, I’m Watching Giftify. Here’s Why

Ever watched a stock shoot up and think to yourself, “Damn, too bad I missed the boat on that one!”?

I know I have.

In fact, I’m doing it right now.

In the last week, Groupon [NASDAQ: GRPN] has skyrocketed by over 40% after it smashed analyst expectations, and I don’t have a single penny to show for it.

Too bad, hey?

So, what now?

Do I sit around and hope and pray that, through pure dumb luck, I somehow find myself holding the next mega gainer?

Nah.

Here’s what I’m doing instead — I’m dusting off my reading glasses, doing my research, and digging up the next Groupon… aka the next “WTF nobody saw that one coming” stock.

Wanna know what I found?

Meet Giftify. It’s Just Like Groupon, in More Ways Than One

If you already know the Giftify [NASDAQ: GIFT] story, then I think I know what you’re thinking.

And yeah, maybe you’re right.

But you’re also wrong… but I’ll get to that in a minute. First, let me fill the rest of you in a little.

Giftify, for the uninitiated, is the company behind a handful of major consumer savings and incentives platforms. Platforms like Restaurant.com and CardCash.com. And, a lot like Groupon, the main premise behind these platforms is simple — get stuff cheap. (This is a gross simplification, of course… but hopefully you get the gist.)

So now we’re all on the same page, let me address the elephant in the room — the thought you’re all thinking… “Just because Giftify’s business is a lot like Groupon’s, doesn’t mean Giftify’s gonna become a mega gainer!”

And right you are!

But that’s not why I think Giftify’s set to become the next mega gainer.

Far from it.

You see, as important as having a business that’s relevant to today’s consumers is (which both Groupon and Giftify are), that alone wasn’t what caused Groupon’s earnings (and thus stock price) to skyrocket.

Nor is it what will cause Gifitify’s to skyrocket.

But here’s what will.

Why Groupon Soared (And Why Giftify Will, Too)

If you look at everything Groupon’s been up to lately, it becomes pretty clear why its earnings smashed analyst expectations.

Simply put, there were three main factors at play here:

1. A hyperlocal strategy: Groupon has recently shifted away from its generic, national focus towards more tailored offerings that cater to specific market dynamics in particular cities. In other words, it’s trying to create tailored offerings that consumers in each city actually want.
2. A quality merchant focus: Groupon used to be a bit of a free-for-all insofar as merchants went. Lately, the company’s been looking to prioritize partnerships with proven merchants that can provide great consumer experiences, great deals, and who have the metrics to back themselves up with.
3. Smart AI integrations: Look, I know AI is looking less like a competitive advantage and increasingly like table stakes these days. But that doesn’t mean it didn’t play a part in boosting Groupon’s earnings. It’s one thing to have AI. It’s another to actually use it wisely.

Now, obviously, that doesn’t capture everything Groupon’s done to improve its earnings. There’s been a bunch of other minor initiatives along the way, like rejigging its relationship with social media influencers to squeeze better ROI out of that channel, for instance.

But, those three pillars of growth do capture the bulk of what’s been working for Groupon lately.

And, they also give us a pretty good indication as to why Giftify [NASDAQ: GIFT] could be the next big mega gainer.

Why’s that?

Because the last few months have seen Giftify implement every single one of those strategies.

Let’s work through them one by one.

Gifify Goes Hyperlocal Hyperniche

Okay, so to say that Giftify [NASDAQ: GIFT] has adopted a hyperlocal strategy would be a bit of a stretch.

But, just as there’s more than one way to skin a cat, there’s also more than one way to “cater your offer to a specific subset of consumers.”

Targeting a specific city’s one of them.

Targeting a specific product or niche is another — and that’s exactly what Giftify’s been doing lately.

This all kicked off a couple of months ago when Giftify launched its GLP-1 weight loss drug (Wegovy/Ozempic/etc.) smart savings campaign.

The result of that?

Boom — instant 916% category revenue boost.

And so, the company rinsed and repeated — sports ticket discounts, travel savings, a little something to fight grocery inflation… there’s no limit to the number of hyperlocal hyperniche campaigns that Giftify can run.

And they’re showing no signs of slowing down.

In fact, it looks like Gifitfy is honing and refining this strategy even further — their most recent campaign went ultra-specific by targeting the NBA playoffs.

Giftify Adopts a Quality Merchant Focus

Having great discounts available is one thing. But not all discounts are born equally.

Think about it like this.

You’re in the market for a new toaster, and there’s two merchants offering you a 20% discount — Costco, and Wish.com.

Who do you trust? The one with a return policy so generous that you could return your dignity? Or the one who’ll likely ship you a sticker of a toaster?

That’s the power of quality merchants. And it’s exactly what Groupon and Giftify [NASDAQ: GIFT] have been harnessing to help improve the appeal of the discounts on their platforms.

In Giftify’s case, this has been most evident in the sorts of deals it’s been promoting through its hyperniche campaigns.

Here, we’re seeing all sorts of great brands.

For example, Giftify’s travel discounts campaign saw it working with brands like Carnival Cruises [NYSE: CCL], Royal Caribbean [NYSE: RCL], Hilton Hotels [NYSE: HLT], Hotels.com [NASDAQ: EXPE], Uber [NYSE: UBER], and American Airlines [NASDAQ: AAL].

All brands you know and trust.

And the same goes for every one of its other campaigns.

E.g., want discount Wegove/Ozempic?

Giftify’s working with Walgreens [NASDAQ: WBA] and CVS [NYSE: CVS].

You get the point.

Working with quality merchants makes a huge difference — they’re the brands people actually want, and trust.

Giftify Goes All in on AI

As we speak, Giftify [NASDAQ: GIFT] is in the middle of an ongoing effort to integrate AI into every facet of its business.

And yeah, that means we are hearing a bit about the usual “operational efficiencies” which, as I noted before, have more or less become table stakes.

But, in much the same way that a big part of Groupon’s [NASDAQ: GRPN] earnings boost was attributable to more than just “operational efficiencies”, Giftify [NASDAQ: GIFT] has also been leveraging AI to improve the entire consumer journey.

And, the results have been speaking for themselves, with measurable improvements in customer satisfaction metrics across the board.

That’s hugely important, as it more or less completes the trifecta of what makes for a great discounts platform: 1) Great deals, from; 2) Great brands, delivered with; 3) Great service.

Now, obviously, measuring “great service” with metrics can be a bit of a guessing game. But, there are some metrics that stand in as a pretty good proxy.

For instance, Giftify’s customer-facing AI initiatives have resulted in a 40% reduction in response times along with a 20% decrease in support-related email volume.

To translate each of those:

• People are waiting less (40% reduction in response time)
• People are having fewer problems (20% decrease in support-related email volume)

All of that makes a big difference when it comes to retaining consumers.

What’s The Result Of All These Giftify Initiatives?

Unlike Groupon [NASDAQ: GRPN] who’s been rolling out its hyperlocal/quality merchant/AI strategy for a while now, Giftify [NASDAQ: GIFT] really only got started with all of this late in Q1.

Sadly, that means we’re going to have to wait to see the full effects here, as only the tail end of the quarter would have caught any of the early benefits.

But, that’s also good news — it means I’m not gonna miss the boat this time.

Also, it’s not entirely true that we’re going to have to wait to see the full effects here — Giftify did just announce their Q1 2025 results, and things have certainly started trending in the right direction.

Here are a few highlights:

• Gross profit increased 10.0% to $3.6 million
• Gross margin increased to 16.1% (up from 15.1%)
• Revenue increased 3.5% to $22.3 million

In other words, everything seems to be trending in the right direction as Giftify [NASDAQ: GIFT] follows in Groupon’s impressive steps. Now let’s see just how far this goes as the next couple of quarters roll over.

__

(Featured image by Seth Anderson (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) via Flickr)

DISCLAIMER: This article was written by a third party contributor and does not reflect the opinion of Born2Invest, its management, staff or its associates. Please review our disclaimer for more information.

This article may include forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words “believe,” “project,” “estimate,” “become,” “plan,” “will,” and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks as well as uncertainties, including those discussed in the following cautionary statements and elsewhere in this article and on this site. Although the Company may believe that its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, the actual results that the Company may achieve may differ materially from any forward-looking statements, which reflect the opinions of the management of the Company only as of the date hereof. Additionally, please make sure to read these important disclosures.