Groupon hit as sales miss Wall Street forecast The Chicago-based company reported a loss of $2.98m in the third quarter, which also missed forecasts. Sales climbed 32pc to $568.9m, trailing the $591m that analysts had expected. After raising money in a multi-billion dollar flotation last year, Groupon shares have plunged more than 80pc as consumers appetite for its daily deals drops. Groupon makes money by convincing businesses to offer discounts which it then offers to users who sign up for its deals. The businesses and Groupon then split whatever the customer spends. Groupon, which was founded and is run entrepreneur Andrew Mason, also said that the slowdown in Europe had taken a toll on its business there. The company said that it will be cutting 80 sales jobs in an effort to cut costs. Shares in Groupon fell more than 10pc in after-hours trading on Wall Street. They earlier closed the regular trading day up 4.3pc at $3.92.