Agreed, and I think that number will eventually rise as businesses learn what works and what doesn't with Groupon.

There's another angle to this:

- what type of businesses are Groupon users after? Obviously restaurant coupons are very popular, but why are Groupon users on Groupon?

- what type of businesses benefit most from Groupon's model?

The issue here is that the businesses that present the largest draw for Groupon consumers may not in fact be the businesses that benefit most. In an eventual steady state, businesses that can't make the Groupon model work for them will stop using it, and I have a sneaking suspicion many of these business types are the main reason people are on Groupon to begin with.

considering the story itself is debatable and, in my opinion the consequence of unprepared owners, the 60% stat is actually what I found most interesting (given that they've repeatedly thrown around the 97% number, which is staggering)

It's not a scandal - I don't think this is a con. But I'd be interested to know how many businesses actually do repeat deals. It seems obvious that brands/chains (who probably do research and analysis) are not (yet) interested.