Group Buying on the Upsurge
Meeting Daily Needs
“I often browse the websites of Dazhongdianping, MeiTuan or tuan.baidu, and I also check the promotions on yhd.com, usually before going to bed,” says Wang Wenjie. In fact, e-commerce giants like Alibaba and JD also offer products for group buying in addition to their regular business. Even social networks like QQ and search engines like Baidu have invested in the group buying business. Therefore, we can draw the conclusion that the group buying market, in spite of keen competition, is still in its infancy in China, and, much like a toddler, is rather unsteady on its feet.
“I’ve joined in with the trend of group buying online, but am not an addict. The things I have bought include movie tickets, restaurant vouchers and some electronic items,” says Zhang Peng. That is to say, Zhang mainly purchases services or objects for everyday life. In comparison, Groupon, a group buying site in the West, mainly offers deals on holiday packages or luxury articles, none of which can be considered everyday items for consumers. This is another reason for the success of group buying in China as the promotions here focus on products and services for daily use, such as restaurant meals, film tickets, and haircuts. Moreover, according to statistics from Tuan800, it is those products and services meeting daily needs that attract the most customers. Restaurant vouchers represent roughly half of the sales of the group buying sites, followed by leisure activities, while hotel deals and everyday services account for less than 10 percent each. In China, group buying has the potential to become a shopping habit.
Beware of Scams
But – beware of scams! Everything has its pros and cons. Consumers often question the credibility of some group buying websites. For example, on some sites there is the usual information such as product description, its preferential sale price, its original price, the discount, the deadline for the offer and the number of “lucky” people who have purchased this product. To reassure doubtful potential buyers, some group buying sites explicitly state that their numbers are genuine and that they never falsify sales figures.
Zhang Peng also shared with me an unpleasant experience: “Once I bought a restaurant meal online, but when I arrived I was told that the meal voucher was only valid for a certain time period. And the period of validity is often too short.” Wang Wenjie also warned, “Sometimes you don’t have time to use the meal voucher and when it expires, you can’t get your money back.” The message – read the small print before making any impulse purchase.
But I don’t want to preach. While surfing for information, I came across a tempting offer on Nuomi: a manicure for RMB 30 instead of RMB 160. So, I will stop here and do some shopping from the comfort of my chair.
