As of June 2010, the number of group buying websites in the Chinese market has exceeded 400, but after the reshuffle in the next 3 to 5 years, there will be no more than 5 group buying websites left.
In the past two weeks, Xiaoning, who works as the planning director of Grand Hyatt Oriental (Beijing) media agency, in addition to browsing the Internet for relevant industry news during work, has to switch between numerous group buying websites every day, paying attention to each of them. Discounted items released on the day. "From Nuomi.com to 58.com, from Meituan.com to No.1 Group Buying, I have registered 16 group buying websites, and I think about buying something online every day."
As a consumer, Xiaoning seems a bit crazy. However, those who are crazier than her are a group of group buying network entrepreneurs around the world, as well as investors who follow the trend and "chasing the rise". The reporter entered Baidu search using "group buying" as the keyword, and about 100 million related web pages appeared in 0.063 seconds.
This group buying trend originated from the Groupon website in the United States. This Internet company, established in November 2008, achieved breakeven half a year later. It currently covers 100 cities in the United States and has 3 million registered users. It is expected that its full-year revenue will exceed US$50 million this year. On April 19, a consortium affiliated with the Russian investment company DST invested US$135 million in Groupon, bringing Groupon's valuation to a record US$1.35 billion. The New York Times called it the craziest Internet company in American history.
The legend of rapid wealth creation has caused many entrepreneurs to imitate it. In the United States, there are nearly 100 “Copycat Groupon” companies. Globally, such as Snippa and Wowcher in the UK. co. UK, CityDeal in Germany. de, Brazil's Persil Bano, etc. have also done impressive things. Groupon imitator buywithme. com received US$5.5 million in venture capital, becoming the first imitator in Europe, citydeal. de also received 4 million euros in venture capital.
"A few people, a few computers, and ten to twenty thousand yuan can build a group-buying website. Coupled with the successful demonstration effect of Groupon in the United States, it would be strange not to swarm into this market." Analysys International analyst Chen Shou According to analysis, the reason why group buying websites have risen rapidly is because the threshold is low.
According to statistics provided by Analysys International, as of June 2010, the number of group buying websites in the Chinese market has exceeded 400. The domestic group buying trend began in February this year and peaked from April to June, especially in May this year. Some large websites such as Aibang.com and Kaixin.com have joined in group buying, such as F Group, Tuanbao, and Kutuan. , 515 group buying, 1288 group buying, Lashou, 24 coupons, Manzuo, Wowo, Mantang.com, Nuomi.com, No. 1 group buying, etc. have also been launched online. It is estimated that the annual transaction volume facilitated by the group buying model in China in 2010 will reach 980 million yuan.
"There are so many group buying websites on the market, and the good and the bad are mixed, which has paved the way for market irregularities. The market will soon enter a reshuffle period." Xu Guipeng, vice president of Beijing 58 Information Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as 58 City), said that in the future In 1 to 2 years, there will be 2 to 3 national group buying platforms left, and those "100-group wars" and even "1,000-group wars" established by a large number of individual webmasters will disappear one by one. Shen Boyang, vice president of Thousand Oaks Group, is slightly more optimistic about the expected time: "Looking at it in 5 years, just like today's video websites are gradually left with Youku and Tudou, I don't think there will be more than 5 group buying websites."
Zhang Yanan, an analyst at Zero2IPO Research Center, believes that the essence of group buying websites is not simply to sell goods, but more importantly, follow-up services. However, after the group buying trend swept across, whether these websites can settle down and provide services is still a big question that needs to be tested urgently.
It’s easy to attract users but hard to retain them
It only took Nuomi.com a week to drop from 150,000 users on the first day to 1,000 users.
Xiaoning’s first group buying experience came from Nuomi.com.
On June 23, Nuomi.com, the group buying platform of Thousand Oaks Group, was officially launched. With the theme of "Hurry up and meet your little girlfriend, let's meet your little boyfriend", it launched the first group buying activity: a summer package for two people for 40 yuan, and you can buy Jackie Chan with the original price of 176 yuan. Sparkle Roll International Cinema package includes 2 movie tickets + 2 Cokes + 1 popcorn + 1 Haagen-Dazs ice cream ball. During the trial run of Nuomi.com, the reporter found that the number of people buying movie tickets was only over 1,000. After just one night, when it was officially launched the next morning, there were already more than 10,000 people. After one morning, the number of people buying movie tickets soared to More than 80,000 people; at the end of the day, the number of buyers was fixed at 152,151.
"I bought two movie packages that day, but I haven't had time to watch them yet. The main reason is that the time is not suitable. I have more free time from Monday to Friday, but my girlfriend needs to go to work. If she waits for her to go to the West after get off work, It’s too inconvenient to go to the Fourth Ring to watch a movie and then go back to Tongzhou’s home at night.” Xiaoning said that her girlfriend even said that she was “cheating and buying a burden” because of this.
Nuomi.com is operated by Shen Boyang. In an interview with reporters, Shen defined Nuomi.com as a "local quality life guide." "What attracts users to Nuomi.com is not just discounts, but a new way of life. Every day, users can discover new and interesting things hidden in the city under the guidance of Nuomi.com."
Although Shen does not want to attract users with "low price discounts", it is not every day that so many netizens choose "new lifestyles". In the days after it lacked sufficient appeal, the number of netizens participating in Nuomi.com group purchases dropped sharply. For example, its yoga double card launched on June 29, only 1,000 people participated in the group purchase, and its chocolate classic cake launched on July 1 , there were only 1,193 people, less than a fraction of the number of participants on the first day.
It only took Nuomi.com a week to drop from 150,000 users to 1,000 users. The group buying method that uses a low-priced product every day as a selling point has a high liquidity in the number of users, and it is like experiencing a "roller coaster" change.
In fact, it is relatively easy for group buying websites to acquire users through viral marketing and social communication. “The threshold for entry is low, but the threshold for retaining users is quite high.” As Xu Guipeng said, launching a popular activity will If you succeed once, you may get tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of users all at once. However, if the subsequent activities are not organized distinctively, or if other websites offer lower-priced and better activities, the users who gathered before may become It recedes quickly like the tide.
It’s easy to create a gimmick, but difficult to implement the transaction
It is easy to fall into two traps when building a group buying website: misappropriating consumers' prepaid funds and ignoring user experience.
"When I got there, I saw that the queue was more than 100 meters long. I was later told that there weren't many in the hall, and they were just queuing outside... When it was time to exchange tickets, I was told that I had to pay 20 yuan in cash. No choice, come here. Come on, pay it! The so-called Coke and popcorn package is just two small cups of Coke mixed with half water and a small bucket of popcorn. What’s even more sad is that the popcorn and Coke have basically run out before the movie starts... …And that Haagen-Dazs ice cream ball is really just a small spoonful, and the taste is nothing special... Be careful when following the trend!” This is what netizen “It’s Sophia” wrote on Baidu Space! Nuomi.com’s group buying and viewing experience.
Nuomi.com is not an isolated case. Xiaoning, who fell in love with group buying through Nuomi.com’s “Movie Package”, soon discovered that too much group buying information made her confused and it was difficult to judge the authenticity. "Last Friday we had a set meal for two at a hot pot restaurant in the East Third Ring Road through a group purchase, but we found out that it was 'shabu-shabu'. The set meal said there were two fish, but when it came up, we saw two fish that were as thick as a finger. , a small fish that is not as long as chopsticks. The waiter said that these are also two fishes. "Xiao Ning said that when making group purchases in the future, you must carefully look at the various restrictions and your own consumption habits. You cannot simply. Cheap for the sake of being cheap.
In fact, with the increasing rise of domestic group buying websites, more and more "group buying scams" have begun to surface. Recently, media reports stated that 1288 Group Buying Network was investigated by the police for attracting buyers to pay at low prices but not delivering goods, and delaying buyers' refunds for no reason. Meituan.com and Aesthetics were exposed for being deceived and received complaints from consumers.
This is a common problem faced by netizens regarding group buying websites: the services of group buying websites and some cooperative merchants need to be improved. According to Chen Shousong, the biggest test for group buying websites is offline organizational and operational capabilities, especially cooperation with partners, which places high demands on the website.
Lin Xiongbo, founder of China Pinke.com, is also preparing to build a group buying platform: "Unlike ordinary shopping websites, group buying websites are a huge test for the website's ability to organize offline activities. How to cooperate with merchants to launch group buying products that attract users? Doing a good job in publicity and marketing are big problems facing group buying websites and cannot be solved by just a few people.”
Xu Guipeng believes that if a website underestimates the feelings of user subjects and underestimates the potential thresholds in various service industries, it may cause harm to users who participate in group buying, and ultimately affect the survival of the group buying platform. "It is easy to fall into two traps when building a group buying website: first, small websites are relatively short of capital chains. When they obtain user funds, they may occupy, misappropriate or even take away consumers' prepaid funds, causing vicious incidents; second, large websites Group buying websites may have funds and users, but they lack revenue sources, leading to neglect of user experience.”
Many group buying websites lack review of group buying information and manufacturer qualifications, and directly combine group buying information together. Some group buying navigation websites also conduct bidding rankings, so that as long as you pay, you can be displayed at the top, but they do not review the qualifications of the website. For example, the home page of Tuan Sifang’s website states: “All group buying information on Tuan Sifang comes from major group buying websites. Tuan Sifang only integrates group buying information from various group buying websites. The website itself does not provide group buying services, nor does it collect group buying information. Responsible for authenticity and reliability!”
Xu Guipeng reminded group buying entrepreneurs, “If you are not honest, you will quickly destroy the newly emerging group buying market.”
It is easy to start a business by imitation, but difficult to innovate in business
Poor user stickiness makes merchants lack motivation, the small scale of the platform makes advertisers disapproval, and group buying websites lack sources of profit.
Groupon in the United States conducts group buying for a city. It sells only one product (or service) every day, attracts a certain number of buyers with daily updates and low prices, and then charges 30% to 50% of the intermediate transaction from the supplier. Commission in return. In addition, it is the advertising promotion fee of the merchant on the website.
However, domestic group buying websites are still in the early stages of development. The lack of product categories and lack of product novelty affect user choices, resulting in insufficient popularity of the website and inability to scale, making it difficult to rely on sufficient advertising to generate revenue.
For example, 58.com, currently launching activities on its group buying platform, provides a free platform to merchants and does not share revenue with merchants. Xu Guipeng’s explanation for this is: “Group buying profit is not our main goal. The purpose of launching the platform is to better serve our customers.” 58.com started with classified information, and users are mainly divided into two categories: one is B Category users, that is, real estate agencies, moving companies, water delivery stations, etc., are paying users; the other category is C-category customers, such as individual free users who rent houses and transfer second-hand items. "How to form a good interaction between type B and type C users is a question we have been thinking about. Finally, we decided to do group buying, and we also positioned it as a group buying and discount platform independently released by merchants."
Although there are various problems, entrepreneurs are still going forward. Even Xiaoning's friends are starting to focus on this industry, with "one server, two people, 30,000 yuan investment, millions of returns" To seduce Xiao Ning into joining the gang.
"If group buying is really implemented, it will be a good model, but now it is just following the trend of hype. Some small websites just want to gain some popularity and then sell it." Lin Xiongbo, founder of China Pinke.com, said that group buying is not There is no threshold, on the contrary, the threshold is very high. Technology platform construction, user accumulation and promotion all require a large amount of funds to support.
It is understood that some of the current large group buying platforms in China pre-store consumers' purchase funds in their designated accounts, and then use the funds for promotion, such as creating a link in the form of a 10 yuan reward to obtain a recommendation. Users etc. "Now everyone is thinking about spreading their business to dozens or hundreds of cities. This alone will take up huge funds. For example, if you get 500,000 users in one city, you will get 500,000 users in 10 cities. If you send 10 yuan to one user in return for 5 million users, then you have to spend 50 million yuan. Where does the money come from? "Xu Guipeng does not agree with this "rebate" behavior and believes that it will lead to risks and risks in the use of funds. Irresponsible.
On the other hand, compared with the enthusiasm of group buying website entrepreneurs, currently the only merchant that allows entrepreneurs to make money does not appear to be very motivated. For merchants, although they can obtain more advertising benefits, reduce marginal costs, and bring sufficient traffic from group purchases, merchants often rarely get repeat customers due to users' strong pickiness towards merchants and excessive pursuit of discounts. , coupled with some specialty catering merchants, which have good brand effects and high table turnover rates, they will not be overly fond of group buying.
Hu Yanping, director of the DCCI Internet Data Center and an Internet industry observer, believes that domestic group buying websites attract mostly customers for cheap prices and have few repeat customers, which is inconsistent with the original intention of the merchants. Whether they can persist in the long term is a question. In fact, 58.com’s group buying business is currently only a channel in its overall classified information service. Xu Guipeng said: “Our motivation may be more pure, that is, we hope to use this relatively advanced business model to provide users with a very A good experience enhances user stickiness and improves user loyalty to our website as a whole.”