Group buying market Competition bloody

Summary: Tencent Science and Technology Lei Jianping November 1 reported that this is a market abandoned by capital, but also a crisis in the potential market. Group buying site mass extinction or transformation, the group buy industry watershed has entered the middle, from multifaceted to only two or three left

Tencent Science and Technology Lei Jianping November 1 report

This is a market abandoned by capital and a potential market in a crisis. Group buying site mass extinction or transformation, the group buy industry watershed has entered the middle, from multifaceted to only two or three of the transition, everything seems to be a replay of the video industry. At present, whether it is the United States, the public comments group buy, litters Group, glutinous rice Mesh, handle or group F after the merger of High friends have consolidated group buying industry first camp status, is to become the final king of fierce competition.

Compared to last year, the first Camp group buy site gross profit margin significantly rebounded, in the margins will be profitable. However, the family still cannot and dare not change the status of burning money. Like martial arts masters, into the internal strength stalemate stage, wins the site to win the market, and eventually to the IPO, the enterprise of the failure of the transformation or was acquired, heavy because the merchant run and disappeared.

"I still stick to the idea that group 99% will perish." "Innovation Factory Chairman Kai-Fu Lee (micro-Bo) to Tencent Technology." He thinks, now these 5 to 6 home purchase site All the possibility of success is not big, although we lose money has not paid much, but also not less, just because of these group purchase site before the financing of a lot of time will be longer than imagined.

In fact, still stay in the first camp group buying site behind have flashed the figure of capital. One investor pointed out that the Chinese market is very big, forcing the group buying website must raise the very big team, this makes the group purchase website must unceasingly Xianchan, buys the industry to become the big fund can play the game.

Tencent technology in the visit to each group of the process found in the site, is now in the eve of group buying change. The owner of the group purchase site to change the past high-profile, all bowed their heads, optimize the internal management process. The family became very cautious and did not expose their strategy lightly, but they all stared at each other. Group buying site is also changing its original form, quietly in the layout.

The O2O and the mobile end become the common choice for each other breakout. Wang Huiwen, vice president of the United States Group Network, said that the future group purchase to the United States Regiment value like Ali's business-to-business for Ali's value. Group purchase will become the U.S. Regiment cash flow pillar business, the expansion of the business as a basis. However, as Alibaba board Chairman Ma Yun (Micro-blog) said, today is very dark, tomorrow is very dark, the day after is bright, most people died in the night before the dawn, the survival of the brave.

Buy "remaining fighters": Big money can play the game

From the beginning of the treasure net encounter survival dilemma, to handle the net outgoing founder Wu was elevated, and then to 24 of the founder and investment in the world broke out conflict, group buying industry's big defeat is accelerated staged. "Now there are not a few valuable group purchase sites, there are 35 of the remaining group purchase site can exist, the rest will surely die." "One of the handle investors, Milestone capital partner Chiliping, said in an interview with Tencent Technology.

Chiliping said, everyone vicious competition, should have lost profits are sold, resulting in the group buying market competition bloody. On the other hand, the group purchase site must have a large team, and long-term layout. But in the end, 99% group buying sites died, only 1% had a chance. Therefore, it is very important to live. And once through this stage, the market raises, the opponent pursues is not easy, because the entire brand, the market position, the team is difficult to be shaken. There must be one or two great companies in the future.

800 published September sales data (Tencent Science and Technology map)

According to the group buying navigation website Group 800 published statistical reports show that September domestic group purchase turnover of 1.86 billion yuan, of which, the United States, glutinous rice, the public comments on group buying, litters nets, handle, high-monthly sales of more than 200 million yuan, not only 6 together occupy about 80% of the share (not accounted for in Taobao gather cost-effective), More than the other family opened more than 100 million Yuan gap.

Industry shuffle will inevitably revolve around these several launches. Looking from the background, the United States behind the group of Alibaba, glutinous Rice stood behind everyone net, high friends behind is Groupon and Tencent, the public comment on the business to do support, behind the handle is a large number of investors.

Relatively weak is the litters regiment, but its CEO Xu Maodong not only tough, but also a strong investor.

Group buying industry reshuffle battle is imminent, privately under the sharpening. While busy layout, while cutting income and expenditure, although the loss margin are significantly reduced, are not easy to profit. American Group Network Vice President Wang Huiwen said, the United States Regiment on the one hand, business management and management skills; On the one hand, the technical team to do well, the United States Regiment as early as last year began to prepare for the winter.

It is noteworthy that in recent months, Wang Huiwen has been running various universities to recruit talent, to train product managers from college graduates. Wang Huiwen stressed that the U.S. Regiment is a technology company, to follow the Amazon. The United States to recruit talent of the move also sparked the attention of Kai-Fu Lee. Kai-Fu Lee said, the United States team constantly in and innovation factory Rob talent.

And the United States is not the same, high peer nets want to achieve the curve overtaking. High-Peer from the original high-peer network, F Group, QQ Group purchase business Three pieces of business merged into. According to Gao Peng, CEO Rynning revealed that the company recently received from Groupon and Tencent nearly 40 million U.S. dollars in financing, in the appropriate time to buy some of the appropriate size of the group purchase site. High-Net also set up a PM (partner Management) team, its main responsibility is to first go to the offline inspection business qualification, followed by the church business how to serve the online users.

Handle nets in the experience of the IPO sprint failure, the CFO left, the vitality of the big injury, now is a deep healing. Company COO Feng led the company low-key work, "and so we work well enough, I will say something, now the most important thing is to do a good job of internal management and work." "He said to Tencent Technology.

The lack of capital to support the litters Regiment. Recently, someone to the Tencent technology, litters Group has already faced the capital pressure earlier this year, litters CEO Xu Maodong has been in many efforts to find new investment or with other group purchase site merger, but not successful. Xu Maodong holds a stake of 60% to 70% per cent of the litters group, and its investors are reluctant to invest in new funds.

However, litters Deputy president Wekingham publicly retorted: "I have never heard this argument, there is absolutely no such thing, how to integrate, who integrated?" Wekingham to Tencent Technology said: "You know Xu is not the same as others, he himself is angel investors, there are so many enterprises, they are very rich, money is not a problem, and litters close to profitability." It's not a bad thing to have a lot of founders ' stakes. ”

How to buy a website is always a mystery. However, in the case of glutinous rice net, the loss is still obvious. Renren's second-quarter earnings showed a single quarterly revenue of 3.6 million U.S. dollars, with operating costs of $500,000 trillion, but spending as much as $10.4 million trillion, which means a single quarterly net loss of $7.3 million trillion for the sticky rice net, exceeding revenue of twice times. According to the United States group insiders said that although the monthly loss is lower than the same period last year 12 million, but the loss is still millions of.

One investor said, the biggest problem is that group buying sites need time, to have enough food, now many group buying sites have died, basically the 35, and then look back to see group buying, in fact, is a door easy to run difficult industry.

First-line group buy close to profit point: Play is the money of others

As of now, the number of group buying sites has shrunk to 2,919, down 42% from a year earlier, equivalent to an average of 5.9 sites disappearing or restructuring every day. Competition is slowly slowing in this brutal knockout. According to Wang Huiwen introduced, group buying industry gross profit margin has been promoted, the lowest last year is 4%, this year up to 8%. As the group buys the website it process accelerates, with the merchant knot and so on process more uses the computer substitution, reduces the personnel quantity to raise the gross margin, next 5 June gross margin may even reach above 10%.

As the group buying market becomes more stable, the cost structure of group buying is tending to be reasonable, the cost of marketing is decreasing, and the fixed personnel cost accounts for more than 50% of the total expenditure of group purchase website. At the same time, the profitability of group buying site also increased rapidly.

The United States Group Network Wang Huiwen revealed that the group purchase site has not been as big as in the past to burn money, the United States Regiment this year cash flow is positive, in several major cities to achieve profitability, is striving to profit at the end of this year. The litters group is also claiming that the situation is good, vice President Wekingham said, litters group of most cities are profitable, only in a very few cities, the reason is that some fierce competition places, the cost of labor more, as long as the expansion and profitability between the grasp of balance is no problem.

Gao Peng CEO Rynning More pointed out that the high friends now 1 months turnover of more than 200 million scale, 10% Margin Commission is 20 million, and including the market and other costs of one months only 20 million or 30 million. This also means that as long as the city does not open up, the control scale can be profitable.

In fact, the secret of group buying is that once the scale of the formation, the basic play is the merchant and the user's money. Group buying site from the user to collect money, businesses to provide services, group buying site will return money to the merchant, there will be a time lag. If the group buys the website from the user to collect the money to the merchant money the cycle is 3 months, the website scale is 200 million. This also means that the purchase site in 3 months time out of thin air more than 200 million yuan, can rely on this money to do a lot of things.

Group buying website More consider is, how to pull more merchants, buy more traffic, attract more users to use Group buying service. As long as the margin can offset the staff costs and market costs, the site can basically profit and loss balance, even to expand the layout.

Group Purchase verification System (Tencent Technology matching map)

This is why 24 Bond founder and investors conflict, but consumers and businesses are hurt. According to group buying industry big guy, so far 24 coupons owed to merchants tens of millions of yuan, a loss of only millions of yuan per month. 24 coupons in the expansion process of management out of control, is the internal problems. This can also explain why the opponent litters Regiment funds tight, the litters regiment vigorously refute, because once the business distrust, easy to produce run phenomenon, the end is likely to have a foot effect, leading to a large-scale group buying site perish.

Groupon, the originator of the current group buying site, is no longer a machine for burning money, with its second-quarter revenue of $568.3 million, a 45% increase over the same period last year, a net profit of $28.4 million in the period, and a loss of 107.4 million dollars a year earlier. One investor said that people always feel that the group buy site said every word is wrong, because group purchase in the past there are problems. In fact, group buying is not a model problem, but implementation problems. Groupon is doing the right thing many times, but there's no way to convince the public.

To the concept of pan-purchase actively embrace O2O

Group buying industry is changing, the future will be "pan-group" concept, many group purchase site through the extension of product sales, the "limited time" into a "month sale", a number of merchants learn to play to buy, push a variety of group buy product mix and put on multiple sites at the same time selling. Group buying sites, businesses and consumers to change together, to promote the evolution of group buying more normal mode of marketing.

On the other hand, with the rise of the mobile internet, O2O and mobile internet to make group buying vibrant, and let group buying huge line of the team is no longer a heavy burden, but also a resource. Wang Huiwen, vice president of the United States network, said, like tonight hotel specials need to talk about a lot of hotels and cooperation, but to operate the line of the team is not easy, and when the group to engage in similar business, can be familiar with, this makes the group buying enterprises in the O2O field than the simple app has more

"We will be based on group buying, so that businesses recognize our brand, with consumers to maintain good relations, at the same time into a pillar of cash flow business, and then expand business outside." "Wang Huiwen said that the future group purchase on the value of the United States like Ali's business-to-business for Ali's value, providing continuous cash flow to help Taobao, Alipay development, now the United States are trying to O2O field.

Gaobong after getting Groupon new technology and products, began to line a lot of mobile clients, how to better grasp the user information resources is a high peer research and development focus, such as the exploration based on Tencent Micro-letter platform Group purchase new mode of service. Gao Peng CEO Rynning said, Gao Peng immediately with micro-letter cooperation push product "high peer micro-group purchase", in micro-letter can directly through Alipay, Tenpay payment.

In addition, high-peer this based on Tencent Micro-letter group Purchase mode will also increase the advertising model accurate matching function. Male users can see the information is not the same as female users, different places to see information is not the same, or even based on different interests, can be based on the previous browsing the different hobbies of the page to push different information.

Rynning that the O2O ERA Group purchase site value far more than a single app. "Group purchase site tens of thousands of people a day, tens of thousands of people to verify that there are these consumer data to match with accurate, pure app can not solve all the problems, if only good products can not form a closed loop, the idea is good, the algorithm is no good, no value, the kind of entrepreneurship has no value." ”

Rynning and Wang Huiwen's views were Chiliping. Chiliping said, the so-called online to offline, who has the offline team? Can not say a few people to do an app, can cover the local Life service market, Beijing has more than 50,000 catering enterprises, app since a team of 20 people can do, others can do, this must be the Red Sea market, Because everyone's data are grilled, but in the end this data from where, must have ground troops team, who has ground troops, can command the national Chi people? It must be the offline unit of the group buying site.

The future of the independent group purchase site, although also called Group purchase site, but the shape will change greatly, is to serve a local business form. In addition to selling things, but also can rely on services to do a lot of things, and even cut to the public comment on the traditional areas of the category. Public comment Network co-founder, Vice President Longwin This is not surprising, said not only group purchase sites, such as micro-letter, Baidu is also involved in this area. Welcome everyone to compete together to cultivate the market.

However, Longwin also noted that have the advantage of the offline personnel does not constitute a competitive advantage, the most important line of traffic can bring effective customer value under the line, in the end is through the map, through group buying or through the public comments to find local life services, become a mobile Internet portal, all or whether to meet the needs of users to decide.

Kai-Fu Lee also admitted that group buying enterprises to enter the O2O market has advantages, but the key is to get rid of bad habits, including expansion too fast, there is no guarantee for the product, the business does not have sufficient benefits. "If you can't have a balanced ecosystem, no product guarantee, no business to make money, no help to measure repeat customers, their own still burning money too fast, all that is just empty talk." ”