Loopt pushes reverse group buying U-Deals users decide the Group Buying content

Whether it is PC-based first-generation group buying by Email or smart phone-based geographic location) Real-time second-generation group buying, from the perspective of the source of group buying coupons (BD), there are two types: the first type has a strong offline sales team, represented by the overseas Groupon and the domestic Meituan network; the second category provides Group Buying aggregation instead of a sales team, represented by overseas Yipit and group 800 in China.

Loopt U-Deals reverse group buying Mode

The LBS Loopt service is also trying to enter group buying. This is understandable because group buying is a natural extension of LBS's profit exploration model. The question is: Does Loopt want to be another Groupon or another Yipit? Even if Loopt is more powerful, it is still difficult to use the existing paths of the two leaders to challenge it. Therefore, Loopt is basically difficult to become the next Groupon or Yipit. Fortunately, Loopt eventually finds the third path of group buying, that is, reverse group buying.

Although Loopt has previously reached a strategic partnership with Groupon, it works with Groupon Now to provide users with group buying services near their location. But Loopt is obviously not satisfied with this. Today, it officially released its reverse group buying service U-Deals.

Like Quora's shift from the supply side to the demand side, Zaarly's shift from the supply side to the demand side, u-Deals also shifts the main character of group buying from the provider to the demand side, that is, the user. The mode is as follows: users can initiate group purchases on their smartphones, that is, publish the desired group buying service, and invite friends to participate through Facebook, Twitter, Email, and other channels; when the number of participants reaches a threshold, Loopt will contact the merchant to discuss the group purchase.

Sam Altman, CEO of Loopt, is quite satisfied with the reverse group buying model: "One of the highlights of our model is that we don't need our own sales team, users are sales, and they are our Prosumer. Sellers are also very satisfied. In our tests, we often encounter such scenarios, that is to say, our employee calls a merchant and says, 'Are you willing to accept a large order of 2000 US dollars and more than 100 customers? ', and the Merchant's response is very enthusiastic ".

It should be noted that Loopt uses ChompOn's group buying solution.

Loopt U-Deals reverse group buying ModeAdvantages

The biggest advantage of the Loopt U-Deals reverse group buying model is that it uses the power of Prosumer to save its own sales team, in this way, the old "heavy" is accused of being "lighter" than the traditional group buying model of Internet companies, making their business development more cost-effective and flexible.

Loopt U-Deals reverse group buying ModeDisadvantage

Of course, reverse group buying is also a double-edged sword. Its disadvantage is the difficulty of user acquisition, because the U-Deals model requires a sufficient number of participants. In this increasingly lazy age of users, it may be better to provide ready-made group buying services for users rather than "develop" them themselves. Not to mention that many people have never heard of Loopt, because Foursquare is the leader in LBS, and users have already exceeded the 10 million mark.

However, if U-Deals can successfully overcome the difficulties of user acquisition, it is likely to become a new dark horse in the group buying field.