Market changes in group buying show global volatility

After more than three years of ups and downs, the market changes in the field of group buying show the volatility of globalization. Groupon, the originator of the US group purchase, announced the acquisition of South Korea's largest group purchase website, ticket Monster, to expand the territory of the group buying business to improve the company's losses, which had been the firm of Groupon's biggest rival, LivingSocial. At the same time, the domestic group buying market is also speeding up the shuffle, many enterprises to play a merger and acquisition of the Abacus.

70 percent buy a rival's website

Groupon, the originator of the US group purchase, announced in a conference call that the acquisition of South Korea's largest group buying site, ticket Monster, said it would increase its market share in Asia with the latter as its cornerstone. Notably, Ticket Monster's "predecessor" was the LivingSocial of Groupon's biggest group-buying rival. Data show that in September 2011 LivingSocial bought ticket Monster in $350 million, and two years later Groupon paid 260 million dollars for its income.

LivingSocial is America's second-most-Groupon group-buying site, which accounts for more than 80% per cent of the market in the US group, and is one of the old rivals in the group buying market. That is why Groupon's takeover was a shock to the industry. LivingSocial CEO Tim O ' Shaughnessy said that Ticket Monster is not in line with the LivingSocial strategic direction, the sale will increase the company's investment in the United States and other operational areas. and Groupon CEO Eric Lefkofsky says the company is transforming from email marketing to mobile power, Ticket monster only less than 10% of deals come from email marketing, and it has a larger Asian mobile market, which matches the direction of the company's future development.

Only the eternal good.

Groupon and LivingSocial for ticket monster from rivals to partners because of benefits first. According to their earnings figures, Groupon lost $2.6 million in the three quarter, while sales in the North American market rose markedly, and Gmail's mail marketing did not effectively pull Groupon's revenues, while mobile apps downloaded more than 9 million times in three quarters. As a bright spot in its third quarter, and in 2010, the LivingSocial of Amazon, which has lost about 100 million dollars in the first three quarters of this year, was blamed for slowing Amazon's performance. Such a digital comparison shows that Ticket monster "remarried" as a way to reduce the two losses.

With the international group buying in the field of the acquisition of the event, the domestic group buying market has been in the shuffle movement. 2010 Group buying business started, in the most prosperous 2011 there have been 5,000 group buying site Melee, and now the group buy only more than 400, Matthew effect in the field of group buying is unusually obvious. Handle Nets vice President Si Ying said that the current handle network is brewing to buy some local small and medium-sized group purchase site to fill its gaps in some areas. "The purpose of the acquisition is for the talent team. Shuffle is normal, the elimination of those opportunistic and poor quality of service, the market can return to normal state. ”

The head of the U.S. network of public Relations, said, now the group buying market has entered the finishing phase of the shuffle, the future of the remaining market in the purchase site will be less. In July this year, the U.S. group bought a fixed-position in the purchase of the net. In the United States, it seems that the acquisition of small and medium sized websites is to a certain extent to make up for the company's weaknesses, which is conducive to long-term development of enterprises. American group net of the kind of group buying accounted for relatively small, and the fierce buy net can be supplemented, this has contributed to the cooperation between the two.

Acquisitions are not the only way out

However, the market shuffle does not mean that the acquisition is the only way to buy the market, group buying site still has a long way to go. U.S. network related to the head of the company said that the acquisition is a benign trend of market development, the former group buying market because of excessive burning money, many enterprises because of competition and the emergence of a sticker to rob a single and other undesirable phenomena, in the industry to improve the maturity, the appropriate acquisition is conducive to healthy market development But the acquisition is also depending on the value of the acquirer, no features and advantages of SMEs are generally not considered. At the same time, large group purchase site to cater to consumers, but also actively in the vertical field plowing, increase consumption stickiness.

Yi-Chi think-tank analyst Mao Aijing that the ladder of group buying site has been more prominent with the market reshuffle. The current group buying market, is located in the mainstream Echelon group buying pattern no longer produce a big change. Due to the local life service and mobile end of the agreement, their purchase business will be to the mobile end of the increase in volume. But in the future they have to worry about the challenges from large internet companies, Baidu, 360 and other companies have long been reaching the local life area, which may become the future group buying site will face the biggest crisis.