Please don't sing in a bad group.

According to foreign media July 9, one of Groupon's biggest rivals, the US's second-largest group buying site, LivingSocial an initial public offering, and has hired JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank and BofA Merrill Lynch to underwrite the IPO. LivingSocial plans to raise $700 million to $1 billion trillion, which will put the company's market value at $10 billion to $15 billion. Before that, Groupon had submitted its IPO application, which could be worth as much as $30 billion trillion.

And foreign form a good difference, most of the domestic follow Groupon-style group buying site is facing a survival crisis.

Financial crisis

At the beginning of 2011, domestic group buying website began to burn money war. "One year I advertised 5. 500 million Yuan ", one also announced that" I have burned 200 million ads this month, "even a small number of foreign promotion of the site also announced this year to put 3~4 billion. For a while, handle, full, F Regiment, 24 coupons, such as the ads are flooded with the consumer's eyeball, so that Baidu and the points to earn a bowl full of surplus.

The frantic expansion of group buying sites over the past year has cost several leading companies. Regardless of the cost of setting up a separate station, high pay to dig foot for resources, at all costs to put on the ads ... The return of these inputs to actual operations is not significant. After the expansion of the war, advertising war, the endorsement war and talent war, group purchase website Burning money market model began to appear problems. Group buying industry several large financing has been overwhelmed, began to appear tight capital chain, individual enterprises even in the secret layoffs, disguised pay cut.

The most obvious is the happy group, headquartered in Zhongguancun, Beijing, with the gradual rise of Weibo, the lack of new profit model, the number of users gradually declined, and its group purchase site did not effectively convert community users to group buying users, 3 months ago, the spread of the national scale of the message, The editorial and sales team at its headquarters in Beijing has also made significant layoffs.

Credit crisis

"Now to become a fan of the @ high-level group, and forward this message, will be sent from the high-peer group buying fans randomly selected two, each presented with a white iphone 41." May 10 15:00 announcement of results. "From May 4 to 10th afternoon, the microblog published a total of more than 110,000 people forwarded, the number of comments also more than 50,000." However, the high peer network through Sina Weibo announced the winners were found to be internal staff. The news was an uproar.

Baidu, this kind of group buy cheated incidents, high-peer network micro-BO lottery fraud event is just a small miniature. Group buying website in the hot development at the same time, also entered an awkward period-industry complaints, industry fraud. Even some people, selling fakes, digital fraud is the unspoken rules of group buying site.

Group Purchase website Market Confusion, industry standards are not clear. False accident did not expose, then triumphantly continue to boast, manufacturing gimmicks; Once the accident exposure, the responsibility of the ball roll to roll, and finally return to the hands of netizens.

CCTV "3 15 in action" also exposed many of the site of the chaos, injection does not audit group Purchase Enterprise qualification, to provide false merchandise, can not guarantee the quality of the purchase of goods, such as the United States, the network, handle nets and full network are listed.

Group buying industry integrity problems, has become the pain of consumers, but also is bound to further development of group buying website. For group buying site, integrity and service is still the cornerstone of development, in order to win the next phase of the group buying war, we must be honest self-discipline, thoroughly protect the rights and interests of consumers in order to gain the trust of consumers.

No security after service

The biggest temptation for group buying is "cheap", but if there is a product problem because of the cheapness, or if the service is not home, consumers will not agree.

According to the survey, group buying complaints are growing: February, the national group buy new consumer complaints for 307, March, 717, May soared to 1025 pieces.

In a study published in the "China Online Group Purchase survey Report" shows that in the group has participated in but will not continue to participate in the crowd, consumer rights can not be guaranteed (51. 5%)-Product quality problems (43. 1%)-After-sales service is not in place (38) 9% is the first 3 major disadvantages of group buying.

He Yi that the development of any industry need to have a process of growth, can not be enthusiasm, and group buying industry is the result of the above problems, is enthusiasm results.

Financial Issues:

Marketing spending is too high. Groupon's marketing costs are as high as 2 in the first quarter of this year. 8.2 billion dollars, accounting for 32 of the income. 3%, compared with 4 million dollars in the same period last year. The huge cost of marketing has caused Groupon to lose money at the moment. The prospectus showed Groupon lost 1 in the first quarter of this year. 4.6 billion dollars, the same period last year, profits 8.02 million U.S. dollars, gross margin this year is 41. 9%, last year was 45. 2%.

It's all about the VCs. Domestic group buying site, whether the United States, F Regiment, 24 coupons, or handle such a group purchase site, are relying on the copy Groupon model to get the wind, the wind to vote for the money is a fixed amount, the money used to play ads, only fat Baidu and the audience, but hurt the site itself.

Integrity issues:

Group buying site to improve visibility, to adopt a variety of marketing means is understandable, but if the means to take damage to the interests of consumers, this is certainly not.

He Yi that the reason for the purchase of fake lottery sites and digital fraud, is nothing more than false prosperity illusion, to achieve group effect, so that more consumers follow the purchase, the business is just as a marketing tool, but did not think that everyone will be linked with good faith, is not worth it.

About selling fakes, it should be said that most of the group buy sites are selling real goods, but only a part of the group purchase site for quick success, the use of group buying site gimmicks, scalping fake, in order to gain personal interests. In this way, but also bad market environment.

After-sales service problem:

Group buying site in order to be able to more new products, sales staff is always very busy, pressure is also very big. Group buying site A new product every day, to the domestic is a variety of new products, the speed of the introduction of new products is very fast, but the corresponding business into the mechanism has not been established, or even to establish an opportunity audit mechanism, but because the market situation so, not to implement, which led to the purchase of goods quality unqualified, not in place, The situation is not guaranteed after the sale.

All the above problems are still in the development of the industry may make some mistakes, but also we can understand, I believe that with the development of group buying industry, consumers to buy the familiar, the media to buy the supervision, buy will be more and more standardized, buy will return to integrity.

Actual winners

E-commerce website is the actual winner of group buying mode. According to the Taobao consumer Business department, "Poly cost-effective" operational director Shanli said, "Poly-cost" is currently issued daily sales of goods and services to 100, the daily turnover of 20 million yuan, is expected to achieve 2011 full turnover of 10 billion yuan, the year-end exchange rate is expected to break through 100 million yuan.

Shanli revealed that "poly-cost" is currently in the country 17 cities opened business, in various cities in the country, the local market share is located in the former three strong main local life service group purchase site, through Taobao open shop, so as "Taobao sellers" identity more conveniently in the "Poly cost-effective" platform to release the group purchase items. These main local services to buy the site Taobao, to pay the standard Taobao different "wind control Gold", the first-tier cities and second-tier cities are 300,000 yuan and 200,000 yuan respectively.

"The money will be frozen in these sellers ' Alipay accounts and used for payment in future transaction disputes." Shanli said that there are thousands of Taobao sellers every day to participate in the "poly cost-effective", often to go through more than a week of scheduling, and from Amoy to the selection of the qualification, from a daily pick out 100 products into the day of "poly cost-effective" promotion.

According to He Yi observation, Taobao get a good deal every day on the online purchase of goods far more than 100 pieces.

According to He Yi observation, so far, the major e-commerce platforms are basically online their own group buying channels, Tencent's Pat buy, Baidu Group purchase, is almost entirely in reference to move Taobao gather cost-effective mode, and Jingdong group buy, Mai Lin group buy, where customers buy and other electric business platform, is the use of the United States Regiment mode, a variety of goods each day to buy.

From the above electric business platform Group buy channel can be seen, group buying has become the standard of electric business platform, has become its indispensable marketing tools.

He Yi want to say is: Please do not sing down group buy, buy not dead, just in with a variety of business model integration, whether it is electric business, or lbs.