The ultimate outlet for group buying sites: Vertical and focused

Intermediary transaction SEO diagnosis Taobao guest Cloud host technology Hall

A widely spread story: The Arctic is a very common, lovely small animals, perennial living in northern Norway and the high latitudes of Eurasia coniferous forest. When the conditions are right, the number of a rodent population can grow more than 10 times times a year. It is said that whenever their number expands dramatically, a phenomenon occurs: all the rats began to become restless, shouting and running around, even stopping to eat, and suddenly one day the little ones started out in one direction, forming a mighty army of migrations, walking up to the sea and jumping off the cliff into the sea.

Mr. Buffett, the investment guru, likes to use the "rodent effect" to describe the so-called individual's shrewdness and collective irrationality. Over the past two years, China has sprung up with more than 5,000 websites offering group buying businesses, most of which are doing copy work. Due to the early arrival of capital winter, in fact, most of them survived for 2012 years.

The next key question is, what kind of "rat" can ultimately survive?

The following two messages provide clues to the answer.

The first one is about Taobao. December 28, Alibaba Group's buy platform for a good deal, the external release of 2011 Years of operating results: Group purchase total turnover of 10.1 billion, occupy the entire group of half of the industry. At the same time, 2012 will be fully open to the full cost of tens of millions of active users, 12 million-day independent traffic and the Alibaba Group Ali financial 600 million loans and VC Alliance 600 million funds, and officially enable the independent domain name.

The second one is about the art dragon. Yi Long Travel Network CEO Cui in micro-blog revealed that the art of Dragon Hotel Group in December first breakthrough 100,000 rooms, is the first Chinese hotel group buying market! Art Dragon sold the room is 4 times times Ctrip, is 3 times times where to go. At the same time, the company has more than 1000 hotels online, and is the only one on the market that can reserve a hotel online. Cui said the data can not be confirmed, but from the Han court of the same product in two sites of sales volume, there is a clear gap.

In fact, there are only two ways to make money for a group-buying site: Either you are big enough or you are a professional. The former leads to the platform company, while the latter is an expert enterprise.

But the entire Chinese Internet is qualified to do the platform of the company, not more than 3. The road leading to the platform is a log bridge. The vast majority of Chinese version of Groupon to do the independent purchase site can forget, because the market energy Taobao more cost-effective than Groupon in the United States, and Taobao is China's most important e-commerce traffic entry. It's a sign that the US group is in the good bargain.

So Kai-Fu Lee will be very blunt to say that 99% of the group purchase site will die, but he thought the public comment on the exception. Because the latter 8 years to focus on the localization of beer and skittles, and 12 years to focus on the hotel booking the same art dragon.

Want to do market segments of the championship, the success of a minimum of 10,000 hours, the experience of the vertical field, the trust relationship formed by the game, long accumulated user resources, these are not easy to cross the threshold.

The way to buy is vertical. WHY?

First, focus can lead to a better customer experience. One of the simplest examples. Look at the following two pictures, you can guess which is a professional hotel group purchase site, which is a comprehensive group of buy site?

The first is the recommendation of the art Dragon according to the potential destination of the consumer, and the second is the hotel provided by the handle net according to the consumers ' present location. If it were you, which one would you choose? Do you live in the city of Beijing, will you often stay in Beijing hotel? Who knows more about consumers ' minds?

Think again, now you look at dental cleaning teeth, is to go to a specialized dental clinic or general Hospital dental? Where the customer experience is better self-evident. In fact, in the field of dentistry, professional hospitals beat the General Hospital. Various specialist hospitals are booming and will eventually defeat general hospitals in their focus areas. The same trends and rules apply to other areas where market segments are large enough to be as high as prices and service requirements.

Vertical to the merchant has stronger control ability, this can effectively fulfill the purchase customer's consumer commitment. 2010 China star Hotel number has increased to 14,350. However, the Chinese star hotel rental rate has shown a steady decline in 2010 to 57.3%. Yi Long Ctrip This several mainstream OTA (online travel booking) occupies the hotel room total sales 30% or more, they and the hotel information system docking and long-term cooperative relationship, to ensure that consumers can direct online booking, and success rate of more than 90%. Their treatment is certainly not the same as a separate group-buying site.

Second, the focus on the business to provide better value.

The essence of group buying is a product-driven information intermediary. The so-called product capability, one is able to find and recommend the real sell good products;

In the local beer and skittles, there is no one more than 1.2 million business owners of the public comment network penetration deeper. In the hotel reservation (OTA) field, only Ctrip and art dragon has this level of resources, Art Dragon's entire hotel coverage is currently China's largest, the world's 170,000, 26,000 domestic. And Ctrip in the domestic close to 22,000. This partnership was formed through years of repeated gaming.

No matter where you go. From the vertical engine to buy, or like a handle such as the independent group purchase site, need to start from scratch to build hotel resources. There are more than 100 teams in the light of this piece. and art Dragon Group purchase business full-time staff less than 30 people, procurement, customer service and other all processes by the art of the hotel's original business unit direct operation, they already have one of China's largest first-line hotel signatories, the most people, the most widely distributed, this makes the art dragon not only can open their own regiment, but also with QQ, glutinous rice, Beijing-east, high friends, such as distribution cooperation. What does 100,000/night one-month sales mean? Put it in the entire OTA (online travel booking agent) Market, can also be ranked in the top five.

This May, five-star Shanghai Oriental Jinjiang Hotel began to try group buying, most of the time sold more than 300/night. Its deputy Cheng frankly, they will only and Ctrip, such as the Professional Booking website Cooperative Group. Because the latter not only has fixed members, the source of the channel has to ensure that the advertising effect is obvious, the customer base is more rational, not only value price; The independent group buying website is too indiscriminate, what product can do, to their brand image is disadvantageous.

Customers are the people they want to expand their influence on. The hotel has its own agreement customers are corporate business guests, and group purchase customers are mostly, to individual or family leisure vacation mainly.

Third, focus on your opponent than "twist the towel"

Gome Su Ning's gross margin is lower than the department store, Jingdong, such as the electric dealer's gross profit margin than the United States suning lower. The essence of the Internet is to constantly eliminate information asymmetry, but also will continue to compress information intermediary profit margins, the business and consumers between the channel to the shortest.

Group buying changed the original price system of the hotel industry. For example, the 197-room Ramada Peace Hotel in Shanghai started group buying this July. The cumulative sales volume is close to thousands, equivalent to 5% of total sales. Its group purchase price is the off-season retail prices of 26 percent, membership price of 48 percent. The commission rate for OTA is still percent.

This means that a single commission income is greatly reduced. Group buying is a 30% gross profit margin business, for the habit of gross margin have nearly 70% of the leader of the boss to carry, buy more like a move their own cheese. Because its business covers the whole industry chain of tourism, this will directly damage its cost structure.

In the Art Dragon CEO Cui View, the hotel buys the most conforms to the Art dragon, makes the art dragon most likely to become China biggest hotel buys the website. "Because before our gross margin is very low, also can be profitable, the new group buying model features low margin, but we poor has been accustomed." In the case of low gross margin, we like this product, because it can create the highest value for consumers; In addition, group purchase because the product is too strong, so that consumers automatically transfer over, so save the purchase flow costs, this is our advantage. ”

For Ctrip such a all-in-all tourist hotels downstream of the Big Mac, group buying on its existing product business impact is huge. such as vacation business, is the hotel ticket tickets, etc. packed in one. But once consumers choose to buy, they will definitely give up packaging products. Art dragon in order to do a good hotel group purchase, Cui cut off the holiday products. But Ctrip can not be cut, because the holiday business is one of the 3 major profitable business pillars. Ctrip purchase products to be on the holiday department first agree.

In the past, the art Dragon played Ctrip, because the latter's brand is big. In the same gross margin, the marketing cost of art dragon more than 1 time times more than Ctrip. But group buying users because of cost-effective, do not need too much marketing costs. Now the reverse, Ctrip development Group Buy, will be "about each other bo." At present, the Art Dragon Hotel Group buy monthly sales in the industry first breakthrough 20 million yuan, of which more than 50% are new customers contribute.

When Ctrip in the travel agent fan led, constantly add "rebar cement", its booking business also has more than 60% of the proportion from the call center, and the future growth bet on the line of tourism and vacation products and business management. The Art Dragon is focused on getting the company lighter, more and more online and mobile.

Jinsha River Venture capital partner Zhu Yuhu Frankly, the internet age, the past experience is a hindrance to development. In the last year, Ctrip has lost 4 billion dollars in market value. If Ctrip can not adapt to the past 10 years of accumulation based on the call center OTA operation to the real Internet e-commerce, I am afraid even the remaining 3 billion dollars can not be saved.

Professional and generalist competition, the professional will eventually win in their areas of focus, more professional champions will disintegrate the generalist this paper tiger. The field of group buying is no exception.

Author: CAT