It's a simple concept: a group of people approach a retailer and haggle for a discount in exchange for a large group of purchases. Yet when the phenomenon of "team buying" or "group buying" caught on a few years ago in mainland China, where it is called
tuangou, it inspired a
slew of
media attention.
Of course, the power of the internet and social media such as Twitter and Facebook in particular, makes this shopping innovation easier than ever to execute, and the concept has become popular in the US through sites such as
GroupBuyCenter.com and
Groupon.com. And now the phenomenon has come to Toronto, launched by
www.webpiggy.com, a joint venture of
Agency 3 communications and District Marketing.
Retailers sign up to offer a discount (typically 40-60 per cent off regular prices) as long as a certain number of people agree to purchase. The offer goes up for a limited time on grouppiggy's website and, if the required number of people purchase, the service forwards a cheque to the offering business and coupons to those who bought. If not enough people sign on, no one is charged anything.
According to Dennis Logan, a spokesperson for www.grouppiggy.com, the new venture employs seven people and expects to grow quickly as the concept catches on in the GTA.
Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Dennis Logan, www.grouppiggy.com.