What are cultural factors behind the team buying consumer trend?
Sam Flemming, CEO of CIC, a Shanghai-based research and consulting firm that monitors blogs and BBS message boards to find out what people are saying about certain products, wrote this post about team buying. I think Sam correctly identifies the two main reasons for the popularity of team buying in China: 1) In China, netizens are accustomed to organizing online around brands. For example, owners of the same car model often discuss topics related to their car on online message board forums. Group buying is a natural extension of this trend, because forum participants can easily collaborate to buy a product that enhances the one that they all already own. 2) Bargaining is a way of life in China. Group buying allows participants to bargain for products that they would usually bargain for themselves, besides they can receive better deals by leveraging the persuasive purchasing power of the group. The Observer’s Thoughts Team buying has quickly developed into a component of contemporary co
