If I were in group-buying I’d be targeting the emerging markets

by Nic Haralambous on 10/08/2011

Why would I be building out a solution for the emerging markets if I were in group-buying? Simple. Because nobody else is.

Everybody is looking at high-end, high-margin and relatively low volume.

Groupon itself is avoiding the emerging market mobile play because the don’t have a clue about the mobile web, feature phones or emerging markets and how they use smartphones (if they do at all).

Apparently Groupon just released an Android App in Germany. Why would they not be pushing Android apps in to the emerging markets too? Android is selling like hotcakes in Africa and the rest of the developing world.

If I were sitting in India and I ran Snapdeals.com I would create a mobile web version, then a java version, then an Android version of the Snapdeal experience.

The other major thing that needs to change (that no one is doing) is catering for the mass-market with mid-level deals instead of Spa treatments and the likes. What about deals from places like Shoprite, Walmart, Massmart companies, Pick ‘n Pay and those companies?

Maybe there is a problem with the margins, volumes and numbers on smaller and cheaper deals but for my money, if you make that work, you’re golden.

nharalambous@gmail.com

There are 3 comments in this article:

  1. 10/08/2011Angelique says:

    So True – Groupon is a great Business Model, Just not Great at making Profit for the Companies that use the service in my opinion (If you study the Model, its actually a major rip off), and people using Groupon, including myself are only “Window Shoppers”, Moving from deal to deal.

    Creating a platform for the mass-market would be golden indeed, especially with Mobile. Essentially, Groupon only make’s use of email and a website (The Simplicity of it is mind boggling).

    Also, there is so segmentation of what people really want to receive (I don’t want to get Hotel Deals every third day at 12pm at night) – I havent opted in for that.

    Mobile penetration in South Africa is much higher than email, A model using something like sms 2D Coupons or “QR Code’s” could really work.

    From a customers point of view I’d like something like this for example to add value: (Cheesy Example)

    As a customer of Hypermarket I notice that in Summer I’m paying four times the price for a Orange than in Winter.

    On a “Hypermarket Mobisite” I select my 10 most favorite fruits. Dependent on the season the fruit is harvested I receive an sms:

    In – Season – “Hi Angelique, Oranges are now in Season, get yours today at only R4.99/KG
    Out of Season – “Hi Angelique, receive 50% off the price of Oranges as one of your favorite fruits” [2d Barcode Attached]

    “Two Birds – One Stone —- Happy Customer” :)

    As a customer that would be a valuable service I would opt in to and spread the word – Just feel that South African companies are still scared for some reason to 1) Apply Mobile Marketing Strategies 2) Create Measurable Value and adapt to change

    And with the emerging market being the most short on cash realistically, the emerging market is the most profitable :)

  2. 23/08/2011Jess says:

    Good post. I agree with this view, and we’ve looked at it. A lot.

    Only one question for now: How do people pay with their Nokia 3310s?

  3. 10/02/2012james says:

    Hi. Interesting points. The mobile-internet platform is big in South-Africa and they say that soon there will be more people using “mobile internet” than “pc internet” – based on these facts, groupon and other a like daily deal websites should seriously consider having their website accessible via mobile phones. BUT, and like Jess from Ubuntudeal already pointed out: paying via your mobile phone is not easy. I personally have done it before on an american website, but this was a rare event.
    Well, it’s worth looking into.

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