subject: Group Buying In South Africa? It Works! [print this page] Group buying is one of the fastest growing trends in South Africa today. Industry leaders are confident the growth potential remains strong since group buying is location specific. Start-up costs are low and profit margins remain high so many sites continue to receive venture capital despite widespread criticism and Facebook's decision to phase out of the deals business due to privacy concerns. In fact, Groupon declined a multi billion dollar buyout this year and the recent IPO was the largest by a US internet company since Google raised nearly $1.5 billion in 2004.
Why all the fuss? Deal aggregators are evolving, not going away!
In the early stages of all industries a shakeout happens and sometimes losses are generated. An alarming number of businesses are developing group buying websites in places like China and India so the proliferation of group buying in South Africa is nothing more that a natural progression into the international mainstream.
The group buying concept is fairly new and consumers have embraced this concept because they can now organize the abundance of information available on the internet. Despite the technological advances over the past decade social buying is convenient and easy so it works. Anyone can view a site, join a mailing list, subscribe to RSS or print out a coupon. The current buying structure offered by the industry leaders works but there are still challenges to overcome.
Perhaps, the future of group buying is tied to the merger of social media and mobile devices. Mobile devices are with us where ever we go and almost everyone is using some type of social media site like Facebook or Twitter to stay informed. Leveraging GPS and social media technology to provide real time location specific promotions would be helpful to every consumer looking for the best daily deals in town.
Pause for a moment and think! What is better than signing on to your phone while out on the town and you receive a real time notification that your favorite shop across the street is offering a killer deal?
You can't beat that yet!
The future of the group buying in South Africa is bright and we can expect to see more innovative approaches to this concept in the future. In addition to the technological advances consumers will see the range of promotions expand to include new products and services.
