After GroupOn made buzz in the Indian market by acquiring SoSasta, it is eBay India making news by entering the group buying section. Currently it offers discounted deals for buyers in Mumbai and New Delhi only, where one can pay a minimum entry price to book a deal and become part of the group bidding.
The model
- For the deal to go live or become activated, the sale needs to reach its target number of buyers
- The number of buyers is chosen by the merchant, who also allots it a given timeline
- If the deal is live, everyone who has signed up for the deal becomes eligible and need to pay the remaining amount directly to the merchant before the expiry date of the offer.
- However, if the deal doesn’t go live, the minimum price is refunded.
- The eBay section currently has a countdown timer to indicate the days, hours and minutes remaining. It also reflects the number of buyer bidding for the deal.
- People can also share the deal on Twitter, Facebook or with friends via e-mail.
- The model right now hosts only one deal for a day.
Some key points
- eBay India is late but not a new player.
- eBay doesn’t need an introduction and will ride on its popularity wave. We should see less of marketing from them.
- It will see a strict competition from various players already present in India like Deals and You, Taggle etc.
- eBay India will have an advantage in terms of an existing user base which they can target and leverage further.
- Currently eBay India only offers one deal a day. Though the model is different from its competitors but it might also be a disadvantage as the platform may lose out on customers looking forward to a deal in different segment.
- It is only available for Mumbai and New Delhi right now but of course, we do expect an expansion pretty soon.
Competition in India
Group Buying as a phenomenon is new in India but it does look like an interesting and promising space, especially with the big players entering the market.