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1. •  
     CommentAuthoridoru345
   • CommentTimeJul 5th 2006 edited

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   From The Economist...
   
   
   
   Shop affronts
   
   Jun 29th 2006 | GUANGZHOU
   
   
   
   Chinese consumers are ganging up on their retailers
   
   ON AN otherwise quiet Friday afternoon in Guangzhou, a city in southern China, 500 shoppers gather outside a Gome electrical superstore in the downtown district. They arrive en masse at the designated time—June 16th at 4pm—that they had previously agreed online. Several hours later, they emerge clutching boxes, having secured 10-30% discounts on cameras, DVD players and flat-screen televisions. “It was great,” says Fairy Zhang. “We just bought an apartment and this way we can afford nice things for it.” The previous weekend, over 100 locals visited Meizhu Central, a well known furniture outlet, to haggle over the prices of kitchen cabinets and dining-room furniture.
   
   Tuangou, or team buying, aims to drive unprecedented bargains by combining the reach of the internet with the power of the mob. It is spreading through China like wildfire. The practice originated in online chat-rooms but has quickly inspired several specialist websites, such as 51tuangou.com and www.teambuy.com.cn. Zhang Wei, who helped to set up teambuy less than six months ago, says the site has 10,000 registered members. The company plans to expand into Beijing and Shanghai.
   
   The first team buyers found each other by accident as they chatted online about buying everything from electronics to cars and even apartments—and realised they could get a better price if they went shopping together. Getting a discount is also a sort of insurance policy against ending up with badly made or fake goods from Chinese shops. Some shoppers just show up at a store unannounced to see if they can bargain their way to a discount, says Chen Shu, a 32-year old from Shanghai: “Sometimes we call the shop, but often we just surprise them. Shopkeepers argue, but in the end they want the business.” Others are using websites like Ms Zhang's, which work with shops to organise team-buying sessions where discounts are guaranteed without much confrontation.
   
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