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March 1, 2006
Smart mobs and Chinese consumers: the art of tuangou
How do you get a better price for a consumer good? Well, in China, you show up with a team of a dozen other shoppers and start shouting at the bewildered salesperson, “35% off!” In Chinese, the team haggling process is more formally known as tuangou (“team purchase”), and there’s even a Web site (51tuangou.com) that gathers together consumer buying power for a specific purchase in Shanghai. From the looks of the Chinese-language-only Web site, consumers can band together to buy anything from Queen-sized beds to kitchen cabinets to wedding dresses (!).
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the link for the Wall Street Journal article by James T. Areddy (“Chinese Consumers Overwhelm Retailers With Team Tactics”), but here’s a brief snippet from the print version of the paper:
“Seller beware: some of China’s 1.3 billion consumers are angling for group discounts. Chinese shoppers have always been known as hard-nosed bargainers. Now, to the dismay of merchants, some have started shopping in teams to haggle for bigger markdowns.
The practice, called tuangou, or team purchase, began in Internet chat rooms, where like-minded consumers hatch plans to buy appliances, furnishings, food, even cars, in bulk. Next, they show up en masse at stores like Suzhou Zhongyi Kitchen Co. to demand discounts.”
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