Groupon China, Gaopeng.com, recently just launched its operation and I believe many of us are curious whether the collaboration between Tencent and Groupon would work out well. One thing for sure, Groupon will face stiff competition in China.
China Internet Watch created a chart to highlight the top Groupon clones in China based on web traffic in January. Ju.Taobao.com (Ju Hua Suan) led the clones with over 75 million visits in January.
Despite starting just March last year, Ju Hua Suan managed to record a US$30 million of total sales in 2010 (Can Gaopeng match that?). The average spending per user was about $6 last year. I believe the statistics are definitely much higher now. Lashou.com ranked second, falling short of 30 million. Groupon.cn, the clone that forced Groupon to adopt a different domain name ranked fifth with 18 million visits.
I’m betting on Alibaba’s Ju Hua Suan to win the race. It is more than just the high traffic growth that the site is currently experiencing. Taobao’s management is strong. Or rather, I have strong faith in the entire Alibaba Group’s management. While most e-commerce sites in China invest on advertising to bring in sales, Alibaba Group focuses on security and fair-trading within all its e-commerce properties (here and here).
As an e-commerce site in China (you know what I mean), building consumers’ confidence is top priority. The transparency within the organization is reflected in its day-to-day business dealings. That gained a lot of respect. Somehow, I have a gut feel that the conflict between the Groupon and Tencent would torture the partnership long-term. Understanding China isn’t as simple as flying over to the country, saying sorry and getting work done.
Also catch: A Summary of China’s Internet Clones [PIC]
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