New online shopping craze "team buying" makes an impact on Chinese retailers

[mandy]

More and more consumers meet online before banding together at stores to bargain down prices.

Last month, Fiona Li did what millions of Chinese shoppers do to find a bargain: she went online.

A few clicks later, she had a lead on where to buy the consumer goodies her brother wanted for his new apartment. Instead of reaching for her credit card, though, she jotted down a time and a place: 8 p.m. at a downtown electronics store.

That evening, Ms. Li and her brother joined 15 strangers at the store to demand a group discount on a new television, refrigerator, and washing machine. Salespeople grumbled at the tactic, but the group refused to buckle. After two hours of haggling, and several walkouts by group members, the store manager agreed to a 10 percent markdown on the three items...

full article: http://search.csmonitor.com/search_conte...-woap.html

[dnc_ont]

Hardly an innovation.  The Mob has been doing that for years. 

[mandy]

A related article, team buying makes its way to the YS:

Swarm empowers consumers to negotiate group discounts not only for consumer goods, but also for certain services, like health insurance or debt financing. Consumers can either join a swarm or start a new one. Sellers than can “bid” to supply the swarm, contrary to the concept of consumers starting to bargain for a discount. Other businesses have 48 hours to offer a counter bid. eSwarmers also have the option to link their purchase to a donation for a good cause. A certain percentage of the money spent is than donated to the chosen non-profit...

full article: http://www.cscout.com/blog/2007/08/07/tr...uying.html