The busy folks over at Goodlife have published July’s statistics on Taiwan’s group buying market, which increased 8.3% over June’s total last month. Total sales for the month tallied in at 284 million NT (~US$9.44) for the industry, with the overall picture looking a bit like this:
Here were some notable findings in the data:
- Groupon’s share of the total market fell from 48.1% to 47.68%, the first decline since these statistics have been compiled. Even though they fell a bit, their total sales still grew in July, indicating that Groupon’s competition has been ramping up the pressure. Groupon has been making some interesting strategic moves, as July saw several experiments using Facebook as a sales medium, and also the first time its offered travel deals. In an interview with COO Andy Kuo in April, the company had said it avoided travel deals because it lacked the appropriate licensing from the government. It must have solved that problem, as it offered three travel deals in July, inclduing trips to Phuket and Cambodia.
- Speaking of travel deals, travel and home delivery deals saw a jump to 485 deals in July, compared to 199 the month before. Could this be an indicator of the direction of market expansion? It already represents a major source of income for Groupon, whose 221 home delivery deals in July accounted for 35.7% of its income.
- Seasonal fruit is carving itself a group buying home. July saw 16 different mango, 14 cherry, 12 grape, and 10 peach deals all in July. Yum!
- A secondary market for group buying coupons continues to blossom. Goodlife saw 77 solicitations for its most popular deal, a hotpot dinner, in July.
Additionally, as we reported last week, it’s evident that Living Social is intent on entering the Taiwan market. Although the market is crowded, the fact that every month more and more dollars pour into group deals is too promising for the DC-based Livingsocial to pass up.
Newcomer Check-in – Nuomi and Yahoo Discounts were both newcomers to the market within the past three months. How’d they do? Nuomi increased its sales 170% month-over-month, while Yahoo pretty much stayed flat and is having its #6 position challenged by 123 Group Buy, who increased their sales 43%.
Top three deals of the month
- Gomaji – A bed and breakfast deal including two meals at the Mingshan meeting center. Originally 5938 NT, on sale for 2860 NT. Purchased 3,025 times for a total of 8.65 million NT (~US$288k)
- Groupon – A Kenting Youhuo village bed and breakfast package that includes 4 vouchers for classes and hydrotherapy, originally 12948 NT, on sale for 5800 NT. 1,133 packages were sold for a total of 6.57 million NT (~US$219k)
- Gomaji – Xitou Leader hotel’s one night, three meal package romantic getaway package, originally 18,070 NT, on sale for 4699 NT. 1132 packages sold for a total of 5.32 million NT (~US$177k)
See you next month!
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