Group Buy Vs traditional online shopping

I often hear lots of various opinions about Group Buy shopping model: some claim this is an awesome new trend in e-Commerce that will soon conquer the online shopping market, while others doubt that the model can actually work and be profitable for someone. Let's consider the 3 major aspects that usually have a great influence on our decision-making process and see if group buy has any advantages. So the fight begins...

Round 1

Agree or not, I think for the majority of ordinary people Price comes first. Unless you are some Bill Gates or Oprah Winfrey who presents luxurious houses to her friends (worth $** million), you ALWAYS have a limited budget for everything you want to buy.

- Online shopping: If you are a single shopper who wants a better-priced product, you make no big value for a seller. You are just one of countless faceless shoppers, so why should he care about you more than about others and offer you a better discount?

- Group Buy: Joining the group of those who wish to buy the same thing, you can expect a significant discount because this is the key point of the group buying model: merchants sell in bulk - you get discounted products. You matter because you are not the only one.

Round 2

Unless you are a shop-addicted teenage girl who shops for everything, everywhere and all the time (because you have nothing else to do), you are likely to care much about Convenience of your shopping process.

- Online shopping: If you have lots of free time, you can browse through hundreds of online shopping resources comparing prices for a single item on social shopping sites and searching for someone willing to make you a couple of bucks discount. In many cases it's just a waste of your time and efforts.

- Group Buy: You join (or create your own) buying group and wait for discounted offers to come. You don't look for merchants, they look for you. You don't chase for a better price, you know exactly how to get it.

Round 3

And last (but not least) is a matter of Trust. Unless you can afford not to think about products' quality (because your credit card allows you to buy only famous, expensive and quality-proven brands), you do care about credibility.

- Online shopping: There're dozens of online sellers, how do you know who to trust? How can you be sure you won't be screwed by frauds? I guess you can't.

- Group Buy: A merchant selling his product to a large group of people is unlikely to cheat you in any way or he'll end up being chased by dozens of angry group buyers.:)

The verdict

I'm not against traditional online shopping, but I'm sure that new trends in e-Commerce like the group buying shopping model shouldn't be rejected. We should always be open to new opportunities that are intended to make our shopping process better in every possible way.