BEIJING, July 4, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Competition for the leading position among China's group buying firms recently got ratcheted up a notch as industry pioneer Groupon prepares for a listing. The latest research from the country's largest independent group-buying aggregator tuan800.com show that meituan.com ranked first in May in terms of sales, customer visits, number of merchants cooperating in their program and other indicators, and also received the highest score among Chinese firms for its "overall strength", a composite number developed by the aggregator.
According to tuan800.com's China Group Buying Statistics Report for May 2011, meituan.com recorded sales of RMB75.202 million in May, an increase of RMB6.308 million over the RMB68.894 million booked in April, placing the company ahead of all of its domestic competitors. In addition, meituan.com topped the list in terms of overall strength with a score of 83.53, a number that places the firm well ahead of its rivals.
The aggregator collects information on the daily activities of China's nearly 1,000 group buying sites and, in addition, undertakes independent research to generate its numbers. The monthly statistics report is based on the daily sales numbers of all products launched by each group buying website in 40 major cities and rankings of these websites in terms of six key measurements: monthly revenue, number of cooperating merchants, number of customers having made an online payment that month, average number of buyers, sales and customer visits. meituan.com received top ranking for all six indicators.
The analysis from tuan800 indicated that China's group buying market is going through a period of adjustment during which some operators who partook in fraudulent activities are likely to be forced out. This self-adjustment of the market should allow the group buying websites with the best track records, especially in terms of overall size of the business, quality of its top management, scope and quality of customers and cooperating merchants, among other indicators, to rise to the top, likely triggering the previously expected industry shuffle.
The reason for meituan.com's ability to win despite the fierce competition, more than anything, is the high quality of its services. The website went against the industry trend prevalent during the month of April, which focused on advertising and extensive expansion, by closing down some sites in the country's fourth-tier cities, suspending its outdoor advertisement campaign and putting its efforts into developing its presence in major cities. The numbers demonstrate that the focus on the high quality of services has paid off with over 70 per cent of new customer sign ups a result of referrals by existing customers, effectively bringing more eyeballs to the site than all traditional forms of advertising.
meituan.com also launched the first of its kind customer assurance program. The website made a commitment to provide consumers with a simple and convenient refunds process, including unconditional refunds within 7 days of purchase, money back without question if customers are in any way unsatisfied with the purchase, and refunds on expired coupons.
meituan.com CEO Wang Xing said: "meituan.com is a group-buying website specializing in localized consumer services, consistently adhering to the shared values of 'consumers first, merchants second and meituan third', aggressively utilizing all resources to constantly improve the high level of service provided to consumers and merchants alike. meituan.com believes that a bright future lies ahead for the group buying sector in China, if and when the sector's players focus their attention on its consumers and cooperating merchants. The resultant positive feedback from those consumers and merchants will be more effective than any other form of advertising."
