Dass man das Groupon-Prinzip auch intelligent adaptieren kann, zeigt One Block Off the Grid (1BOG), das sich gerade 5 Mio. Dollar von den Groupon-Investoren gesichert hat:

"One Block Off the Grid, or 1BOG, rounds up groups of homeowners in a
city and matches them with a solar installer offering a discounted
rate. 

By serving as a matchmaker, 1BOG aims to demystify the complex
solar installation process for buyers, and brings a hefty chunk of new
business to the installers.

Dave Llorens, chief executive, says
his group has become an effective intermediary between consumers and
the installers, who have not standardised their rates and sales pitch.

Both Groupon and 1BOG are backed by New Enterprise Associates, a
venture capital group that specialises in consumer internet and clean
technology investments. NEA gave Groupon $4.8m in early 2008 and
followed up last December with a $30m second round co-led by Accel
Partners, one of the early investors in Facebook. Last week they gave
1BOG a $5m investment.

Ravi Viswanathan, a general partner at
NEA, says his firm was bullish on group buying. “There’s a viral nature
to it that can really drive adoption,” he says. “It’s a self-fulfilling
prophecy … and the possibilities are endless.”

1BOG is
already running pilot programmes to test the model for home
retro-fitting, and conversions that turn Toyota Prius petrol-electric
hybrids into plug-in electric vehicles.

“The model clearly
extrapolates pretty well to any big-ticket home improvement,” says Mr
Llorens. “We’re just scratching the service of what new social
technologies can do with this.”"

Neben dem ausführlichen Bericht in der Financial Times gibt es außerdem Berichte bei Techcrunch und im Blog von 1BOG

Vor allem der virale Faktor des Verkaufsansatzes dürfte dem Gruppenkauf in den kommenden Monaten auch jenseits von Groupon eine Renaissance bescheren.

Die Perspektiven für den Gruppenkauf sind auch das Thema der aktuellen "E-Commerce für Fortgeschrittene" Kolumne in der Internetworld (Ausgabe 03-2010), die allerdings leider noch nicht online ist.

Frühere Beiträge zum Thema:

• Groupon-Fieber: Wie schüre ich einen Hype?
• Groupon-Fieber: Accel Partner Jim Breyer im Interview
• Groupon-Fieber: BuyWithMe holt sich 5,5 Mio. Dollar

Kategorien:Emotions, Live Shopping, Shopboerse, Wunschgenau