The Christian Science Monitor recently ran a piece on the phenomenon of online “group purchase” sites in China. The basic concept is that consumers can organize a group online to get “wholesale” prices from retailers or distributors.

Shanghaiist writes about his/her investigation of SHtuangou here. My wife and I just today completed the purchase on SHtuangou for a plasma TV and saved 500RMB vs the Guomei price (Guomei is sort of the “Best Buy” of China).

CIC data monitors tuangou sites because their forums are filled with consumer opinions and experiences about products and services, in particular those related to home decoration.

For example, we found some Nanjing IKEA fans congregate on 51tuangou and actually organize regular trips to the Shanghai IKEA.

As I said over 5 years ago, Chinese netizens (or netizens of any country) won’t engage in e-commerce unless there is a compelling reason to do so, e.g. cheaper price. Chinese already use social media such as BBS to discuss products, services and prices. Using this network to bargain for products is a very natural extension for China where bargaining for price is a way of life and results in a truly unique Chinese adaptation of e-commerce.

If there was any doubt that these sites are affecting offline retailers, check out the pic of this sign I took in Guomei last month:

Translation: “We are not tuangou. We are better than tuangou. Changning Guomei declares war on Tuangou.”

Thems fightin’ words, indeed!