Gemgem, a new group buying site specifically aimed at moms and tots launches today. Mike Abel reckons all these deal-of-the-day and "couponeer" sites are teaching consumers "...to pay less, to wait for the sale, the cut-price, the special. In and amongst it all, creating a perception that normal prices are too high or, put differently, I'm currently being ripped-off." I'm inclined to disagree with Mike here. We live in South Africa. As a consumer, I already know I'm being ripped off - what's news? But I can't fly to Dubai or Singapore every other week so I'm stuck here, turning a blind eye and accepting over-inflated prices. And when it comes to a 'need it now' item, or a woman spotting that 'must have' pair of shoes, consumers are not going to wait for the sale. The way I see group buying sites is that they encourage purchases based on one of two things. First, the standard 'on sale' impulse buy. You see something you like, which you probably wouldn't buy at its normal price, but you'll buy it now because "it's on sale". Second, they support 'the next best thing' buy. You want to go on holiday or get a massage - do you wait for a special from the place you really want to go to, or do you go to the one that's having a special right now? It's the businesses that rope in consumers through these sales processes that must heed Mike's words - once a customer is in the door, build a relationship with them. Gooi It had an interesting model based purely on impulse buying. You didn't have to get 10 other friends to buy to ensure the sale was "on". No, the product was already secured and you only had to make sure you bought while stocks lasted and within the limited time. I see the Gooi It team have decided to move on to other ventures and are making one last sale - the site itself. See www.gooi.co.za for more information. Yet, at the end of the day, as long as there are still 'need it now' and 'must have' consumers, or until Wantsa can ensure merchants will provide discounted goods when consumers want them (and they want it now!), there'll still be full priced purchases made tomorrow.

Shan Radcliffe, Retail editor
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