R3: Sohu China Portal Launches Groupon Clone.

From R3 Beijing; source: QQ

Sohu had just launched a group shopping site – tuan.sohu.com, which made Sohu the first portal site that joins the group buying competition in China. As reported, the site currently only offers single-product group shopping services in Beijing, which is very similar to other group shopping sites.

The data showed that there are approximately 400 Chinese group shopping sites launched in the last three months. The key reason for the booming is because of the low standard in terms of qualification, several-thousand-Yuan investment would be enough for an easy start-up.

Some experts believe that since the group shopping sites phenomenon has just started in China, Sohu is obviously seeking the chance to take lead.

The top ten “Groupon Clones”

By Gang Lu, from an article on Tech Crunch.

1. Lashou

• Highlights: recently has closed $5million investment and company valuation is reported around rmb 1 billion.
• Main Group Purchase Item: Restaurant, Pub, KTV, SPA, Hairdressing, Yoga and other selected featured firms.
• Currently Covered Cities: Over 100 cities including Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Daqing, Nanchang etc.

2. Meituan

• Highlights: it’s founded by Wang Xin, the guy also co-founded first Chinese Facebook, Xiaonei.com (now Renren.com) and first Chinese Twitter, Fanfou.com (now closed);
• Main Group Purchase Item: Restaurant, Pub, KTV, SPA, Hairdressing, Yoga, etc.
• Currently Covered Cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan

3. Mituan

• Main Group Purchase Item: Quality local living services
• Currently Covered Cities: Hangzhou

4. Cooltuan

• Main Group Purchase Item: Restaurant, SPA, Photography, Hairdressing, Cinema, Gym, Live CS Show, etc.
• Currently Covered Cities: Shanghai

5. Manzuo

• Main Group Purchase Item: Delicacy, Tour, Gym and SPA, etc.
• Currently Covered Cities: Beijing

6. Groupon China

• Main Group Purchase Items: Food & Beverage, Pub, SPA, KTV, Hairdressing, Yoga, Training and transaction, etc.
• Currently Covered Cities: Beijing, Chengdu, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Jinan, Nanning, Qingdao, Shanghai, Shenyang, Suzhou, Tianjin, Xiamen, Taiyuan and Zhengzhou.

7. Groupon365

• Main Group Purchase Item: hottest, and the most fashionable goods
• Currently Covered Cities: Qingdao

8. Tuank

• Main Group Purchase Item: Restaurant, Pub, KTV, SPA, Hairdressing, Yoga and other selected featured firms.
• Currently Covered Cities: Nanchang

9. Runtuan

• Main Group Purchase Item: Restaurant, Pub, KTV, SPA, Hairdressing, Yoga etc.
• Currently Covered Cities: Guangzhou

10. 55tuan

• Main Group Purchase Item: Restaurant, KTV, SPA, Hairdressing, Yoga etc.
• Currently covered cities: Beijing