Crowd Buying Arrives In Malaysia
11.04.07 | View comments | Who's Watched, Views
Last night, Josh (Remember Advertlets?) smsed me about Tumpang.com. Great find!
It’s a neat Malaysian website to make it easy for you buy stuff for CHEAP by teaming you up with other buyers. You can learn more from their website, and you should. Or, check out Jay’s review of the site.
This post is my evaluation of them as a business.
Hmm… Will it work?
- Similar business models (enabling buyers to team up for better deals) have worked very well in price conscious markets like China. TeamBuy.com appears to be the leader there and are doing well. Learn more about this trend and other examples at SpringWise.
- But will it work here? Do Malaysians love a bargain? AirAsia proven we are willing to get credit cards and transact online just to save money.
- They appear to be very serious and professional about it: The website, design, and business model screams good planning.
- Marketing-wise, the application itself is built to be very viral (the more people you tell the cheaper you can buy what you want!) But they will need to capture enough adopters before their funding runs out.
Overall, I’m optimistic about the success of Tumpang.com. Given all the things they can do, I suggest prioritizing user adoption, with the following:
- SOCIAL PROOF - I wanna see others who have used it. What bargains did they get? Testimonials? Is there a forum or community where I can see the activity from others?
- Let the site scream massive bargains! Not random bargain hunting. The long tail of other products will be important only if they have loads of users. Identify products with most demand and highest margins, and promote them heavily on the site with laser focus. This can be the beachhead. This will help spread viral messages like “Ah Hock, I got my plasma TV for RM1,000 discount u kno!”
- Enable / empower users to tell others! Think embeddable widgets and email templates so I can easily tell others to bid on the items I’m bidding on! (their current tell-a-friend script is limiting)
- Think teaming up with big brand who have a customer base and can become premium partners. Perhaps some large electronics store, laptops, or even Courts Mammoth. If I were a large retailer, why should I promote Tumpang.com? Hmm…
- Explore Pos Malaysia and PosPay as a premium partner! PosPay supposed to be Malaysia’s PayPal killer… but yeah they’re so desperate for vendors. (I’ll be webwatching PosPay soon). Imagine if Tumpang.com flyers were in every post office across Malaysia…
- The gimmick is smart, Drivers, Passengers, Seats, Tumpang etc… but it contributes to a steeper learning curve. Make it easier for me to understand - use YouTube videos of demos on the landing page eg: How I Saved RM1,289 using Tumpang.com
That was my take. Now hear it from the founder of Tumpang.com, in an exclusive interview!
Closing Thoughts, Bigger Picture…
- LetsBuyIt.com got some hype a while back. They’re down now. What can we expect when they pop back up?
- eBay and Amazon can rollout similar models too! Or have they already? Hmm…
Happy webwatching!
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i like their concept too. So, shall we tumpang together to shop around?
i like their ocncept too. So, shall we tumpang together to shop around?
The idea is good.The idea where it is implemented is totally way off.There is a problem however since there is no mediator that actually do the pricewatch hence most ‘drivers’ are not really honest is quoting the savings you would make.Most of them are just out looking for some quick bucks.For example the final price of the 32 inch Samsung LCD is stated as RM3999 and the original price quoted was RM 4k++ .That’s pure daylight robbery and I thinks its much cheaper if you buy on your own.In China Teambuy is a success as it’s complimenting AliBaba.com that lists all the suppliers.In Malaysia its just not gonna work unless they start dealing with the suppliers themselves.
deeroy - excellent point. if they reach critical mass - market forces will reward “drivers” who offer the best deals, however, until they reach critical mass, and if they do, you bring up a valid concern. good catch.