Sunday, 6:37 AM: Enter Linda Guiao, a 38-year old single lady and an owner of a struggling flower shop in Makati, rose from her cozy bed almost as involuntary as when she next fumbled for her laptop by the nearby bedside table. It was 6:37 AM, almost an hour and a half before her usual morning wake-up call courtesy of her ever-annoying alarm clock. She's not annoyed this time though. In fact she's feeling a bit optimistic. Less than a minute ago she's half asleep opening her laptop's lid, now she's wide awake and gleaming. Last time she checked, her bouquet of flowers sold for the first time at a local Philippines group buying website got 24 hits. Not bad as she usually sells 10 to 20 on her store everyday. This morning, barely 18 hours after her group buying deal was posted, her goods sold more than 490 group buys. She had to get up quickly. Forty minutes later, she and her boyfriend were on their way for a four-hour trip to Baguio for floral shopping and a quick one-hour date.
Yesterday, Linda's biggest problem is having to close down her business. Today, she's on a race with time before the shop opens the next day for a flood of orders.
All-In a Group Buying Company's Day's Work
Monday, 8:30 AM: Beth Comedia froze on her bed. She's awake now. Actually, wide awake and in shock. Not by a nightmare-come-lately-in-the-morning or by some sudden noise. It's the silence. It's raining heavily outside, quite a perfect day to stay under the sheets while the cold breeze blows from her window. "But it's Monday, for Christ's sake!" she thought. Her alarm clock lies dead on the floor spitting out its batteries, probably knocked down by the curtain blown by the the last night's wind. She's late and Monday's are one those "typical days". And "typical days" working on a start up group buying company such as Dealspot.PH means a whole day of stressful work setting up appointments with group buying partners, answering inquiries from buyers, last-minute trips, endless paper works, group meetings and for heaven knows what else comes today. She's doing quite well these days though. Group buying companies pay handsome base salary not counting commissions from deals she was able to sign up from new group buying partners.
Her new phone got a headstart: 27 missed calls and 40 text messages. She heads for the shower. There's a war out there...
The Art of War, The Art of Group Buying
Everyday, group buyers numbering to hundreds of thousands jumps from site to site hunting for the perfect group buying deals. Millions of pesos pass through the worldwide electronic banking system from the purchases made for group deals through Paypal, credit card facilities, wire transfers, online banking system through Bancnet, Megalink, Maestro, Cirrus, mobile payments, virtual cards and other payment gateways. While group buyers demand for better and cheaper means to satisfy their online shopping vice, group buying companies continues to wage their war against each other, fighting over meager spoils of the present day and the riches of the future to come. Group buying, indeed, an art expressed in a business sense.
Group buying in the Philippines is still in its infancy and it will continue to grow, at least for the next five years, before it hits a firewall. On that day, group buying will become too common that anybody else could setup his own group buying site selling anything from used cars to a bag of tea. But for now, let's not spoil the fun. Group buying is here and its hot, it's the trend and it's the present driving force behind the country's thriving e-economy. [JPNGPGNG]
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