Dianping.com Offered 2.1 Billion Yuan in Group Buying Discounts Last Year as Consumers Across China Embrace Multi-Channel Consumer Promotions

--Dianping.com releases the annual city consumer lifestyle report for 2011

News provided by

Mar 05, 2012, 10:00 ET

SHANGHAI, March 5, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- China's leading city consumer lifestyle guide dianping.com recently released the annual city consumer lifestyle report for 2011 examining results in 22 major cities across the country. The report provides statistics on and analysis of search behavior, merchant reviews, e-coupon downloading and purchase of group-buying services at dianping.com across 22 large and medium-sized cities, including the major markets of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, providing an insight into consumer behavior, while identifying the new hot spots and spotting emerging trends in the restaurant, shopping, entertainment and life services sectors for each city.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110831/CN60345LOGO )

According to the report, the number of member merchants recommended and reviewed by consumers at dianping.com surpasses 1.5 million as of December 2011, a year on year increase of 37 per cent, including nearly 600,000 restaurants and establishments dispensing food and drink, accounting for 39 per cent of the site's listed merchants. At the same time, non-food merchant segments representing the 61% balance also expanded rapidly, with the wedding and bridal segment showing the fastest growth.

The report showed that consumers have become accustomed to and happy to get discount information from a variety of channels, including group-buying, e-coupons and by "check-in" via mobile phones. Data showed that the discount among group-buying programs at the site average 62% in 2011 as a whole, with consumers "saving" a total of 2.1 billion yuan. Moreover, e-coupons remained a favorite among consumers, with the number of downloads through the website and the mobile client increasing 53 per cent over 2010.

Dianping.com launched the group buying service in June 2010, and, by selecting those markets with the highest per capita purchasing power, had expanded the service into more than 20 markets across China as of the fourth quarter of 2011. Single purchases of group-buying services at the site exceeded 23 million throughout the year. Data showed that group-buying is rapidly growing across China and is viewed as a very strong emerging trend. With nine years of solid experience in "online-to-offline" platforms, dianping.com has rapidly taken the lead in the country's group buying sector.

The report also showed that with the adoption of smartphones in the country, the trend of consumers receiving promotions via mobile clients has clearly taken hold. In 2011, the number of e-coupon downloads via the mobile client is more than double that of the number via the website.

According to data for the fourth quarter of 2011, Dianping.com's mobile client boasts more than 18 million unique users, ten times the number of the prior year.

About Dianping.com
Shanghai, China-based Dianping.com, established in April 2003, is a leading online city life guide and one of the first independent online third-party consumer service rating sites worldwide, dedicated to providing restaurant, shopping, entertainment, leisure and day to day living services through its interactive platform. The site provides detailed merchant information, featured promotions along with the consumer services ratings. In addition, the firm provides one-stop precision marketing solutions for small and medium-sized businesses, including e-coupons, keyword promotion and group buying. Dianping.com has also successfully expanded into the mobile internet sector with the firm's mobile apps having become indispensable to many of the inhabitants of China's major metropolises.

Some stats:
As of Q4 2011, with a footprint encompassing approximately 2,300 cities across China, Dianping.com had more than 42 million of active users posting 20 million reviews monthly on over 1.5 million member merchants.

During Q4 2011, Dianping.com clocked, on average, more than 600 million page views monthly. The site's 18 million unique mobile users accounted for more than 80 per cent of the page views.

To date, Dianping.com has established branches in more than 20 cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Wuxi, Ningbo, Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan, Xi'an, Zhengzhou, Jinan, Qingdao, Shenyang, Dalian, Changsha, Harbin, Fuzhou and Hefei.