Meituan.com Again Ranks First in November with Sales Topping RMB200 Million

BEIJING, Jan. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- In the aftermath of the war for market share that has already been going on for nearly six months among China's more than one thousand group-buying websites, the pattern of competition in the sector has become apparent: According to a report recently released by third-party group-buying aggregator tuan800.com, during November, Meituan.com, known for its strong focus on steady and stable growth, maintained its position as the top-selling website across the sector with a market share of 17 percent. The site ranked first in sales for two consecutive months with its sales numbers exceeding RMB250 million (approx. US$39.6 million) for November, over RMB20 million (approx. US$3.2 million) more than that of the runner-up.

The report shows that the Chinese online group-buying market, as a whole, achieved turnover of some RMB1.45 billion (approx. US$230 million) for November, up 20 percent compared to the previous month. Three industry players, Meituan.com, 55tuan.com and Lashou.com, each posted sales topping RMB200 million (approx. US$31.7 million). Industry analysts said that this signals the competition among group-buying changes from "five to three" to " three to one", with Meituan.com currently in the top position.

Meituan.com maintains its leadership again and becomes the first Chinese group-buying site with sales breaking over the RMB200 million (approx. US$310 million) mark

Meituan.com has stayed on track with its strategy of maintaining stable growth, despite of an ever changing market. According to data released by tuan800.com, Meituan.com posted sales of over RMB170 million (approx. US$27.0 million) in October, while sales for November exceeded RMB250 million (approx. US$39.0 million), solidifying the site's position as the market leader during the two months. Its month-on-month growth of 47 per cent for Nov was well above the industry average of 20 per cent.

As for localization, Meituan.com's sales from local services accounted for 91.8 per cent of total sales, compared with 55tuan.com's 86.3 percent and Lashou.com's 61.1 percent. Having the highest localization rate among the sites with sales exceeding RMB200 million is testament to the fact that Meituan.com's strong focus on local e-commerce services is a major factor in the site holding onto to its ranking as the top selling site in the sector.

Sales of China's group-buying market already topped RMB10 billion in 2011, according to market analysts. Meanwhile, the fierce competition has given rise to the Matthew Effect across the sector, with the leaders like Meituan.com surging ahead while maintaining their leadership positions.

Monthly sales exceeds total for all of last year

A real milestone is that sales of Meituan.com in just the one month of November reached RMB250 million, exceeding the total sales that the company rung up for all of last year. In its first 12 months of operations, from roll out on March 4th of 2010 to a year later on March 4th of 2011, the site recorded RMB230 million in sales. Now, in the space of one month that number was exceeded.

Meituan.com CEO Wang Xing said that after two years of development, Meituan.com has been recognized by consumers and merchants alike as the country's standard for group- buying practices. "In 2012, group-buying will no longer be considered as something special or unique, as it becomes more and more common, and it will soon just be a regular part of everyday life."

Competition in the sector will be about the quality of services as group-buying becomes more common. Meituan.com takes the lead both in terms of sales and quality of services. According to the latest DCCI group-buying industry report, Meituan.com was recognized by consumers as the top website in terms of customer satisfaction. Seventy percent of the site's new sign ups are as a result of referrals by existing customers.

SOURCE Meituan.com