TheUForce.com Brings Buying Power to the People

EDINA, Minn., Feb. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- The biggest shopping trend in China is coming to the U.S., courtesy of a free, easy-to-use group buying website that launches today.  TheUForce.com is a revolutionary way for consumers to join together and demand the best value for products and services.

"Imagine getting a great deal when and where you want it. No more waiting in Black Friday lines at ridiculous hours.  TheUForce.com believes consumers should control which items go on sale, when they go on sale and at what price," says Andrew Atkin, CEO and founder, TheUForce.com. "What eBay and Craigslist did for individual sellers, TheUForce.com will do for groups of consumers."

TheUForce.com is a marketplace that enables consumers to easily assemble a group from their wide social networks of friends, family and colleagues, and specify a product or service the group wants to buy.  The UForce group invites sellers to provide the product at a price that reflects the buying power of thousands.  The UForce can then purchase the product as a group and have it delivered and serviced locally.

Group buying, or tuangou, is the hottest trend for shoppers in China.  Here's how it works:  A Chinese shopper needs a kitchen sink. At a tuangou site like Qeeka.com, that shopper can join a group of people also looking for a kitchen sink.  Qeeka notifies a retailer that thousands of people will be coming to its store at a particular date and time. Then, that "mob" shows up and negotiates the best price with the retailer, en masse.

Using its sophisticated MarketPlace technology platform, TheUForce.com aggregates member needs and facilitates an online negotiation between a group and a retailer or service provider. "Tuangou has a proven track record in China, and the climate is right for it to work in the United States," says Atkin. "TheUForce.com will be the first company to American-ize Tuangou for the socially networked consumer who likes to buy online and wants (and in this economy needs) to get a great deal."

So how does it work? You really want a GPS.  Sign up at TheUForce.com and invite friends and family to join your "MarketPlace."  Create a Mission, which is your goal of buying the GPS within a short time frame.  TheUForce.com takes your Mission and finds other members who want the same thing.  TheUForce.com then alerts a GPS manufacturer that TheUForce.com members have spoken.  That manufacturer sends an offer to the UForce.  If members like the offer, they accept it, pay a deposit fee of $.50 to $1.00, and receive an offer code to purchase the GPS.  The manufacturer then ships the devices to a local retailer.  You pick it up at the retailer and receive ongoing customer service.  Done.  And there's no waiting before dawn for a "limited quantities only" deal.

TheUForce.com is recruiting retail partners as well as service providers.  Imagine teaming up with other people to get better rates from a cable company, or a fitness package from a gym. TheUForce.com will also recruit organizations and associations to build the TheUForce.com membership quickly and efficiently.  A group will be able to create a branded MarketPlace on its site so members have a seamless shopping experience.  TheUForce.com will be a free service for the association, and they will receive revenue every time one of their members makes a purchase.

TheUForce.com is in the process of recruiting sellers in the home/life and financial services categories.  Examples of home/life services include auto/oil change, cable/ satellite, fitness, newspaper, and pet care.  Financial service examples include life insurance, dental insurance, affinity credit cards and affinity banking.

TheUForce.com is the world's first social marketplace.  TheUForce.com's Marketplace Technology Platform enables any consumer, association or business to create a personal MarketPlace in a 5-minute, 4-step process.  TheUForce.com aggregates every MarketPlace created to assemble 10,000,000 members by the end of 2010.  TheUForce.com is an Edina-based company led by Andrew Atkin, a dynamic senior executive with 23 years of experience starting and re-starting companies.  Atkin founded ClickIQ, an industry-leading market research technology platform that has been adopted by national brands like Best Buy, Gateway, Pizza Hut and Johnson & Johnson.  Atkin also established Hey Coach, a concept that combines an interactive fitness circuit, baseball and basketball instruction, and training technology in a unique Club House for young athletes.  TheUForce.com Advisory Board includes C-level executives from Experian, Harris Interactive, Best Buy and eBay.  

Visit TheUForce.com and register to become a member now.  And follow the UForce blog at http://themarketplaceproject.wordpress.com.

SOURCE TheUForce.com