Online daily deals provider Groupon, backed by funding from local industry leaders, went live on the mainland yesterday offering discounts to consumers through its newly launched group-buying portal, GaoPeng.com.
It marked the US-based Groupon's most ambitious expansion in the Asia-Pacific, with the mainland now the world's second-largest economy and home to its biggest internet population, at 457 million users as of December. Groupon entered Australia, India and Malaysia earlier this year; Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and the Philippines last November; and Japan in August.
GaoPeng.com, headquartered in Beijing, started accepting e-mail registrations from local consumers, promising daily deals with local merchants from this month.
Subscribers will get free daily e-mails alerting them to the deals. The service will initially cover Beijing and Shanghai, with plans to extend to other mainland cities. 'We are excited to be in China, collaborating with a leading internet company and respected business leaders,' said Andrew Mason, the founder and boss of Groupon.
Start-up capital for GaoPeng.com was provided by Groupon and the Tencent Collaboration Fund of mainland internet giant Tencent Holdings and major private equity group Yunfeng Capital, which was set up by more than 20 local entrepreneurs, including Alibaba.com chairman Jack Ma Yun.
Mason said that support from high-profile backers would help 'bring unbeatable deals from top local businesses and create new revenue streams for merchants'.