Groupin Taking Pakistan By Storm

February 25, 2011 By 15 Comments

Part Group Buying Site, Part Dare to Get Sued By Patent and Trademark Holders…

Yes, my Pakistani Friends, you, too, can enjoy the Creamy Goodness that is Group Buying!

Groupin.pk.

According to the site, “75,931 people have shown interest in getting a better deals in Pakistan.”

Here’s a screenshot.

 

Groupin

From www.groupin.pk

Hey, I’m all about eCommerce: that’s the American Way.

But I do have to wonder if these folks will have a couple issues…for instance:

1. Similar Name. If Facebook can sue anything with “Face” or “book” in the title, what’s stopping “Groupon” from going after “Groupin?”

2. Patents. Groupon owns a few. Tippr owns a few. How defensible are those patents?

3. US-Pakistan Relations. Don’t know how icy those currently are, but imagine if Groupon, from the USA, were to politely ask these guys (or gals, not sure, they do look multi-gender in the picture from the web) to “stop it.”

4. User experience. Oh, that might be the biggest one. We’ll be watching to see (1) if the 75,931 people number grows overnight (it doesn’t LOOK like a counter) and (2) we ever do get our confirmation email.

I can’t wait; here’s to planning my trip to Karachi!

Oh, and we STILL think Gilt will beat Groupon. Here’s our post from last month on that subject:

http://area224.com/why-gilt-will-beat-groupon/

 

 

 

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  • http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown

    This is quite possibly the best article I’ve read today, mate – nice find, and would love to be a fly on the wall when Groupon sees the site. Unless they’re behind it, off course…. ;-)

    • Anonymous

      Thanks, Danny. I appreciate the compliment.

      I found ANOTHER Groupin in Cyprus. Also, I am now “following” these Pakistan
      chaps to see what happens. Could get interesting.

  • http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown

    This is quite possibly the best article I’ve read today, mate – nice find, and would love to be a fly on the wall when Groupon sees the site. Unless they’re behind it, off course…. ;-)

    • Anonymous

      Thanks, Danny. I appreciate the compliment.

      I found ANOTHER Groupin in Cyprus. Also, I am now “following” these Pakistan
      chaps to see what happens. Could get interesting.

  • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

    Hey Dave,

    Thanks for sharing this – much like Danny – I’m curious to see what happens when the get a hold of this site – unless like he said – they’re behind it.

    What’s funny is that the “i” on a keyboard is just next to the “o” – so a little typo either way could benefit one or the other (besides the pk instead of com that is). I wonder if that was taken into consideration when finding their name – smart or by accident?

    I’m also gonna check out the one in Cyprus – that island is my next door neighbor – 10 minutes by plane from Lebanon – but their population is nowhere near that of Pakistan’s lol.

    Thanks again for bringing these to my attention.

    Cheers

    • Anonymous

      Hey Ingrid,

      I do wonder if the strategy here is to be outside of Groupon’s radar –
      Pakistan is not the hotbed of internet commerce, so…

      Who knows. And, please, when you order something from the Cyprus
      Gropuin, let us know.

      Lebanon rocks! Love to get there someday – for the people and the food.

      Cheers!

      • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

        Thanks for the reply Dave.
        I will keep you posted if I do try the Cyprus site out.

        As for Lebanon – well, you’ve got a friend here when you do decide to visit. It truly is an amazing place.
        The food – I hear ya. Nice and fattening but worth every pound!
        The people – well, that’s a given ;) .

        Thank you for the lovely compliments about my country – always nice to hear.
        And thanks again for introducing us to Groupin.

        Cheers

  • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

    Hey Dave,

    Thanks for sharing this – much like Danny – I’m curious to see what happens when the get a hold of this site – unless like he said – they’re behind it.

    What’s funny is that the “i” on a keyboard is just next to the “o” – so a little typo either way could benefit one or the other (besides the pk instead of com that is). I wonder if that was taken into consideration when finding their name – smart or by accident?

    I’m also gonna check out the one in Cyprus – that island is my next door neighbor – 10 minutes by plane from Lebanon – but their population is nowhere near that of Pakistan’s lol.

    Thanks again for bringing these to my attention.

    Cheers

    • Anonymous

      Hey Ingrid,

      I do wonder if the strategy here is to be outside of Groupon’s radar –
      Pakistan is not the hotbed of internet commerce, so…

      Who knows. And, please, when you order something from the Cyprus
      Gropuin, let us know.

      Lebanon rocks! Love to get there someday – for the people and the food.

      Cheers!

      • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

        Thanks for the reply Dave.
        I will keep you posted if I do try the Cyprus site out.

        As for Lebanon – well, you’ve got a friend here when you do decide to visit. It truly is an amazing place.
        The food – I hear ya. Nice and fattening but worth every pound!
        The people – well, that’s a given ;) .

        Thank you for the lovely compliments about my country – always nice to hear.
        And thanks again for introducing us to Groupin.

        Cheers

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