Group-buying firms look to Taobao

SHANGHAI - Group-buying business Groupon Inc's successful listing may be heartening news to most of its domestic counterparts as they endeavor to transform their existing business models after suffering stretched cash-flows and setbacks on the capital market.

Wanting to cash in on the success of taobao.com, the country's top online marketplace by registered user, a number of group-buying sites have gained footholds on its business-to-customer (B2C) arm, Taobao Mall.

Small and medium-sized operators, such as manzuo.com, 55tuan.com, ftuan.com, recently joined the Taobao platform, providing discount coupons for services ranging from catering to entertainment.