Group Buying Market Size, Share, Growth, and Industry Analysis, By Type (Online Group Buying, O2O and Other), By Application (Retail Industry, Online Shopping Industry and Food Service Industry), and Regional Forecast to 2032

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GROUP BUYING MARKET OVERVIEW

The Group Buying Market size valued at approximately USD 17.8 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach USD 32.5 billion by 2032, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 7.6% from 2024 to 2032.

Group buying market refers to purchasing of a product or a service by a group of consumers, in an attempt to enjoy common buying incentives and cheap prices since they are many. This model which is most commonly used by online stores to various degrees has advantages to both the buyer and the seller. It saves much of the monies for the users of product by allowing them to purchase in bulk and at cheaper price while organizations benefit from faster turnover of their stock and gaining the confidence of many consumers in a short span of time. While the form of buying got popular through the portal like Group on, it is largely a part of segments like wholesale buying, travelling, and retail buying. The model heavily relies on the aspects, such as short-time product availability and its sale in lots, which requires immediate decision of the consumer. Now days, going hand in hand with the opportunities of internet and existing e-commerce and social networks, group buying has changed, took more aspects such as localized offers and personal offers, which can attract people with price sensitive in the era of internet.

Group Buying Market Share Facts and Figures

Regional Breakdown

• North America holds a 25% market share (USD 4.45 billion) with a 6.9% CAGR, driven by the dominance of major group-buying platforms and a high concentration of digital-savvy consumers.

• Asia-Pacific accounts for a 40% share (USD 7.12 billion in 2024), growing at a 9.1% CAGR due to the increasing adoption of mobile commerce and the popularity of group buying in countries like China, India, and Japan.

• Europe represents 20% of the market (USD 3.56 billion), with a 6.5% CAGR, largely driven by group-buying trends in countries such as the UK, Germany, and France.

• Rest of the World holds approximately 15% of the global market (USD 2.67 billion) in 2024, with a 5.8% CAGR, supported by emerging markets in South America and the Middle East.

Product Segmentation Breakdown

• Online Group Buying dominates the market with 50% of sales, equating to USD 8.9 billion in 2024, growing at a 7.8% CAGR due to increased digital adoption and discounts offered by platforms.

• O2O Group Buying accounts for approximately 35% of the market (USD 6.23 billion) in 2024, growing at a 7.4% CAGR, driven by the blending of online deals with offline commerce.

• Other Group Buying Types represent 15% of the market (USD 2.67 billion), growing at a 6.5% CAGR, fueled by innovations in niche categories and personalized group buying experiences.

Rising smartphone penetration and mobile shopping apps are fueling growth,Increasing collaboration between merchants and platforms to provide exclusive deals, andThe growing appeal of community-based purchasing for personalized and affordable experiences.The detailed segmentation and regional analysis emphasize the robust growth trajectory of the Group Buying Market, shaped by technological advancements and evolving consumer behaviors.

COVID-19 IMPACT

"Group Buying market Had a Negative Effect Due to Disruption in Supply Chain and Consumer Demand during COVID-19 Pandemic"

The global COVID-19 pandemic has been unprecedented and staggering, with the market experiencing lower-than-anticipated demand across all regions compared to pre-pandemic levels. The sudden market growth reflected by the rise in CAGR is attributable to the market’s growth and demand returning to pre-pandemic levels.

Growth in the Group Buying market share was affected severely during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the first half when the world was adopting the lockdown and social distancing strategies. A large share of group-buying platforms that set their focus on local promotions or restaurant vouchers or in-person services saw a major slump as physical stores and businesses closed. Consumers’ confidence dropped, and people become more restrict in their expenses especially in the incidence of onerous and luxurious goods and services. Social distancing and limit to meetings also discouraged people from making joint purchases of products such as those required for eating out, travelling or entertaining themselves. There were many businesses that turned into bankruptcy or shutdown after the group buying model, which made the deals that are appealing to customers, scarce. Further, the disruptions within the supply and logistics made it difficult for the purchased products to be delivered from these platforms. Thus the ERA insights reveal heavy risks and difficulties for the group buying market, albeit better affected the representative and overall web-based e-commerce based group buying business.

LATEST TREND

"Social Commerce to Drive Market Growth"

Social commerce is the most emerging trend seen in the group buying market, where the products are bought through the social networking sites that combine the group buying and social networking. This trend is especially carried out by Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp wherein people get to find out about the deals, they are shared with people they know, and they can equally make orders collectively. Organizations are adopting influencers marketing, word of mouth and word of mouth assurance to make the purchasing process credible and more interesting. This method supports the attainment of group buying participation by appealing to friends and families. Also with mobility come the issues of group buying where social commerce can be convenient enabling users to connect with deals and other group buyers. This kind of social integration brings the social aspect of the users hence enhancing the community feel thus making it easier for brands to reach many users at once and for consumers to find the deals organically among the many things they interact with on social media.

GROUP BUYING MARKET SEGMENTATION

By Type

Based on Type, the global market can be categorized into Online Group Buying, O2O and Other

• Online Group Buying: This type includes products and services, which are purchased online with applications where consumers are required to make a purchase after a certain number of people, and get a discount. It is concentrated on business to business and consumer deals hence enabling users to transact from the comfort of their homes.

• O2O: The deals can be bought on the internet but the vouchers which are received have to be used in physical stores for services such as eating out, movies or other neighbourhood services. It combines the online shopping ease with the offline consumer traffic with the hope of boosting traffic to physical stores.

• Other: This consists of features like social group buying and community buying, the type of buying where bargains are organized via social networks or via interest or need-based local groups. These models are generally oriented to the local, specialized markets.

By Application

Based on application, the global market can be categorized into Retail Industry, Online Shopping Industry and Food Service Industry

• Retail Industry: It is a phenomenon in procurement where any number of customers unites to buy specific products like electronics, textile apparel, or home products at lower prices compared to normal prices so that the retailer clears his stocks.

• Online Shopping Industry: Niche selling is a feature of e-commerce platforms particularly in grouping, where customers come together for a set time to buy a product at a given price to unlock another price and encourage customers to continue buying frequently.

• Food Service Industry: Some common examples include information promoting restaurants and food delivery services with group buying schemes on discounted meals, vouchers and more, large groups of diners, or group orders especially for events to increase the customer traffic.

MARKET DYNAMICS

Market dynamics include driving and restraining factors, opportunities and challenges stating the market conditions.

Driving Factors

"Cost-Conscious Consumer Behaviour to Boost the Market"

A factor that explains the Group Buying market growth is increasing purchasing costs among buyers. The model targets the LAC buyers who aspire to make purchases at a cheaper price and often engage in waiting for special offers on sales and discounts. In return, this formula encourages individuals to join a buyer’s pool through the ability to get premium products and services at cheaper rates than when paying individually. This behaviour is most observable in markets that are most sensitive to price given the value for price paid, creating the environment for the increased use of group buying for both, necessity and luxury goods..

"Social Media Integration to Expand the Market"

The fact that most social media sites have been integrated has been one of the most driving forces for the group buying market. This is because social media allow users to share the offers, converse with friends and collectively purchase items with no interlude. There are options to spontaneously share and introduce oneself to an "appealing" and effective group-buying marketing within the close-knit circle on Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp, for example. This helps to create a notion of the community purchase in which attitudes of peers are the key to urging others to join the offer. Availability and immediacy of communication and sharing of deals has also heightened engagement, particularly so, by the millennialiors.

Restraining Factor

"Low Competitive Profit Margins Impede Market Growth"

Huge group buying market also poses a number of restraints such as low profit making among businesses because of the sales in bulk volumes. While a product may attract a lot of buyers and users when you use a very low price strategy, it becomes so difficult for a business person to make good profits. This is even more demanding for SMBs or firms in local industries targeting premium segments with high operating overheads. Moreover, there is the problem of make – up stock where after the first sale of a product on discounted price, it becomes a problem to make more sales and thus less profitability.

Opportunity

"Expansion into Niche Markets to Create Opportunity for the Product in the Market"

Despite the fact that the group buying market is still relatively young there is significant potential in taking the business to the next level by conquering specialist segments. Platforms can target specific industries like environment-friendly products, luxury services or products produced by artisans locally, and negotiate specific promotions which will be suitable for a particular segment of customers. The ability to attract specific customer segments to a particular group buying platform means that more customers can be built into the foundation of those specific interests. This diversification means that businesses can serve a more committed and possibly a higher-value customer clientele, increasing product turnovers in under-served segments.

Challenge

"Guaranteeing the Excellent Quality of Customers’ Experience Could Be a Potential Challenge "

One of the biggest problems in the group buying market is to maintain a high level of customer satisfaction; when the businesses are unable to meet the huge demand created by the group buying services. This means that local businesses participating in the platform suffer from negative reviews following instances of poor service delivery, delayed delivery or compromised product quality all of which affects the platform and the business. Nonetheless some challenges that revolve around logistics and service delivery put off the customers and the trust in the group buying model. Social media networks must closely cooperate with businesses to address the issue of performance and organization during peak times.

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GROUP BUYING MARKET REGIONAL INSIGHTS

• North America

North America remains an active participant in group buying market due to high internet usage and developed internet business. The consumers of the region are more inclined towards online shopping specially the citizens of U.S. Group Buying market and are more inclined towards using social media to get the details about the group buying deals. Since sites such as Group on established themselves, group buying is a common means of obtaining special offers on various goods and services, trips. Also, small and large retail businesses in the North American region have adopted digital marketing techniques to reach cut-price customers, making North America one of the key areas with huge potential for the market of group buying.

• Europe

Group buying has been popular engaged in Europe due to various reasons such as friendly cost, among others, awareness towards sustainability and supporting local business. The business domain promises to be large ones where such consumers are located, for instance, UK, Germany and France, that respondents expect sellers to offer group buying discount on a widening range of products that includes travel packages and ‘greener’ products. The European market also receives a boost from group-purchase preference for local businesses in line with new tendencies toward local environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility. European platforms, which provide localized individual deals and focus on specific target segments, are popular; therefore, the group buying market in Europe is indisputable.

• Asia

Bringing together the current global trend in the use of mobile phones, social commerce-Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, and increasing e-commerce platforms in the Asian market, Asia remains the most powerful region in the market of a group buying in the present and the future. In China, India and South Korean group buying is only enhanced by internet savvy consumers who shop frequently with mobile apps and social media. Once listed in the US, companies such as Pinduoduo from China have transformed the market by including social functions in combination with group purchasing making millions of users attracted to it. The region’s middle class is expanding at a tremendous rate and internet usage is growing, indicating that group buying is rapidly set to grow across Asian cities.

KEY INDUSTRY PLAYERS

"Key Industry Players Shaping the Market through Innovation and Market Expansion"

Industry participants of group buying market are the popular existing platforms and potential new entrants employing digital and social commerce. One of the oldest and leadingopor in this field is Group on, they have not left the market and are currently offering coupons on different categories including travel, eating out and services. Through a Chinese platform known as Pinduoduo, another shift to group buying has been introduced by social commerce whereby users can share deals in their social media channels. Other well-known player is Meituan in China operating in food delivery and other services for lifestyle. Others are LivingSocial which specialize on local deals and Grab One which operates in New Zealand. Some of these players are still active in influencing the dynamic group buying market across different regions of the world.

List of Top Group Buying Companies

• Groupon (U.S.)
• GoodTwo (U.S.)
• Meituan Dianping (China)
• Alibaba (China)

KEY INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS

September 2023: Groupon declared an integrated solution with Wix through which owners of businesses with small scale can create personalized WebPages that can help them in managing their online presence adequately. This development will increase exposure for local deals and increase consumer monetization on Groupon’s interface, thus allowing consumers to find group deals more easily. The merger demonstrates Groupon’s corporate social responsibility and strong stand on the small business and its flexibility to meet changing market trends through introduction of the new online shopping aggregation.

REPORT COVERAGE

Problems that affect the group buying market are variables such as the shift in consumer buying behaviour to a globally cheaper market and social commerce integration of the group buying market. Consumers are increasingly looking for value and price and platforms are responding offering commodity-specific promotions and using social media to further amplify communication. The main problems remain low profit margins and the necessity of providing good services, but there are more opportunities opening up in specialized sectors and in using mobile environments. The main personalities to the market include Groupon, Meituan, and Pinduoduo are still testing different strategies to capture the evolving consumer trends thus making the market relevant and competitive. With time and continued changes in the consumers’ buying behaviour, the group buying model will continue to grow in the sense that consumers will continue to enjoy their discounted offers as well as continuing to push for community buying. In total, the group buying market is expected to have a high potential as it grows to accommodate a digital environment and consumers of the twenty-first century.