Nowadays, Groupon clones are a dime a dozen. Variations of the daily deal concept have been cropping up in in almost all parts of the world as of late, i. e. Russia, China, Japan, Germany, the UK, or in the US itself. But Berlin-based Rebate Networks is taking the idea of copying Groupon to the extreme. As you can see on the map below, the company needed a mere eight months to cover three continents with a total of 29 local Groupon clones.
Very quietly, Rebate Networks either helped to set up or invested in existing Groupon-like sites in South America (four different countries), Europe (17 countries) and East Asia (eight countries). The entire portfolio is listed up here and was just made public for the first time.
What’s interesting about this strategy (apart from the speedy execution) is that the Germans are focusing on relatively small and high-growth markets Groupon proper hasn’t entered so far, for example with Notelapierdas in Argentina, Ensogo in the Philippines, or Kolektiva in Croatia (in addition to bigger markets, i.e. China, Germany, and the UK).
And it looks as if Rebate Networks are very successful with their copy-and-deploy-fast-worldwide approach. Co-founder Stefan Glaenzer tells me his company is actually still expanding, having just invested US$1 million each in Groupon clones dealkeren in Indonesia and NhomMua in Vietnam.
Glaenzer and his partner (and CEO) Michael Brehm also say Rebate Networks’ portfolio companies are currently leading in all South East Asian countries they operate in (more info here), “most” of the Eastern European countries, and in China (where his company owns a minority stake in Lashou).
Groupon proper is leading in Japan and Germany (where Rebate Networks’ clones Piku and Daily Deal are said to be the No. 2 players). Groupon entered those markets by buying local clones, and it’s obvious buy-outs are what Rebate Networks ultimately aims for with its portfolio companies, too. (Another German-led Groupon clone factory called “Group Buying Global”, which is following a very similar strategy, could spoil the plan in some cases though).
In the meantime, watch what Groupon CEO Andrew Mason thinks of clones here.