A NEW SCHEME called collective shopping is coming to Slovakia. Two internet servers, zabagatel.sk and ZaMenej.sk, launched their activities in early August and Slevomat.cz, which offers collective shopping discounts via Zlavomat.sk, started operating in mid November. There are four collective shopping websites currently operating in the Czech Republic.
The principle of collective shopping is that a discount price becomes valid only once a sufficiently high number of people order a product or a service, for example, a dinner in a luxury restaurant, a massage, or a wellness stay, the Sme daily wrote in August.
The minimum number of people to make a particular discount valid differs from product to product. If there are enough interested customers, they receive a voucher which they can use to purchase the product or service at the discounted price. If interest is too low the offer expires and no transaction takes place.
Sme wrote that collective shopping discounts may be between 40 and 90 percent and the idea is already catching the attention of Slovaks.
Sme cited the experience of one of its readers who, after noting that interest appeared to be high enough, ‘shopped’ for a Thai massage with a 50-percent discount.
The owner of the Thai massage centre, Michal Mäsiar, said that such a deal is advantageous for both sellers and buyers as more expensive services can become more affordable and the seller is assured of greater demand.
“The new clientele can patch holes in sales,” Mäsiar said, as quoted by Sme.
