Tue, 08 Jan 2013

Montreal-based web startup Save In Team is ready to launch their online group-buying platform and Fundica recently had a chance to talk with CEO Luc Chateauvert.

The company delivers solutions to assist the group buying industry through a centralized, easy-to-use marketplace that connects buyers and sellers. Once on the platform users create a group and seek more members through social media. Groups specify products and services they wish to buy and the site has a list of potential merchants who can compete against each other to provide groups with the best price.

 

“We’re going back to the real concept of buying in a group instead of just offering a deal,” said Chateauvert. “The idea is to connect the buyers and the sellers locally and to offer a chance for the seller to gain new customers that they wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.”

 

Coming from an engineering and project management background Chateauvert saw limitations in the current group buying industry.

 

Flash sales (limited time discounts on a product or service) have dominated the market with sites like TeamBuy and Groupon. On these sites, a deal becomes active as soon as it goes live. Here the concept of authentic group buying (where users leverage discounts through increased numbers) is not completely present.

 

“Rarely will you see a minimum number of buyers: merchants can make offers but maybe five people will buy it,” said Chateauvert. “So the idea of true group buying has been left behind.”

 

Save In Team is differentiating itself through reverse auctioning, meaning the cost goes down as time goes on. Whereas most popular group buying sites offer temporary deals through a traditional auction format, reverse auction is where a single buyer offers a contract out for bidding and multiple sellers are then able to offer bids on the contract. Sellers compete against each other to provide the best price.

 

“It will be much more interesting for the sellers because they’ll be offering a price based on their costs but they’ll be competing against other local sellers,” said Chateauvert. “They’ll be in the same industry with more or less the same costs so it’s going to be a fair competition.”

 

They have been working on the platform since October 2011 and are planning for a late January 2013 launch. The company has been self-funded thus far and is actively seeking funding by way of Fundica’s free online matching tool.

 

“We discovered Fundica which is a really nice website to give you easy access to tools that can help in the startup phase,” said Chateauvert. “We use the tool to see what programs we can apply for – it’s really easy access to that type of information.”

 

The team is also looking for potential mentors. They have started the process of seeking out those who can challenge their business models and point them in the right direction.

 

They have ambitious plans and are passionate about providing a better solution to group buying. Now these ambitious plans must come to fruition and Save In Team is setting targets for the new year.

 

“The platform is going well,” said Chateauvert. “We would like to hit 10,000 users in three months after the site goes live and to watch that number grow.”

 

Luc Chateauvert is Founder and President at Save In Team. You can contact him at Luc@DealLife.com.