The virtual marketplace will allow consumers to create their own discounts on the products and services they want.
TheUForce.com, a virtual group buying marketplace, went live Monday.
More than five million buyers are members on the site, ready to get discounts on the products and services they wish to buy.
The site mirrors group discount sites like Groupon and Living Social, but instead of just receiving the discounted offers, users group together to make them.
Weight Watchers, Travelocity, WireFly, Lenovo, and AC Lens have all registered with the site so far. As of late May, Andrew Atkin, founder and CEO of UForce, had recruited 120 sellers.
UForce expects the site to increase participating companies’ sales velocity, marketing efficiency, and promotional response speed, in addition to lowering the companies’ marketing costs.
The idea behind UForce originated from the popular concept of group shopping, or tuangou, in China.
The company expanded on the idea by putting the process entirely online, opposed to Chinese sites where specific times are scheduled for groups to negotiate in stores.
UForce, based in Edina, is partnering with Augeo Affinity Marketing, a St. Paul-based loyalty marketing company.
—Jennifer Bissell
(edit@tcbmag.com)