Executives Leaving China's Group Buy Industry

It's no secret that group buy is more or less in shambles in China for everyone but a few of the top players. But it seems even some of those top players aren't immune to the industry's problems, as analysts have pointed out what seems to be a sort of exodus of high-level management from Chinese group buy companies.

For example, 55tuan lost its vice-chairman Chen Yongjun despite its status as second place in the contentious market; Mr. Chen left the company to join Lafaso, a more traditional e-commerce site. Manzuo, another top group buy site, also lost its vice-chairman; Si Xinying apparently left the company for a position in the media industry. Ganji (another vice-chairman), Gaopeng (a CEO), and other group buy sites have all also recently lost upper management staff. Insiders at 24quan, another top group buy outfit, say that numerous upper management types are making plans to leave that company as well, mostly because of disagreements with the CEO.

Whatever the reasons, the loss of experienced upper management probably isn't good for China's fledgling -- and floundering -- group buy industry. It's also significant that most of these people are moving to other industries; in some cases, even industries like traditional e-commerce that compete directly with group buy for customers. [Beijing Business Times via Sina Tech]