
Groupon India sells Onion. Traffic crashes site. - husayn
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/9/6/indian-onion-salesignalsworseningeconomy.html
======
r0h1n
This is nothing but a marketing ploy.

Firstly, selling any commodity for 10-15% of its market value will attract
lots of opportunistic buyers. This isn't an "Indian" thing. You could try this
in other countries by selling, say, Kale or Chicken Breast or Soylent, and
people would still sign up. A deal's a deal in every country.

Secondly, Groupon was selling 3000 kg per day, with a limit of 1 kg per order.
Some sites mention they sold out the first day within 80 minutes. Other than
that, I haven't seen any evidence/data about the incoming traffic that caused
the site to crash. So till I do, I'll treat news of the "crash" like a
marketing gimmick from the company.

Lastly, as other folks have commented, Groupon India isn't exactly the
platinum standard for ecommerce website design or operations in India.

In 2011, they (specifically, the Indian company they acquired and later folded
into Groupon India) leaked 300,000 user passwords that were stored as
cleartext
([http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/06/28/groupon_india_privac...](http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/06/28/groupon_india_privacy_breach/))

The same year they decided to rebrand themselves to Crazeal.com
([http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/03/no-groupon-in-india-
company...](http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/03/no-groupon-in-india-company-
rolls-out-crazeal-in-11-cities/)), only to re-re-brand themselves as Groupon
India in Nov 2012
([http://www.afaqs.com/news/company_briefs/?id=55477_Groupon+I...](http://www.afaqs.com/news/company_briefs/?id=55477_Groupon+Inc.+announces+rebranding+of+Crazeal+to+Groupon+India))

Given this history - of poor design, senseless acquisitions and multiple
u-turns in strategy - I wouldn't be surprised if their code is a taped-up
patchwork that will crash regardless of 90% discounted onions.

~~~
monsterix
> Given this history - of poor design, senseless acquisitions and multiple
> u-turns in strategy - I wouldn't be surprised if their code is a taped-up
> patchwork that will crash regardless of 90% discounted onions.

Can you qualify your comments with what is _good_ design, _sensible_
acquisitions and what you'd call the "correct" strategy? Have you ever started
or steered a company that went on to become something? Even half as big and
inspirational as Groupon?

[Edited]

~~~
Mithaldu
> Have you ever started or steered a company that went on to become something?
> Even half as big and inspirational as Groupon?

This is a terrible line of argument, since it considers the possibility of
problems being obvious even to a layman as nonexistent. The next time you're
tempted to make such an argument, ask yourself: "Have i ever made a full-
length feature film?" I'm sure the answer for yourself is no, yet you have
surely criticized one.

~~~
marincounty
Roger & Ebert never made a movie, but I agreed with most of their reviews.

~~~
eshvk
Roger Ebert is one person.

~~~
r0h1n
I assume the previous commenter meant "Ebert & Roeper"

~~~
b1daly
Siskel & Ebert for us old timers!

------
badclient
This is hardly surprising. During my childhood in India, coupons were very
rare. This meant that when a coupon did show up, it was usually a great offer
and an enourmous flood of people would rush to cash in. It was common for
newspapers to sell out just for a specific coupon.

I remember a company introducing a new orange flavored drink coming out with
an offer where they'd give the drink for "free" in exchange for x number of
oranges.

Oranges across the city sold out.

~~~
altero
> drink for "free" in exchange for x number of oranges

Why just not eat the oranges?

~~~
afandian
I think the answer to that is the answer to the question of why any sugary
soft drink exists at all.

------
comex
This seems like the kind of headline that would be in The Onion...

~~~
Aardwolf
Yes I actually thought this was about the sale of The Onion website, until I
saw a picture of actual onions in the article :) The aljazeera logo also kind
of looks like an onion though...

~~~
sesqu
Perhaps Onion should not be randomly capitalized...

------
616c
Is it really a big deal that Groupon India's site crashed? Was there not an
article a few months ago on HN about how badly coded this website was? I
thought it was just a localized version of Groupon but there was something
appalling about it as I remember.

~~~
awakeasleep
I believe Groupon runs many infrastructures. The US and Canadian platform, the
CityDeal platform, and dozens of local acquisitions. India is almost certainly
a local acquisition divorced from all the european and united states talent.

------
enscr
They say, 1 order per household & 3000 orders per day for 7 days. That's 21000
different deliveries (even if you order twice with a different account on a
different day, it's still a different delivery). An average of 2 km run per
delivery & a mileage of 117 mpg (50 kmpl) would amount to 211 gallons (800
litres) of fuel. (they use 100-125 cc fuel efficient bikes, ignoring the bulk
transportation by bus/train to the end point delivery hub)

That's a nice blot on the environment. Burning fuel for delivering 1 Kg of
onions to scattered destinations all over the country, brilliant idea, though
not that conscious. Onion is something you can easily buy from the shop around
the corner. And saving a few bucks won't change your living standard. People
are ordering for fun.

On the other hand, offering discounted mobile recharge would have been eco
friendly. But that's not the burning topic amongst a country that's obsessed
with bargains :)

~~~
brazzy
> And saving a few bucks won't change your living standard. People are
> ordering for fun.

Great way to demonstrate first world myopia.

A large portion of the people in India live on no more than a few bucks per
day. To them, this can be the difference between being well-fed and going
hungry. Which is the biggest possible change in living standard.

~~~
enscr
Yeah right ! You completely missed the context. Picked one sentence out of the
whole argument and didn't realize who it's being targeted at.

The ones who are living on a few bucks a day aren't the ones logging on to
groupon at 1pm to compete for those onion prices for the 10 minutes that it
lasted. Neither do they have broadband, credit cards, netbanking. Neither are
they the target consumer for groupon.

------
enscr
It's an interesting marketing scheme. Doesn't cost a lot. Per day they sell
max 3000 kg of onions (will go on for 7 days). This will perhaps bring them a
lot more publicity than advertisement space they can buy for that dollar.
Practically every blog, deal site, newspaper will end up covering them.
Enormous traffic too.

------
alagu
The groupon post - [http://www.groupon.co.in/deals/shopping/Groupon-India-
Onion/...](http://www.groupon.co.in/deals/shopping/Groupon-India-Onion/408055)

------
lucaspiller
Regarding the actual issue of onions being very expensive, what do people eat
instead then? Here in Europe, I would consider onions to be one of the
cheapest vegetables you can get.

~~~
aestra
They want onions, they still eat onions. Onions are a very important staple,
it is like rice in Japan. Onion prices have skyrocketed in recent times due to
monsoons this year and drought last year.

[http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/28/20228605-enoug...](http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/28/20228605-enough-
to-make-you-cry-big-spike-in-onion-prices-sparks-fury-armed-robbery-in-
india?lite)

 _The cost of a pound of onions has risen from around 9 rupees (13 cents) to
an average of 45 rupees (65 cents) in the last month alone. The shortage is
front-page news in the country, where high onion prices have been credited
with swinging elections in the past._

 _" We all need onions,” businessman Pradeep Kohli said. “My dining table is
incomplete without onions, they're used in all Indian dishes and salads. What
do we do if we can't have onions? It's a worrying time.”_

------
belorn
Is it hard to grow onions in the average India climate?

~~~
alphaomegagamma
No. But, the ruling party is looting India and is determined to make India
bankrupt.

~~~
monsterix
The ruling party was elected by the people twice over, so this comment to
escape the fault of corruption and to put the blame entirely on a few doesn't
seem to be well grounded.

For example, in my own little world of 100 odd Facebook friends roughly 18
voted for the ruling party and only 26% of my friends voted. So you can
imagine, we the people brought it on ourselves. And we have been doing it for
a couple of decades. Like it or not, this is exactly how _karma_ or lack of it
comes back at you.

~~~
noisy_boy
With both ruling and opposition (and every other party + independents) being
in bed with corrupt/opportunistic elements, do you sincerely think the rest of
your friends' voting would have made that much difference?

During the days of coalition Indian governments with more colors than a
rainbow, they kept telling that all problems were due to lack of clear
mandate. Fine, the current ruling party literally got the clearest mandate in
decades - the people got record breaking scams/all time high prices in return.

And before you chastise the voter for voting based on caste/religion and not
voting on policy issues, the twice elected American government purported to
represent the opposite of christian-fundamentalist-gun-toting-nutbags, has
broken several of its promises and has indulged in significant domestic and
foreign transgressions. This is not a problem unique to third world.

If you only have the option of choosing between jerks and assholes, your
voting (or not) won't make much difference.

~~~
monsterix
> If you only have the option of choosing between jerks and assholes, your
> voting (or not) won't make much difference.

Disagreed. There are two more options that you probably missed:

1\. Inform the election commissioner that you do not support any of the
competing parties with your [reasons] on the ballot paper. Aka in tell the
election commissioner that you need/expect better options.

2\. Form a political frontier which provides an honest option to people who
want to vote.

> ... the twice elected American government purported to represent the
> opposite of christian-fundamentalist-gun-toting-nutbags, has broken several
> of its promises and has indulged in significant domestic and foreign
> transgressions. This is not a problem unique to third world.

Doesn't justify the problems of India. This has nothing to do with the "third
world" status, I agree with you there.

------
chankey_pathak
LOL, this country.

~~~
monsterix
While this comment is likely to attract down-votes but on a serious note just
this one line adds so more depth to the problem. What a huge challenge of
numbers and scale when it comes to economics of the Indian household!

The problem of overstocking to artificially create scarcity and then bend the
prices over (of onions or rice or tomatoes) to profit quickly is such an age-
old problem that has stuck around in India since the independence. It works
like the _crude oil_ industry and works like a charm. Every time. There have
never been any convictions or efforts reported on "fixing it".

No one even remotely seems close or interested (I could be wrong here) in
thinking up a solution or to get involved in solving it. Thus, the LOL.

------
yelnatz
Lets see how many startups start selling onions to India.

~~~
tonyblundell
... as a service!

But seriously, isn't this how Groupon is supposed to work? Offer a stupid
discount, protected by a limited supply in order to manufacture demand.

I'm not sure why this is top of HN?

~~~
corin_
Roughly speaking you're right, but there is already a demand for Onions, and
there's no need to manufacture demand for "onions sold by Groupon" because
Groupon don't want to keep selling onions.

It's as piece of marketing by Groupon, at the end of the day, and a reasonably
clever one, hence it's on HN.

------
informatimago
Onions cost much more than 100 rupees around here. My advice to Indians: raise
your prices! Don't work for less than a European salary, so that you may buy
onions at a European price! That was the purpose of globalisation since the
start: to equalize level of life, salaries and prices (on a global market).

~~~
johnchristopher
> That was the purpose of globalisation since the start: to equalize level of
> life, salaries and prices (on a global market).

Oh god no, that is economic history revisionism. Globalisation is first and
foremost the method for rich countries/companies to outsource their workload
to a cheaper provider. This is what it has become.

In the begining globalisation was about information and tech. exchange, a
larger trade market and allowing people to move easily thought frontiers.
Never, and still not, about fair trade.

You can't equalize level of life without social rights and globalisation don't
push for that (especially in the US where globalisation is mistaken for global
free-market).

~~~
Steko
"Globalisation is first and foremost the method for rich countries/companies
to outsource their workload to a cheaper provider. "

The largest result of globalization has been dramatically raising the standard
of living of hundreds of millions, if not billions, of people.

"You can't equalize level of life without social rights and globalisation
don't push for that"

When you raise people's standards of living they begin to demand their own
social rights.

~~~
johnchristopher
>> "Globalisation is first and foremost the method for rich
countries/companies to outsource their workload to a cheaper provider. "

>The largest result of globalization has been dramatically raising the
standard of living of hundreds of millions, if not billions, of people.

Doesn't change anything to the fact that it wasn't intended. Companies
promoting globalisation aren't doing it to raise standard issues of living.
Quite the contrary.

>> "You can't equalize level of life without social rights and globalisation
don't push for that"

> When you raise people's standards of living they begin to demand their own
> social rights.

Same as above. Once the economic situation has been enhanced it will not bring
social rights unless people (almose litteraly) _fight_ for it. Globalisation
by itself doesn't guarantee social rights because it's not architectured to do
so.

Moreover: people with low standard of living still demand for social rights
(see brazilian tribes, north american natives, etc.) even when they can't
participate in a more rewarding economy.

~~~
Steko
"Companies promoting globalisation aren't doing it to raise standard issues of
living. Quite the contrary."

That's a straw man no one is claiming. A lot of non-companies did promote this
aspect of it though (see below).

"Doesn't change anything to the fact that it wasn't intended. "

It certainly was intended by many who promoted it. Here's Paul Krugman in
1997:

 _The benefits of export-led economic growth to the mass of people in the
newly industrializing economies are not a matter of conjecture. A country like
Indonesia is still so poor that progress can be measured in terms of how much
the average person gets to eat; since 1970, per capita intake has risen from
less than 2,100 to more than 2,800 calories a day. A shocking one-third of
young children are still malnourished--but in 1975, the fraction was more than
half. Similar improvements can be seen throughout the Pacific Rim, and even in
places like Bangladesh. These improvements have not taken place because well-
meaning people in the West have done anything to help--foreign aid, never
large, has lately shrunk to virtually nothing. Nor is it the result of the
benign policies of national governments, which are as callous and corrupt as
ever. It is the indirect and unintended result of the actions of soulless
multinationals and rapacious local entrepreneurs, whose only concern was to
take advantage of the profit opportunities offered by cheap labor. It is not
an edifying spectacle; but no matter how base the motives of those involved,
the result has been to move hundreds of millions of people from abject poverty
to something still awful but nonetheless significantly better._

[http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_dismal_science/19...](http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_dismal_science/1997/03/in_praise_of_cheap_labor.html)

"Once the economic situation has been enhanced it will not bring social rights
unless people (almost literally) fight for it"

Some social rights, like the increased standing of women, come naturally with
economic benefits. Others, as said above, will be increasingly demanded by an
empowered middle class looking to defending their property against injustice.
In some cases yes they may have to _fight_ for some of those rights. How
exactly are you proposing they get these rights, click their heels together
and hope?

"Globalisation by itself doesn't guarantee social rights"

Straw man claimed by no one.

What alternative is there that you're offering and what contemporary example
can you offer to rebut the transformations of South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore
and more into much freer societies?

------
sgustard
This feels like shameless exploitation of hunger and poverty, a step above
Howard Stern giving out shopping carts to homeless people. I'm sure the best
part for Groupon is getting to say, sorry hungry people! No more cheap onions
for you!

------
sachmans
its interesting they choose an agro commodity that has been classically a
cause for major problems in india -
[http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Indian_onion_crisis](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Indian_onion_crisis)

though I'm not sure why any supplier in their right mind would sell via
groupon at a discount when therr is massive price inflation for it. It's grown
faster than the price of gold hence its probably driving the gold price!

------
hakcermani
This sounded like an Onion article on Groupon!

------
bad_user
" _sold out in 9mins_ "

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justplay
I was also one of the customer who ordered 1kg onion at just 9 IND.

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Ziomislaw
what is so strange? vegetables are good :)

