By now, everyone is familiar with how Groupon has been able to parlay a relatively simple solution of helping local businesses by getting groups of people to make a purchasing decision in one day usually by offering substantial discounts.  It seems that we’re still discovering more ways how the combination of groups and ecommerce can provide substantial returns for a host of startups.

 A couple of days ago, European flash-sales site, Privalia acquired German rival, Dress-For-Less, for $280 million.  Additionally, Nordstrom recently acquired a members-only luxury flash sales site called Hautelook for $270 million.  These are substantial sums of money spent on such a relatively new category and it’s worth thinking about this a bit.

Clay Shirky, author of “Here comes everybody,” likes to say that the big change that we need to understand is that “group action just got easier.”  This new reality is currently affecting retail and ecommerce in a big way as mentioned above, but it will be interesting to see how other industries will be affected.

The opportunity to disrupt industries has never been greater.  As evidenced by recent events in the Middle East, status quo players caught in the headlights of oncoming innovations are certainly at risk.  In order to innovate, new players need to rethink industry dynamics such as how Groupon, Privalia and Hautelook actually turn the tables and focus on the demand side of the equation while, usually, limiting supply. 

Either way you cut it, if you have some unique insight into a specific industry and see an opportunity to take it, you should.  You may have some technical talent to make your vision a reality, but if you don’t, give us a call.