Dell Swarm – Dell group buying

Dell Canada and Singapore recently conducted a consumer trial of Dell Swarm. It’s a “group buying” concept that goes beyond Dell’s tradition of direct response and into the social space.

A “swarm” is a group of 1 to 15 people who commit to buying a Dell computer at an increasingly reduced price over 72 hour period.

E.g if a Dell Mini is priced at $899, the first person who join the Swarm will be paying about $869 for it, but if that person managed to get another 14 people to join their Swarm, the price will reduce to $799.

The 72 hour timeframe brings the purchase within the “gotta have it now” acceptable period for acquiring shiny new things.

The value for Dell here lies not in the bulk sale, but using the natural tendency of peers and online communities to influence purchase. Think of the little extra push you’re going to give a mate, a colleague or even a stranger online to commit to purchasing the exact product you want, so that your whole group benefits.

Dell also encourages swarmers to use Facebook groups, widgets, twitter, IM & forums to spread word of their sale. And the opportunity is there for ambivalent consumers to be pulled to one offer or another by influential peers (or posts).

Group buying isn’t new. Car enthusiasts and computer geeks have a history of group buying exotic parts in quantity enough to make shipping or wholesale prices feasible. Collective buying site Groupon has sold over 1.2 million group lots for local and enterprise businesses in UK and USA. But it’s interesting to see the world largest computer manufacturer experiment with different models of not only selling, but marketing via the social space.