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Dell Swarm

Long known as a distribution innovator, Dell is once again rolling out a new service which allows online users to act as a purchase cooperative. When enough users commit to buying a computer together (say 15 users), they get the bulk price. The price incentive will spur more sales, and the social aspect of the virtual coop will be a multiplier. Brilliant. Dell Swarm launches today in Singapore.

These users are geographically disconnected but share a common desire for a particular product. Why shouldn’t the public benefit from the same purchasing power once reserved for the distributors who cozied up to – and even pushed around – the manufacturers? Swarm is another example of the socialization of a business process flowing from the democratizing impact of network media. From a business perspective, the test of success may be the bottom line, but from a user perspective, putting the potential for price-pressure in the hands of the people is a great step forward. It will be interesting to see how it catches on.

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This entry was posted on Monday, May 11th, 2009 at 11:47 am and is filed under Uncategorized, business, channels, marketing service. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • tes
    tes ah
  • Great move from Dell,
    because there are already a lot of people using similar services and platforms to group together for discounts. By offering it on their own site, they connect their customers and let them experience the good bargain buy feeling in relation to their brand. And I´m sure it will increase sales and stir a lot of positive buzz.

    Hope more companys get it and act more actively.

    VIVA LA REVOLUTION
  • This is really cool. I think the idea of leveraging strength in numbers to gain discounts stems from the norm of bargaining that is a bit more prevalent in Asian countries as opposed to Western ones. I remember a while ago, China had a few web services that co-ordinated large groups of buyers to show up at various stores to negotiate for a discounted price.
  • Great example of an idea that's good for both business and consumer; the swarm is cheaper for Dell than its individual build-to-order model, and they're passing it on to their price-conscious customers. BRILLIANT!
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