Loopt seems like a democratized version of group purchase organizations (GPOs), which have been around forever and are used, for example, by groups of hospitals banding together to get bulk discounts on the things they regularly buy.
If you got ten of your friends together and put in bids on Loopt for a few different pizza places, it's not too different from the GPO process. You are basically saying, "I am willing to buy 10 pieces from you at this discounted rate." It makes me wonder if most of this talk about brand erosion etc is mostly alarmism.
nope, mtkd nailed it when he cited the "passing off" laws. they're not just banding people together to get bulk discounts, they're implying that the businesses in question already support their model, and are using those businesses' brand recognition to add legitimacy to loopt.
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Loopt seems like a democratized version of group purchase organizations (GPOs), which have been around forever and are used, for example, by groups of hospitals banding together to get bulk discounts on the things they regularly buy.
If you got ten of your friends together and put in bids on Loopt for a few different pizza places, it's not too different from the GPO process. You are basically saying, "I am willing to buy 10 pieces from you at this discounted rate." It makes me wonder if most of this talk about brand erosion etc is mostly alarmism.
nope, mtkd nailed it when he cited the "passing off" laws. they're not just banding people together to get bulk discounts, they're implying that the businesses in question already support their model, and are using those businesses' brand recognition to add legitimacy to loopt.
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the original post cited it - their advertising made it look like bi-rite had already bought into the deal
It's more than banding together to get bulk discounts. Loopt is facilitating group buying - that's the "democratized" part of it.
yes, but they're going about it dishonestly.