Research into the group buy industry in North America

I am looking to create a group buy business in Australia focussing on media and technology services. Before I go live with the business here, I want to understand what sorts of media and technology-based daily deal services are popular in North America to see what can be learned when starting up a niche group buy business in Australia. So with this in mind, I need someone to research the group buy industry in North America and come back to me with findings that may help me with setting up a group buy business in Australia specialising in media and technology services. So what am I talking about when I refer to media and technology based services? Well, I define the term quite widely actually. Media and technology services will include deals of interest to kids, mums and dads, plus businesses of various sizes. It could include arcade games, photography courses, flight simulator rides, computer training or repair work, sorting out digital photos, SEO optimisation and so on. As long as the deal is somehow based on media and technology and is interesting to people, it is a candidate for the new business in Australia. We will not be selling any physical goods like computer hardware, which is why we are focussing on services. Research required: • Provide a brief overview of the group buying business in North America. • Which are the top 10 ranked group buy companies in North America? • What are the new and emerging trends in the group buy space in North America to be aware of (this may provide some useful ideas when starting up a business in Australia)? • What are the top 30 most popular daily deals in North America in the media and technology services space? Why are they popular and how would you rank them in terms of popularity? • Provide a good example of each of the 30 popular daily deals mentioned above (ie. image plus deal description). Note – some of these deals may be only of interest to kids, others may interest mums and dads, while others again may only interest businesses. It doesn’t matter which customer segment they target, the main criteria is that the deal falls into the ‘top 30’. • One of the reasons for looking at the North American market is to see if there are any key trends that may be relevant now or in the near future in Australia. What other suggestions do you have for someone about to start up a niche group buy business focussing on media and technology services in Australia? You must deliver your written report within 7 days. If some parts of the report are not clear, I may also need you to be available for one telephone call to answer questions I have with the report.