A buyers integration support system in group buying

Abstract

In electronic marketplaces, group buyings are seen as an effective form of electronic commerce and a promising field for applying agent technologies. We study decision support systems for buyers in group buying. In group buying, when buyers cooperate with each other, a seller can discount the price of a good. In many existing group buying sites, some sellers deal in the same sort goods or their imitations. Buyers form coalitions for each item on sale. Buyers cannot always purchase goods at a lower price, because buyers' sub-groups are distributed. Buyers need to search hard to find the goods they can purchase. In this paper, we propose a group buying marketplace on the Internet. In our marketplace, buyers can purchase goods at a lower price by forming coalitions. Our system can provide a service that buyers are integrated based on buyers' multi-attribute preferences (utilities). Our system supports buyers' decision making by using the analytic hierarchy process. We propose three methods for group integration. First, buyers trades on simple group buying. Second, all buyers are integrated. Third, some buyers are integrated. Advantages of our market can be described that buyers' multi-attribute utilities are reflected effectively in group integration and buyers can purchase goods at a lower price. Buyers' payments are decided based on their degree of compromise. A successful seller can sell goods in their stock.