Following the launch of its group buying navigation service, Chinese search engine Baidu Inc. has now launched its group buying business T.baidu.com, which is currently only available in Beijing.
This new business is reportedly being managed by Baidu's LBS department.
Baidu has been struggling over the past year as it has seen its market capitalization drop by more than 30% to now sit around USD32.4 billion.
So far, the construction of Baidu's group buying site has not yet been completed and the related service is only available for users in Beijing. The new site has five channels, including restaurants, beauty, entertainment, lifestyle services, and travel.
For payment, Baidu's group buying currently cooperates with banks, but has not yet teamed with third-party payment service providers. Baidu's own payment platform is also unavailable on the website.
The subdomain T.baidu.com formerly belonged to Baidu's social product, which was terminated by Baidu in August 2011.
Prior to this, Baidu separated the group buying navigation service from its comprehensive website navigation site Hao123.com in June 2011.