A new market report in Australia has indicated that multinational group buying sites are driving strong industry growth with LivingSocial and Groupon growing 75 percent and 118 percent in the third quarter, respectively. Travel deals now account for 24 percent of total market revenue making it the largest deal category.

The group buying market grew from $123.9 million in Q2 2011 to $158.5 million in Q3 2011 representing a quarter-on-quarter increase of 28 percent, according to technology analyst firm Telsyte.

“The growth of the global group buying players in Australia this quarter proves that the money spent on strong local marketing has not just captured the attention of Australians, but also converted them to a sale,” said Sam Yip, Senior Research Manager, Telsyte.

Yip added, “The strength of multinational brands and marketing budgets once again has proven their ability to rise to the top in the Australian market. We’ve seen this happen with similar online markets in the past such as online search and online auctions.”

The top eight group buying sites (LivingSocial, Scoopon, Groupon, Spreets, Cudo, Deals.com.au, OurDeal, and Ouffer) continue to generate over 90 percent of the total industry revenue. The number of group buying sites has grown four-fold in the past six months from 20 sites to more than 80 sites now in operation.

Travel

The travel category has also contributed to market growth this quarter.

“In less than three months, travel deals have moved from being the smallest category to the largest,” Yip said.

“Group buying sites have quickly responded to the popularity of travel deals by categorising their deals on their home pages, or creating travel specific sub sites the last quarter.”

Year-to-date the market has generated $320 million and is on track to significantly exceed Telsyte’s market forecast of $400 million for the 2011 calendar year.

“The industry never fails to surprise us each quarter. We have seen double-digit quarterly growth for the past three quarters and can expect to see this trend continue next quarter,” said Yip. “The group buying industry is highly seasonal. Holiday deals, promotions and offers will boost growth.”