Dell tests global Swarm work in Singapore

• Singapore used as trial market by Dell
• New online initiative
• Leveraging power of social media

Singapore - Dell is using Singapore as the world's first market to trial out the new Dell Swarm - an online group which leverages on social networks and allows customers to buy laptops at discount prices.

When customers visit dellswarm.com/sg/index.php, they can select a laptop they'd like to purchase which gets the Swarm under way. As more people join the Swarm, the more the price of the laptop drops. The Swarm ends when it reaches the maximum number of 15 buyers or a time limit of 72 hours.

The site has links to Twitter and Facebook where users can share their swarms and attract more people to the group - ultimately driving the price of the laptop down. The Dell Swarm is currently a pilot project in Singapore and is only open to Singapore residents.

According to Francis Huan, corporate communications manager for Dell Singapore, the concept has received outstanding feedback since launching two weeks ago.

"We wanted to introduce a new way for customers to buy stuff and at the same time obviously to save money," Huan said.

"We wanted to reach out to more people in the online space so using networks like Twitter and Facebook helps customers be more engaged with what Dell is offering."

Huan says Singapore was chosen as the market to launch the pilot project because of the demographics.

"Singapore has a fairly well connected and educated population to make use of the Dell Swarm here. For how long it runs for will depend on the kind of response it gets - we're always looking to improve it and it remains a work in progress."