Look at the goods in the WeChat group, place orders in small programs, and move your fingers, and all kinds of fresh, grain and oil products will be delivered to your home. In 2020, a sudden epidemic disrupted everyone’s life rhythm, the online retail format broke out, and the community group purchase accident became an important support for the residents’ lives, and giants such as Meituan, Ali, JD.COM and Pinduoduo entered the market one after another. Recently, a reporter from Qilu Evening News and Qilu Yi went into several communities in the provincial capital to understand the current situation of community group buying.
Qilu Evening News Qilu Yidian reporter Yu Yuxing
Daily sales of 70-80 orders
The maximum turnover per day is more than 10,000 yuan.
Near eleven o’clock in the evening, Ms. Zhou "poisoned late at night" in the WeChat group, and photos and videos of spicy crayfish teased everyone’s appetite. The "Ding Ding" mobile phone kept shaking, and Ms. Zhou harvested another wave of orders before going to bed.
In the past four years, Ms. Zhou has been a well-known "group leader" of a residential district in tianqiao district, Jinan, with two WeChat group purchases of 500 people. "In 2017, we started to do community group buying, and the users are basically the owners of the community." Ms. Zhou’s community group purchase relies on her own express collection point, and it is convenient for owners to take home the fresh food they bought the day before when they take the express delivery. "The source of customers is relatively stable, and it is not so laborious to do it. It is like opening another online supermarket. Everyone orders online and picks up the goods the next day. I am a pick-up point here."
It is reported that there are thousands of households in Ms. Zhou’s community, and there are several community group purchases like her. "Basically, some treasure moms and mom-and-pop shops are doing it, and the user cross is very large." Ms. Zhou said that the platforms of the heads of delegations also cover each other, including Prosperity Optimization, Ten Clubs, You, Me and You. "I will send products from all platforms to the group and let users choose. Recently, a beautiful group was selected, and the activity was relatively strong, which was very popular with everyone. "
There are also differences in the opening of the group on each platform. Some groups are held every day, while others are held every other day. "Every time you open a group, you can trade dozens of orders and hundreds of orders. Each platform adds one, and the average is seventy or eighty orders a day." Ms. Zhou said that because most of them are fresh, grain and oil products, the single-day trading volume fluctuates greatly. "As little as two or three thousand yuan, more than ten thousand yuan. Especially on holidays, the volume of fruit gift boxes is very large, and the single-day turnover can reach about 13 thousand yuan. "
10%-15% commission
The "head" has a considerable monthly income.
The second day after the rally, Ms. Zhou was the busiest time, basically from morning till night. "Especially after work, users go home and take the food back. There are often long pick-up queues at the door of the store. "
Ms. Zhang, a working mother, is a member of the daily queue to pick up the goods. "If there is no food at home, just visit the group buying group in the community to see what to buy, and send it to the community the next day. It is simply too convenient to visit the vegetable market and supermarket." In Ms. Zhang’s view, convenience is the main reason for choosing community group buying.
In addition to convenience, good quality and low price are also a major reason why community group buying can be a big fire. Ms. Zhou takes mangosteen, kiwi fruit, pitaya and other fruits on her platform as examples. Mangosteen, which costs more than ten yuan a catty in the supermarket, only needs 8.9 yuan to buy in the platform. 9.8 yuan in Xuxiang Kiwifruit Platform weighs three kilos, and the cheapest Kiwifruit in the supermarket also costs five or six yuan a kilo.
"The quality of fruits and vegetables is comparable to that of supermarkets or even fresher, and the price is still cheap. Users who have bought them will place orders again and again." Ms. Zhou said that word-of-mouth communication among community users is more reliable than any advertisement. After being recognized by users, everyone will pull acquaintances in to buy together.
It has been less than half a year since Ms. Feng, the "post-90 s" Bao Ma, became the "head" of community group buying. "My girlfriend recommended me to join, just to earn pocket money while taking care of my children." Ms. Feng said that there are more than 200 people in her group, and the daily sales are around 1,000 yuan. The platform gives 10% commission, and it can also have two or three thousand yuan a month.
Ms. Zhou, who has two 500 people in her hand, has to double her monthly income. "There are many platforms, and the commission is basically between 10% and 15%." Ms. Zhou said that the monthly income is basically stable at around seven or eight thousand yuan. "On holidays, with the gift box, the monthly income is around 10,000 yuan."
After seizing the market
Doing a good job in product service is the key.
Ms. Li, who has been the head of the Tenth Club in Dianliu Community of Jinan for more than two years, was recently invited by the US delegation and became the preferred head of the US delegation.
"For the head of the team, multiple platform products can be sent to the same group, so that users can make their own judgments and place orders." Mr. Yuan, the preferred promoter of Meituan, said that Meituan had developed more than 3,700 WeChat groups with more than 100 people in Jinan in one and a half months.
Different from the "seed player" such as the Tenth Club, which developed from the grassroots level of the industry, Meituan is a key project of large enterprises with a level of 100 billion. With strong financial support, it can be quickly opened nationwide at the beginning of the opening. "In the next step, relying on Meituan APP, Meituan Optimization will be made into a new industrial line alongside Meituan Takeaway."
In Mr. Yuan’s view, there is an essential difference between the optimization of the US Mission and the Tenth Mission. The two modes are different. The Tenth Mission has small profits but quick turnover, focusing on profit and demanding sales; Meituan pays more attention to the number of orders when buying food, and wants to make data.
However, Mr. Yuan admits that, as far as Jinan is concerned, the order quantity of the Tenth Club is currently unmatched by the US Mission.
However, the US Mission also has an advantage that the Tenth Mission does not have, that is, the US Mission APP. "At present, Meituan has been connected with Meituan APP, and everyone can place an order through Meituan APP, which means that all people who have Meituan APP may become the preferred users of Meituan."
"Community group buying starts from the head of the team, but it will eventually end in the supply chain". In fact, how to do a good job in product service after seizing the market is the most critical part for community group buying platforms such as Meituan Optimization, Ten-Club Group, and City Life.
Hot money poured in, and giants followed suit.
Is community group buying "really fragrant"
If you win fresh food, you win the world. In recent years, various sales models of fresh food industry have been favored by capital giants frequently. In 2020, as a "pre-sale+self-promotion" sales model in the fresh food industry, community group buying became popular overnight and was selected by the capital again under the influence of the epidemic.
According to the data of Tianyancha, according to incomplete statistics, there have been more than ten times of financing in the field of community group buying and fresh e-commerce in China this year, amounting to 10 billion yuan. Among them, the 10th Club was voted for three times this year, with a total financing of US$ 249.7 million; Tongcheng Life received 200 million dollars and tens of millions of dollars in financing in June and July. According to LatePost, the latest round of financing of $495 million per day is the largest financing of fresh food industry to date.
With the influx of hot money and the follow-up of giants, what is the future of community group buying?
"Community group buying adopts ‘ Pre-sale+self-withdrawal ’ The model is based on sales, there is no turnover, there is no need for offline stores, and there is no high distribution cost for centralized self-lifting. " Ms. Zhou, who has worked hard in community group buying for three or four years, is very optimistic about "community group buying". She said that the pre-sale method of community group buying can effectively reduce the inventory, and the goods have been booked and sold before they arrive in the warehouse, which improves the turnover efficiency and reduces the product loss rate and distribution cost.
However, Mr. Zhao, a veteran in the industry, pointed out that the so-called fixed production by sales and fixed production by demand is actually difficult to achieve. Moreover, domestic agricultural products are generally lack of standardization, and direct mining in the place of origin and taking goods at the base are mostly gimmicks. "Community group buying also requires multiple categories, which is difficult for most enterprises, and many still rely on the local first-class wholesale market."
In addition, Mr. Zhao believes that how to keep the head of the platform and keep the tourists is also a problem worth exploring.
It is foreseeable that the competition for community group buying resources is bound to intensify. With the entry of Internet giants, there are more possibilities for this track.