Capital winter, but community group buying is booming! It is rumored that the famous investor Zhu Xiaohu was once turned away from 'Xingsheng Youxuan' because of his 'plain' appearance. This phenomenon of investors chasing entrepreneurs has not been seen for a long time. From former Tencent strategic investment directors to executives of old O2O companies like Aixianfeng; from traditional Walmart and New Yijia executives to former employees of Alibaba, Baidu, and JD.com, many big-name entrepreneurs are rushing into this track. Hot, hot, hot! Compared with convenience stores, unmanned shelves, and other formats, this wave of community group buying is undoubtedly more intense, leading many to lament that this is the last entrepreneurial opportunity for the post-70s and post-80s generations! Community group buying originated in Changsha in 2016, but this year it has become the darling of the venture capital track. According to incomplete statistics from New Distribution, as of now, there are more than 200 community group buying platforms nationwide, with total financing reaching as high as 3 billion yuan. Among the capital entering community group buying, there are many star institutions such as Today Capital, IDG, ZhenFund, and Jinshajiang Venture Capital. New Distribution estimates that in 2019, another tens of billions of capital will pour in! However, for entrepreneurs, behind the glamorous financing lies not-so-smooth expansion. The scarcity of 'group leaders', high homogeneity, supply chain management, and subsequent logistics and warehousing issues have made people gradually realize that the community group buying e-commerce war will be a war without smoke, a comprehensive competition of 'iron man pentathlon', and some players have even fallen before the battle. But in any case, relying on WeChat groups and WeChat mini-programs, originating from WeChat business, yet rooted in various residential communities, the 'earthy' flavor of community group buying e-commerce has entered the trend. In addition to many startups, with the tentative entry of industry giants such as JD.com, Alibaba, Meituan, and Suning, this field may also usher in new changes—sharks in the ocean never get excited for small fish; they must feel they have encountered a large school of fish. With sluggish online traffic growth, the frenzy of capital and entrepreneurs is more like anxiety about the future. But after the waves wash away the sand, is community group buying just an industry self-congratulation? Or will it truly evolve into the third pole of Chinese retail? Facing an uncertain future, any assertion is premature. Looking at the present from the future, let us consider a few questions: | | Q1: What are the main factors for the emergence and development of community group buying e-commerce? Q2: What does the community group buying model mean for distributors and brand owners? Q3: What consumer needs does community group buying solve? Will consumer pain points persist? Q4: Is the main battlefield of community group buying really in second-, third-, and fourth-tier cities? Q5: How big is the industry scale of community group buying? Q6: With giants like Alibaba, Tencent, JD.com, and Meituan entering one after another, where are the remaining opportunities? Q7: Is the logic of community group buying expansion just buying, buying, buying? Q8: Why do many capital firms hold several different types of community group buying companies? What are they up to? Q9: Which model will win: origin supply chain or destination supply chain? Q10: What opportunities remain for small and medium-sized community group buying entrepreneurs? In response to the above questions, New Distribution will grandly hold a community group buying themed summit forum on March 17 at Chengdu Longemont Hotel. We will conduct in-depth communication with brand owners, entrepreneurial platforms, supply chain enterprises, and industry senior experts around the topic 'Community Group Buying: The Third Pole of Chinese Retail', hoping that through high-quality sharing and discussion, brand owners, distributors, and retail enterprises can have a clearer understanding and deeper insight into community group buying e-commerce. In addition, on the evening of March 17, we will also invite domestic first-line investment institutions, community group buying entrepreneurs, and supply chain service enterprises to hold a high-end matchmaking dinner, hoping that through our connection, we can help enterprises achieve new growth and bring more development possibilities to participants in all industries. **★Confirmed Guests (as of now)★** Li Botao Vice President of Supply Chain, Niwonin In 2011, Niwonin initially conducted group buying activities by residential community. In September 2016, the Niwonin platform was officially established, taking the lead in adopting the classic community WeChat group buying approach in Changsha. In March 2017, Niwonin's annual net profit reached 10 million yuan. In January 2018, Niwonin became the first community group buying platform to launch mini-program tools, and the mini-program launch drove a 40% year-on-year increase in monthly sales. In June 2018, Niwonin received tens of millions of yuan in investment from GGV Capital, becoming one of the earliest community group buying teams to receive venture capital. Lu Zhihan Co-founder, Shixianghui Shixianghui was founded in December 2017. Since 2016, it has been promoting the community group model in Benlai Life, experiencing several rounds of model iteration and exploration in fresh e-commerce B2C, O2O, and new retail. In May 2018, it received angel investment from Xinyuan Capital. In August 2018, it completed a 100 million yuan Series A financing round led by Xianfeng Qiyun Fund with Xinyuan Capital following. In December, it completed a $30 million Series B financing round. To date, Shixianghui has covered more than 50 cities, with densely covered provinces including Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Jiangxi. Monthly sales exceed 100 million yuan, and the platform has nearly 20,000 group leaders. Lian Jie Founder, Dingdantu Founded in 2016, Dingdantu is a 'group purchase' platform serving community group buying retailers, providing SaaS systems for small and medium-sized community group buying companies or traditional offline stores in third- and fourth-tier cities. Dingdantu has spread to 1,200 counties, with nearly 10,000 active group leaders. In April 2017, it completed a 5 million yuan angel round. Tang Guangliang Founder, Kaola Select Kaola Select is a community group buying project incubated by the FMCG B2B platform 'Xingaoqiao'. It was launched in May and officially went live in Changsha in July. The special feature of Kaola Select is that it uses convenience store owners as group buying leaders. Within 30 days of launch, it covered more than 1,300 group leaders, with average daily sales reaching 120,000 yuan. In September 2018, it completed a 20 million yuan angel round led by Galaxy Venture Capital. More guests are being invited... Registration Method [Community Group Buying Special Session] Limited-time exclusive discount price 199 yuan! Learn more about the main venue Click 'Read Original' to register now! -END-