Click to read the original article for details. Image/Lianshang Image Library A few days ago, news suddenly broke that a community group buying platform's capital chain had snapped, causing an uproar. Although it was quickly denied, it still left people feeling uneasy. Community group buying is developing vigorously, even becoming overheated, like this summer. Everything fears reaching an extreme and reversing; with a little carelessness, it can become a hot potato, changing in an instant. Although there are no signs yet that community group buying is receding, ordinary consumers can catch a glimpse of clues. Some people around me, who were once advocates of community group buying, are now less dependent on it. They either reduce the frequency or the quantity of their purchases. The two community group buying platforms I often follow have both seen varying degrees of decline in order volume. They are both industry leaders, so the data is somewhat representative. The decline started a few months ago. Platform A's group buying group has nearly 500 people; at its peak, orders reached over 100 per session, with total order amounts around 4,000-5,000 yuan. Now, order volume has been halved. Similarly, Platform B in another community has also seen a significant drop in orders. When I asked friends around me, they used to be enthusiastic about buying on community group buying platforms, but now they either buy less or not at all. In a flash, consumers have changed so quickly. Behind Consumers' 'Fickleness' Consumer psychology is a complex process, one that is subject to subjective control yet not entirely so. What happens between loving a platform to the extreme and suddenly losing interest? First, the transition from strong to weak is a natural process. For example, when a shopping mall newly opens, foot traffic is naturally high. After one or two years of development, the novelty of the new format is hard to sustain traffic; consumers are generally familiar with how community group buying works. Once the novelty wears off, community group buying gradually returns to a normal state. Second, it is also influenced by consumers' purchasing habits. Community group buying typically opens group sessions twice a week, maintaining a relatively fixed communication frequency with consumers. Because the frequency is not high, if consumers skip two or three sessions, they risk gradually forgetting. Consumers only have the chance to 'join' when they see the group leader's message. Each platform has different opening times; if consumers don't check group messages in time, they might miss a purchase. Thus, the relationship between community group buying and consumers is loose and fragile; once a slight break occurs, it may be lost forever. At the same time, the decline in orders is not only due to consumers but also to the platforms. For example, product quality is unstable, sometimes good, sometimes bad. Low quality can be due to poor procurement; although there are no complaints, silent consumers simply stop buying. Or it could be due to inventory backlog; fresh seasonal products degrade after being stored, and platforms still sell them to consumers to reduce losses. Once, I bought dragon fruit from a platform; when I got it home, it was dried up. Though edible, it had lost its fresh taste. That platform sold dragon fruit every session during that period, likely to clear inventory. Finally, there are also limitations in product variety. Community group buying cannot be like a supermarket, offering a dazzling array of everything. Most products are fresh produce like fruits, supplemented by other categories, but they cannot meet consumers' basic needs. Therefore, community group buying can never become the mainstay of consumption; it can only be a beneficial supplement. Under rapid development, procurement quality is uneven, and many unprofessional phenomena have emerged. One platform once sold three types of dragon fruit in a single session, from three different origins, at different prices. Ordinary consumers could hardly tell the difference and had to buy blindly. If platforms did better screening and selection, they could avoid duplicate investment and reduce consumer confusion. The hidden concern behind excessive duplication is that platforms compete with themselves, leading to inventory and capital backlog, increasing the risk of capital chain strain. The professionalism of procurement teams also needs urgent improvement. Once, when buying eggplant, the platform's product description emphasized the green stem as a selling point. When I got it home, I was immediately told that green-stemmed eggplants are not tasty; purple-stemmed ones are better—this clearly shows a lack of experience in the procurement team, and consumers are misled as well. As community group buying develops to a certain stage, it transforms from a novelty to a familiar 'old thing.' Consumers go from curiosity to familiarity, then to forgetting; at each stage, consumer changes are faster than imagined. Although there is no official data indicating a decline in community group buying, I have felt its 'cooling' from actual experience. Of course, 'feelings' are not persuasive, but subtle, real experiences may be more intuitive and authentic than data. After the 'cooling,' the market will saturate, and an industry reshuffle is inevitable. Before the reshuffle comes, community group buying platforms need to use this rare time to adjust and maintain their combat effectiveness. Overcoming Consumers' 'Visual' Fatigue Community group buying is gradually becoming ordinary; in the future, it may be hard to raise large funds with just four words. For consumers, community group buying is no longer mysterious. Now that it has returned to the normal sequence, it is time to practice internal skills. The format of community group buying is hard to break through; with a fixed model, content management becomes particularly important. Adhere to the distinctiveness and differentiation of product selection. Consumer pickiness is hidden and not easily noticed. When the products on group buying platforms are always the same or similar, consumers gradually lose interest. Product selection should consider consumer needs, not be closed-door or self-righteous. Many platforms are now in the same situation—identical categories and similar products. Product homogenization causes consumer fatigue. Innovation is weak, and blind following becomes the trend. The same products appear repeatedly on the same or different platforms, constantly challenging consumers' purchasing limits; over time, consumers inevitably become bored. In the end, platforms must still attract consumers with products. Without good products as support and without internal differentiation and specialization, consumers' willingness to buy will naturally decline over time. Standardized and Orderly Operations Are Key Now, community group buying platforms are at a watershed; the top platforms are improving their standardized operations. Product images are beautifully made, labels are clear and standardized, and quality inspection certificates are uploaded, providing consumers with more product information. In the early stages, platforms just took a few random photos as product introductions. The images were not beautiful, labels were unclear, and they looked like 'three-no' products. Non-standard labels also made consumers doubt: Are the supply channels legitimate? Is the quality guaranteed? Some platforms still have not improved their labels—no origin, no brand, no ingredients. These platforms are only focused on rapid expansion without establishing orderly operational standards. After the barbaric expansion ends, community group buying will ultimately test the operational and management capabilities of platforms. If the foundation is not solid, even if a tall building is temporarily erected, it will soon collapse. Platforms are not just selling products; they also have the responsibility and obligation to recommend quality products to consumers. After-sales service is also distinguishing platforms. Leading platforms generally have standardized and orderly after-sales processes; for problematic products, consumers only need to upload photos, and after review, they receive compensation quickly. Other platforms still rely on 'group leaders' to resolve issues; consumers give photos to the leader, who then reports to superiors. This process is time-consuming and cumbersome, consuming manpower. On the surface, it's about solving after-sales issues; behind it, it reveals the platform's management thinking and capability. While rapidly developing and seizing market share, platforms need to do basic operational management well; this is the foundation for rapid growth. Platforms with imperfect management and operational loopholes need to accelerate infrastructure construction to narrow the gap with leading platforms, or even surpass them. Connecting with Customers Platforms communicate with customers through 'group leaders.' Because of group leaders, platforms save the effort and cost of gathering customers, but at the same time, they can hardly hear customers' 'voices.' The relationship between platforms and customers is distant, with little stickiness; no stickiness means quick forgetting. Some e-commerce platforms now send greeting messages and coupons to customers who haven't visited for a while, attracting them back. Miss Fresh and Luckin Coffee send messages frequently with big discounts, and under the temptation of coupons, the chance of reordering is high. But social group buying has almost no contact with customers. They only know where customers pick up goods, and even phone numbers are in the hands of group leaders. Their understanding of customers is basically blank. Without direct contact, they cannot truly sense customers' temperature, making it hard to profile them. Maintaining such fragile relationships is costly and lacks warmth, leading to customers leaving quickly and frequently. Currently, community group buying relies too much on group leaders, who become important intermediaries. This relay-style understanding of customers is neither comprehensive nor objective. Any business model that is detached from customers risks being abandoned by them. How to create a closer connection with customers is an important task for community group buying. Therefore, platforms must create opportunities to listen to customers, understand their needs, and use big data to analyze them. Without necessary connections with customers, community group buying risks operating in a vacuum. After summer comes autumn; after the heat fades, winter may follow. By being prepared for danger in times of peace and planning ahead, far-sighted and thoughtful community group buying platforms can go further. Source: Lianshang.com News