****Helping you work is fine, but we fear being discarded after the job is done. "If community group buying continues for another year or two, supermarkets over 500 square meters will basically have no future." This is the view recently expressed by Ye Guofu, founder of Miniso. In Guanxi Residential Area, Hongshan District, Wuhan, there are over a dozen group buying leaders and pickup points in just one residential complex. Yanzi is a community group buying leader in Guanxi Residential Area, Hongshan District, Wuhan. She originally ran a small supermarket in the area for over a decade. In 2020, due to the pandemic, Yanzi gained a new identity—community group buying leader. Now, Yanzi serves as a leader for five community group buying platforms: Orange Heart优选, Shihui Tuan, Meituan优选, Duoduo Maicai, and Hema优选. Yanzi, who leads for five platforms, sends arrival notifications in the group chat daily. "It's not that complicated. It's just because I have a physical store where people can pick up their group orders, so I naturally became a leader," Yanzi replied when asked if there were conflicts in leading for five platforms. "But I don't earn much. There's a bigger supermarket in our area that also serves as a pickup point, and they get more customers. I don't mind though. I started this because someone suggested it, saying it wouldn't lose money, so I gave it a try. I don't invest much time because I love playing mahjong." Yanzi is one representative among millions of convenience store owners transitioning to group buying leaders, but many leaders are not as laid-back as her. Some see it as a long-term career and manage it diligently, earning up to ten thousand yuan a month; others, when the wave hit, had no choice but to accept it, only to find it's not that simple—they earn little, increase time costs, and add many troubles. -01- Riding the Wave, Community Leaders Become "Hot Commodities" This year's pandemic, especially for Wuhan which was severely affected at the beginning, became the best opportunity to educate users. Huang Zhihua, general manager of Shihui Company, said: "Generally, a new habit can be cultivated in just 21 days. Wuhan was under lockdown for over three months, meaning Wuhan has a massive user base that doesn't need cultivation. If you want to grab market share in community group buying, where else would you go but Wuhan?" As China's internet enters a stock market, user growth for Alibaba, JD, and Pinduoduo has slowed significantly, leaving only the path of digging deep to find gold. Because it's more direct than front warehouses, the model is lighter, and using leaders reduces store costs, delivery costs, and labor, with much larger profit margins. By 2022, China's community group buying market is expected to reach a scale of 100 billion yuan. For a time, convenience stores, lottery stations, courier pickup points, hair salons, driving school offices—if you look closely, in second-tier cities and more down-market towns, many shop owners have gained a new identity this year—group buying leader. Because the entry barrier is low and requires almost no investment, it has become the hottest "hot commodity" occupation. Recently, news broke that JD.com acquired Meijia Maicai, with Liu Qiangdong personally leading the effort. Before this, Duoduo Maicai, Meituan优选, and Orange Heart优选 were the three fastest-growing internet giants in down-market group buying. Tencent and Alibaba continued their usual pattern of investing behind the scenes: Tencent invested in Xingsheng优选 and Shihui Tuan, while Alibaba invested in Shihui Tuan and supported its Hema优选. With the battle raging, the model has shifted from people finding goods to goods finding people, with leaders as the crucial hub. In July this year, Meituan优选 held a leader signing and first meeting in Jinan, Shandong, immediately signing 300 leaders. Currently, major platforms are aggressively pushing street-level promotions, and high commissions to snatch leaders are no secret. Leaders convert sales through community relationships. In short, whichever leader wins people's hearts, goods sell well, so leaders are fiercely competed for by platforms, each offering attractive conditions. The common commission in the market is 10%–20%. On Weibo, WeChat official accounts, websites, Douyin, Kuaishou, Zhihu, Xiaohongshu, etc., you'll see a series of leader recruitment posts. Additionally, official accounts or mini-programs support self-service applications. Because of low barriers and high pay, any post recruiting leaders on any platform attracts many inquiries. On one app platform, a user posted: "While the media hypes the anxiety of fresh graduates from top universities and 35-year-olds losing jobs, the community group buying trend allows a supply chain specialist with a vocational degree and two years of product manager experience to get an extremely exaggerated salary. Coming from Xingsheng or Meicai, you can hold 10 offers and choose slowly." Quite surreal, but it's really happening. Wu Xin is a stay-at-home mom in a Chengdu residential area. She revealed to Hefan Finance that she currently earns over 10,000 yuan a month. Before officially becoming a leader, Wu Xin was a full-time housewife, and after having a child, she was always busy with the child, feeling low self-worth. Until this year's community group buying wave came, she was brought on board by a familiar mom in the community. Initially, she just wanted to try it, thinking she could earn some daily expenses while taking care of her child. But once she started, Wu Xin became a bit obsessed. As a mom, compared to shop owners with physical stores, Wu Xin didn't have an advantage. Without a physical store, she had no fixed pickup point. Residents find it convenient to go to convenience stores, Cainiao stations, hair salons, hardware stores, etc. A mom is far from being well-known to residents, so she had to find a way. Later, Wu Xin first pulled familiar neighbors into a WeChat group; then she organized fission activities, telling everyone it was a community welfare group that would regularly post various discounts related to the community; she asked people to invite neighbors, and for each new person invited, Wu Xin would give away a free jin of fruit. Through this method of secondary and tertiary fission, the group quickly reached 500 members. But after reaching full capacity, new problems arose. Although Wu Xin actively posted promotional products from each platform, it was like a manual forwarding machine—no interaction or inquiries in the group. Despite being a large group of hundreds, it was like a dead group, and people kept leaving. One month, Wu Xin tried to withdraw her commission based on sales, only to find that the total from four platforms was less than 1,000 yuan, which frustrated her. Since she had invested time, she thought she should achieve something. So she started by changing the community group. Instead of mechanically posting, she wrote targeted copy based on each platform's different discounts, like how did these Hema discounted products feel to use? To better match residents' expectations, Wu Xin would buy products herself to try, then describe them more realistically from a consumer's perspective. "It's like Xiaohongshu's grass-planting, giving products a personality. Since I started carefully editing copy, I went from just a few orders a day across several platforms to at least 20-30 orders a day now. Many customers also make frequent repeat purchases, and I'm more motivated as I go." Wu Xin explained. Over time, she built a steady customer base. For residents who often order from her, Wu Xin would carefully note their names and shopping preferences in a notebook. Then, based on their preferences, she would privately message them when new items arrived or discounts were available. This not only achieved precision but also earned her a good, trustworthy reputation. Now, Wu Xin's monthly sales surpass those of leaders with physical stores in the community. Recently, a BD from another platform proactively approached her, wanting her to be their agent leader. Wu Xin transitioned from a mom to a leader, earning money and finding self-worth. Why not? But while some are happy, others are not. Like the 80/20 rule that applies to many things, community group buying leaders are no exception. 20% of leaders dominate 80% of the performance. The rest, the majority, each have their own confusion and bitterness. -02- Essentially Like a "Pickup Point" When Problems Arise, They Bear the Brunt If you didn't see it with your own eyes, it's hard to imagine that the most inconspicuous mom-and-pop shops on the street or in residential areas have all become captives of the giants. "If we don't transform, we can't survive. Isn't this forcing us to become leaders? Take Red Bull, for example. Those group buying platforms sell at wholesale prices. They sell to us leaders at 98, and to others at around 108, but even 108 is cheaper than our purchase price. If they sell so cheaply, how can physical stores compete?" Zhao Meng voiced the concern that plagues thousands of mom-and-pop stores: why they transform into leaders. Internet giants, through aggressive subsidies and land grabs, have penetrated cities beyond the first tier like capillaries. Zhao Meng said Xingsheng优选 initially had an absolute advantage in the community. A Xingsheng leader she knew made a fortune before the giants swarmed in, but after the pandemic, a swarm of group buying suddenly appeared, and things changed too fast. Now Xingsheng has withdrawn from the community. The community is only so big; leaders are too densely distributed, and customers' daily spending is limited, so there are hardly any orders. They can't deliver much and waste manpower and resources, not to mention other costs. Drivers usually deliver a dozen or so products per store. Now, it's so few that it's not worth a special trip. According to Zhao Meng's observation, even people over 70 in the community have learned to order through group buying. Many elderly people no longer see the morning market as the best option for buying vegetables and eggs; they've turned to group buying. The number of elderly people coming to her to pick up vegetables is increasing. "But the platform says they return 10 points. Honestly, there's no 10 points. The platform doesn't provide plastic bags; we leaders buy them out of our own pockets. Also, many group buying items need refrigeration, so even if there's just one item, we have to plug in the fridge. Sometimes residents don't pick up their orders for two or three days, and we have to store them." A screenshot of a community group buying leader's backend commission posted on Douyin shows it's not high. When Hefan Finance asked Zhao Meng which group buying platform in her community was doing better, she said there wasn't much difference yet, claiming consumers are picky, wanting both quality and low prices, but generally they'll buy from the cheapest platform, with no loyalty. When Hefan Finance pressed her to name a relatively better platform, "Then Duoduo, because it's cheap." "Those of us with physical stores are better off because people know where to pick up. In our community, basically all leaders are convenience store or other shop owners. There aren't many moms because they don't have storefronts; they can only set up stalls, and frozen items can't be stored, making it hard. Earlier, two moms used their homes as pickup points, but they quit within a month. Those with physical stores have a certain number of loyal customers. These seed customers not only help promote you but also consolidate customer relationships. Now that community group buying is so intense, if we small supermarkets don't participate, we'll definitely be marginalized. So being a leader alongside the physical store at least avoids a more passive situation. Anyway, being a leader doesn't require a deposit, so I'll try it, but honestly, it doesn't earn much." Zhao Meng said she sees it clearly; at best, it's just a pickup point. But what puzzles her is that some residents, when picking up goods, find flaws and argue with her. Zhao Meng emphasizes that although she's a leader, the goods aren't purchased by her, so she has no say. Like Zhao Meng, many who have their own businesses have a natural distrust of internet models. Also, because they connect with multiple platforms, there's no loyalty; at most, it's a habit. It's hard to reach customers or build stickiness, let alone provide personalized service. For many shop owners, being a leader is more like an optional side income channel. Zhao Meng's physical store has scattered group buying products waiting for residents to pick up. "Doing this is troublesome and doesn't earn money. My husband even told me to stop, saying it's thankless," Zhao Meng complained. For example, once a platform had particularly cheap pork. After I announced it in the group, dozens of people ordered. I thought business was good that day, but the next day, the goods didn't arrive on time. The pork for dozens of people was nowhere to be found. Customer service was either unreachable or made excuses. Customers in the group blamed me for not delivering. But I can't reach the upstream; I could only reassure them to wait patiently. Finally, it turned out the supplier refused to deliver because they wanted to reduce subsidies. Such cheap goods, besides the giants' crazy subsidies, also involve suppliers giving up costs; they can't afford losses. But when problems arise, customers first come to the leader, after all, we are the bridge between the platform and customers. Once a problem occurs, we're the scapegoat. If you lose trust, you can't continue; the community is full of leaders. That incident caused Zhao Meng to lose over 20 customers from her WeChat group. Zhao Meng also has another worry: since Meituan and Pinduoduo entered, they've clearly been downplaying the role of leaders. These two inherently have no shortage of traffic, so leaders will become less and less important to them. After they entered, over a dozen pickup points suddenly appeared around the community. With so many pickup points, users' minds will eventually be taken away. "Who knows how long we can do this? Leaders can't control the upstream goods or the users; at best, we're advertisers. I'm already prepared to withdraw at any time," Zhao Meng said. She mentioned a peer who used to run a convenience store but now drives a truck delivering for group buying platforms. Zhao Meng feels that being a leader is helping the platform dig up her own customers; her store is more like a small warehouse for the giants. At the same time, she has to bear operational risks and costs, such as rent, staff wages, and daily losses, but if she doesn't cooperate with the platforms, she has no business. It's helpless. -03- Will They Be "Discarded After the Job"? Axia, who runs a convenience store in a Shenyang residential area, also has her confusion. Since various community group buying platforms launched in Shenyang, Axia also transformed from a convenience store owner to a leader. Axia told Hefan Finance that the pressure is enormous now; being a leader is really tough. She initially decided to join to bring more traffic to her store because her convenience store doesn't have a tobacco license. In her words, a convenience store that can't sell cigarettes has no soul. But now there are so many pickup points in the community. Previously, salespeople claimed there would be one pickup point every 100 meters, but under crazy promotion, there's one every 20 meters, wasting resources. She barely gets any orders each day. Axia said a small supermarket in the community has already closed. That one was in a remote location, and with the clustering of community group buying, what you have, community group buying also sells; what you don't have, community group buying still has. You spend money on rent, manpower, and resources, earning money for others, and in the end, you go bankrupt. Based on her experience, Axia judges that if no one asks about discounted products in the WeChat group within half an hour, the group buy basically fails. Several times, Axia's husband had to buy the goods himself and then sell them in the store. Customers can't always watch the group messages; they usually buy when they happen to see something. If the leader doesn't buy in time, by the time customers want it, the platform may be out of stock. So the leader has to buy first and then sell through a relay format. That's Axia's worry. Especially for fruits and fresh products, with short shelf life and severe spoilage, if they don't sell, they're a loss. Axia used to sell fresh fruits in her store but has now completely abandoned that. When customers can get apples for 1 cent on group buying platforms, the fruits in the store can only rot. However, being a community group buying leader also has benefits for her own business. Axia told Hefan Finance that when customers come to pick up goods, they often buy other items in the store as supplementary purchases. The categories on group buying platforms aren't rich enough, so customers still buy urgently needed items offline. Another convenience store owner in the same community as Axia firmly refuses to join community group buying, no matter how the BD tries to persuade, and claims to resolutely resist. The crazy subsidized prices of community group buying have damaged the store's business by 30%–40%. The owner angrily said that even if they have to close and go back to farming, they won't compromise with group buying; it's too absurd. In this community group buying melee, physical stores won't be pessimistic enough to disappear, but reduced traffic is a fact. Making money is the foundation for businesspeople. Even if many physical store owners shout resistance, refusing to cooperate with big factories or be their pickup points, the battle has already reached their doorstep. They must defend even if not attack. Many storefronts have colorful promotional posters from various group buying platforms. If you don't do it, others will. When foot traffic goes to other stores, you'll inevitably feel unwilling. According to people in the convenience store industry, in Xi'an, local community group buying platform data has already declined by 10% to 30%, and this is only when the giants just entered. If another month or two passes, it's hard to imagine. Will platforms, after establishing user loyalty, remove leaders, discarding them after the job? That's probably the worst-case scenario. But leaders know well that they are just pawns in capital's game, yet they still hope to pass through this game smoothly. Source: Hefan Finance (ID: daxiongfan) Tips will be paid 400-2000 yuan if adopted. If you like this article, click [Wow] and share it with friends.