---
title: "Community Group Wholesale Has Arrived! Is It Redoing B2B or Community Group Buying?"
description: "Community group wholesale (团批) is emerging, and the author argues that for it to succeed, it must redo both B2B and community group buying simultaneously, making them twin brothers. The key is that without 2C, 2B has no hope; the starting point may be 2B, but the way out is 2C."
author: "刘春雄"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2021-06-09"
language: "en"
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markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/community-group-wholesale-has-arrived-is-it-redoing-b2b-or-community-gro-1a9e58ac.md"
original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/uwaLAy9R4LSKx2pV5NUKFQ"
translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E7%A4%BE%E5%8C%BA%E5%9B%A2%E6%89%B9%E6%9D%A5%E4%BA%86-%E5%88%B0%E5%BA%95%E6%98%AF%E6%8A%8Ab2b%E8%BF%98%E6%98%AF%E7%A4%BE%E5%8C%BA%E5%9B%A2%E8%B4%AD%E9%87%8D%E5%81%9A%E4%B8%80%E9%81%8D-1a9e58ac.md"
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---

# Community Group Wholesale Has Arrived! Is It Redoing B2B or Community Group Buying?

> Community group wholesale (团批) is emerging, and the author argues that for it to succeed, it must redo both B2B and community group buying simultaneously, making them twin brothers. The key is that without 2C, 2B has no hope; the starting point may be 2B, but the way out is 2C.

****-01-****
As soon as I discovered group wholesale during market research, I discussed it with friends in a group chat.
What was everyone's first reaction?
Zhao Bo, founder of New Distribution, first thought of benchmarking against B2B.
Ren Xiaodong, proposer of new business, reacted: this is redoing B2B.
Not surprising! From the touchpoints of group wholesale, it seems there is only benchmarking against B2B.
My feeling is: **for group wholesale to succeed, it needs to redo both B2B and community group buying simultaneously.**
The key to redoing is that group wholesale and group buying become twin brothers.
My view is clear: **without 2C, 2B has no hope.**
**The starting point of group wholesale seems to be 2B, but the way out is 2C.**

****-02-****
So far, B2B has been very unsuccessful.
**To date, there are three forms of B2B: brand B2B, large distributor B2B, and third-party B2B.**
All three forms of B2B have failed.
**√ The first reason for failure: B2B is a digital island.**
Without reaching the C-end, B2B starts digitalization from an intermediate segment, lacking native data, making user analysis and operations impossible.
Strictly speaking, B2B is not digitalization; it is merely online informatization. It differs from past offline informatization.
**If a company starts digitalization from scratch now, I would definitely advise starting with BC integration. Once BC integration succeeds, B2B will naturally succeed.**
Unfortunately, some still think 2C is too difficult, so they start with 2B.
B2B is truly difficult. None have succeeded, indicating real difficulty.
**√ The second reason for failure: the reasons vary among the three forms.**
Third-party B2B had problematic original intentions, treating all channel owners as enemies, aiming for disintermediation rather than empowerment. Eventually, they were marginalized by all channel parties.
Brand B2B generally only serves as "check-in" and personnel management. Of course, the original purpose of SFA was team management.
SFA data comes from the team and is used for team management, which is like asking employees to "self-incriminate," contrary to human nature. I have seen even companies with excellent channel management unable to persist, leading me to believe B2B has issues.
Some large distributors' B2B is actually quite good, but mainly through integrated distribution via unified warehousing and distribution. The effect comes from warehousing and distribution. Of course, digital warehousing and distribution presuppose online B2B orders.
**B2B is a mess and not worth redoing!**

****-03-****
The core problem with B2B failure is the order of channel digitalization.
**B2B preceding BC integration determines B2B's unfortunate fate.**
This is destiny!
In my series of articles on digitalization, I repeatedly mention: **first do BC integration, then do B2B.**
Once BC integration is achieved, with incremental gains and channel confidence, B2B will follow naturally.
Without incremental gains, using SFA to tightly control salespeople naturally leads to resistance. Thus, the biggest problem with B2B is data falsification, systematic data falsification.
If BC integration succeeds, with native data, how can salespeople falsify?
Doing B2B first is channel push; if channels are already difficult, can digitalization push them?
BC integration is channel pull. If products are already selling, won't the B-end move?
**Discussing this issue is to tell everyone that viewing group wholesale as "redoing B2B" is wrong.**
**B2B does not need redoing; island B2B was a mistake from the start.**

****-04-****
**The savior of B2B is community group buying.**
But community group buying is also in a mess and has failed. How can it save B2B?
**The community group buying we see now is only one of three forms. There are three forms of community group buying:**
**First, platform-led community group buying.** This is the current platform-led type.
**Second, brand-led community group buying.** As long as retail stores have the brand's cloud store, the brand can conduct community group buying with the retail store.
**Third, the store's own community group buying.** This is what group wholesale aims to do. Give the store a cloud store, and as long as the "acquaintance equals regular customer" problem is solved, community group buying can be done.
**Let me comment on the three types separately.**
Platform community group buying was originally a good model. The correct approach is: **connect the supply chain at the front end, connect users at the back end, and open the entire chain.**
But after large platforms joined, they brought platform playstyles to the front end: whoever pays is the supply chain; the back end uses traffic thinking, using subsidies to bring traffic.
Platform traffic thinking entering offline will definitely fail. B2B has proven it once, and community group buying will prove it again. Perhaps more platforms will try to prove it in the future.
**Traffic thinking is not suitable for offline. This is the problem with third-party B2B and platform community group buying.**
**So, it is not internet thinking subverting offline, but offline subverting internet traffic thinking.**
Brands doing community group buying is what we have been emphasizing: cloud stores. As long as they reach the C-end, group buying is just a technical means. Platforms can do it, but brands cannot.
However, brands must never adopt the platform subsidy playstyle. Because brands must maintain stable online and offline price systems; they cannot do a group buying session and destroy offline channels.
**Another playstyle is for group wholesale to provide supply chain, and small retail stores play on their own.**
If small stores can help platforms and brands play community group buying, why can't they play themselves?
**What small stores lack to play community group buying themselves is supply chain.**
**Group wholesale is to provide supply chain for small stores to play community group buying.**

****-05-****
**Group wholesale and group buying will eventually become twin brothers.**
Group wholesale should provide small retail stores with cloud stores, giving them tools to play community group buying. And teach them how to play.
Generally, after being baptized by platform community group buying, it is not technically difficult for small stores to play themselves.
**But the value of group wholesale is not in group buying. Group buying will become very common in the future; anyone with technical means can play.**
**The value of group wholesale is still in the supply chain, but an island-style supply chain has no way out. This is the lesson B2B as a pioneer taught us.**
**The correct order of digitalization should be: first solve the 2C problem, then solve the small b problem, and then B2b will be solved naturally.**
So, rather than saying group wholesale is recreating B2B, it is better to say it solves the full-chain problem of F2B2b2C.
**In the future, there will be no independent B2B; all digitalization must be full-chain. The front end solves supply chain, the back end solves user demand.**

****-06-****
Some may say community group buying already has a supply chain. What is different about group wholesale's supply chain?
**I think there are two differences:**
**√ First, community group buying's supply chain is "short-sale," while group wholesale must do "long-sale" supply chain.**
Community group buying rotates subsidized products daily. Even with rotation, it takes a long time. And one subsidy means normal sales are impossible because the price system is disrupted.
**Recently, someone proposed "group brands," which I think is untenable. If you cannot sell normally and only have short-term subsidy-driven supply chains, it is better not to do it.**
"Long-sale" supply chain means: first, normal sales, able to sell on shelves; second, not just providing subsidies to bring traffic to small stores, but providing high-quality supply chains with excess profits.
**√ Second, source goods at the origin of the supply chain.**
Community group buying also has supply chains, but large platforms' supply chains wait for suppliers to come to them, typical "sitting merchants," like the old KA, spoiled.
Platforms do not have the genes for supply chain. If suppliers come, they ask for policies; without policies, no traffic. That is the big platform playstyle.
China has manufacturing bases with high-quality supply chains. Because China is the world's factory, it can meet world demand in consumer goods.
**China does not lack production capacity, but it lacks supply chains.**
**Therefore, China's high-quality supply chains are not delivered to your door; you must go to the source to "select" (choose goods).**
This will be the basic skill of group wholesale. It is hard to develop.
Relying on capital to bring traffic lacks basic skills.
**Group wholesale's high-quality supply chain must meet two conditions: first, high-quality products; second, terminal small stores have profits.**
Meeting these two contradictory conditions is very difficult! Very difficult.
Difficulty is the high barrier to competition!
Difficulty can block the traffic thinking brought by capital.

Source: Teacher Liu's Digital New Marketing
Author: Liu Chunxiong

Tips: Once adopted, reports will be paid 400-2000 yuan.


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