---
title: "From 'Jumping the Gun' to Leading the Pack: Didi's Orange Heart优选 Becomes the 'Best Choice' in Community Group Buying"
description: "Ren Zhengfei once said that disruption is often done by 'outsiders.' In the community group buying track, Didi's Orange Heart优选, launched just five months ago, has become the industry leader with daily orders exceeding 7 million, and over 10 million on Double 11. This article analyzes how Didi, a ride-hailing giant, leveraged its strengths to lead the race, and discusses the competitive landscape and key success factors in this new battlefield."
author: "财经新媒体"
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published: "2020-11-27"
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# From 'Jumping the Gun' to Leading the Pack: Didi's Orange Heart优选 Becomes the 'Best Choice' in Community Group Buying

> Ren Zhengfei once said that disruption is often done by 'outsiders.' In the community group buying track, Didi's Orange Heart优选, launched just five months ago, has become the industry leader with daily orders exceeding 7 million, and over 10 million on Double 11. This article analyzes how Didi, a ride-hailing giant, leveraged its strengths to lead the race, and discusses the competitive landscape and key success factors in this new battlefield.

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Ren Zhengfei said, **disruption is often done by 'outsiders.'**
Instant noodles once saw 18 consecutive years of sales growth, but now sales are plummeting. However, the one that defeated Master Kong, which once dominated the instant noodle market, was not peers like Uni-President, Baixiang, or Jinmailang, but food delivery platforms like Meituan and Ele.me. Similarly, the disruptor of the taxi industry was not a taxi company, but Didi.
Now, in the increasingly heated community group buying track, these familiar scenes may be replayed.
On November 10, Orange Heart优选 (Chengxin Youxuan), a community e-commerce platform launched just five months ago, announced that its daily orders exceeded 7 million, ranking first in the industry and leading the community e-commerce sector. According to industry media, on Double 11, after Didi added an entry point for Orange Heart优选 in Chengdu, the national daily order volume exceeded 10 million.
Interestingly, Orange Heart优选 is under Didi, the ride-hailing giant. A ride-hailing company suddenly venturing into community e-commerce and becoming an industry leader within a few months is indeed surprising.
Of course, in a new track like community group buying, it may not be accurate to say Orange Heart优选 has disrupted the industry, but considering Didi's history of disrupting the taxi industry, there is room for more expectations.
**-03-**
**Running into the Arena, Giants in Chaos**
Internet companies have no boundaries. With a trillion-yuan market and no national dominant player yet, community group buying is naturally the next battlefield for internet giants to enter. It is understandable to enter at this time.
**On one hand, the pandemic-induced quarantine economy has catalyzed many new consumption scenarios in community group buying.** For example, elderly people who used to shop at wet markets and young people who ordered takeout have started buying groceries through community group buying, rapidly completing user education.
**On the other hand, there is an unwritten rule in the retail industry: if a new business model can reach 10 billion yuan, it proves the model can be scaled.** Now, several companies in community group buying have achieved the scale of tens of billions, naturally triggering the entry of giants.
Furthermore, before the community group buying model was validated, the difficulty in fresh food e-commerce was the high loss rate due to multiple warehousing and distribution links. Although community group buying still focuses on fresh food, its 'pre-sale + store + self-pickup' model not only allows 'selling by procurement' to solve the high loss problem, but also reduces customer acquisition and service chain costs through stores (group leaders), and solves distribution challenges through self-pickup.
Therefore, community group buying is the most likely profitable business model in the fresh food retail sector. According to a November research report by Everbright Securities, in the UE model (unit economics model) of a leading community group buying company, the net profit margin per user can already reach 2% to 3%.
Although the average order value per user is not high, the total order value per group leader is the sum of many user orders, which can easily reach hundreds or thousands of yuan. This means the platform's profit space becomes large, and the order volume becomes crucial.
**Most importantly, behind community group buying, which focuses on fresh food, is a super high-frequency, rigid-demand traffic entrance and user base. Capturing this traffic entrance allows high-frequency to drive low-frequency, extending into numerous business scenarios.**
Taking Didi as an example, the target users of community group buying in second-, third-, and fourth-tier cities include many urban housewives, middle-aged and elderly people, and lower-tier users, which differ somewhat from Didi's existing business users. Therefore, through Orange Heart优选, Didi can both expand its service population (such as lower-tier users) and provide higher-frequency service scenarios, such as payment scenarios and local life services, which is very attractive.
**It is precisely because it can be scaled for profit, bring high-frequency rigid-demand traffic and users, and no national giant has yet emerged, and the model is not fully mature, requiring competition in development and iteration speed. That is why major internet giants are accelerating their entry.**
In April this year, Orange Heart优选 tested community group buying in the Sichuan-Chongqing region, making Didi the first internet giant to enter. Subsequently, Meituan established 'Meituan优选,' Pinduoduo launched 'Duoduo Maicai,' and Alibaba incubated community group buying projects under Hema, Cainiao, Ele.me, and Lingshoutong. In a short time, community group buying gathered almost half of the internet giants, and a melee began.
**-03-**
**100-Meter Sprint: Who Crosses the Line First?**
Internet giants accelerating into community group buying are unwilling to lose at the starting line. This is akin to a 100-meter sprint—whoever first runs through the model and forms a replicable playbook may gain the first-mover advantage.
**The first to enter was Didi.** Cheng Wei said that while other companies were still watching, the Orange Heart team was already fighting. In April, before the official launch of Orange Heart优选, it had already tested the waters in Chengdu.
On June 15, Orange Heart优选 officially launched, with daily orders exceeding 10,000 on the first day, firing the first shot of giants entering community group buying. Through ultra-low order values, splitting orders per customer, high-frequency flash sales, and group leader incentives, it quickly overtook the local leader Xingsheng优选. By September, its daily orders exceeded 500,000, becoming the number one in Sichuan and Chongqing.
**Following Didi were Meituan, Pinduoduo, and Alibaba.** For these giants, this is a battle that must be won. Didi CEO Cheng Wei said, 'Didi's investment in Orange Heart优选 has no upper limit, and we will strive to take the number one market position.' Wang Xing regarded Meituan优选 as his top entrepreneurial project and stated, 'This battle must be won.'
The competition among the strong initially tests who is faster and more resolute.
Unlike Meituan, which tested the waters with Xiaoxiang Fresh and Meituan Maicai before entering community group buying (Meituan优选) in three separate divisions, Didi was more resolute. Besides entering earlier than Meituan, it went straight to community group buying from the start, which also meant it had no historical baggage or other constraints, making it more flexible and gaining a first-mover advantage, temporarily leading other giants.
Data shows that after starting national expansion in September, Orange Heart优选 has now entered 14 provinces and cities, and by the end of September, its national daily orders exceeded 2.8 million. On Double 11, it set a record of 10 million daily orders.
In addition to the surge in order volume, Orange Heart优选, which first ran through the model, is also accelerating its city expansion speed—on October 29, it launched in four cities including Nanchang, Jiangxi on the same day; on November 6, it launched in Jiangsu, Guangdong, and Hebei provinces on the same day. It is evident that the Didi team, which the book 'Decision Reference' praised for 'fast action, heavy strategy, and absolute execution,' indeed lives up to its reputation.
**-03-**
**This Marathon: No One Wants to Lose**
The community group buying battle is ultimately a marathon. After the 100-meter sprint, it ultimately comes down to the giants' ability to sustain a prolonged war.
**The first is the burning money war. According to past internet war conventions, this is one of the most critical factors for success or failure.** For example, Squirrel Pinning, Dailuobo, and Yiguo Fresh all struggled with capital chain issues, and the strategic merger of 'Niwo Nin' and 'Shihuituan' was also to stop losses.
Internet giants all have massive cash flows and are not short of money, and they have all emerged from subsidy wars, with varying strengths in rhythm control and team execution. However, compared to other giants, Didi is the only unlisted company among competitors, lacking the constraints of listed shareholders and stock prices, making its reactions and actions relatively more flexible. After all, in a contest of masters, details make the difference.
The second is testing the team's willpower. Community group buying requires expanding territories across the country, and a strong-willed ground promotion team is crucial.
The ground promotion capabilities of the giants currently entering have been proven, with some outstanding performers. Taking Didi as an example, the general manager leading Orange Heart优选 is Chen Ting. As an early core figure and a strong ground promoter at Didi, he has led a team of 10,000 and personally experienced the two major battles with Kuaidi and Uber. Orange Heart优选's ground promotion capability is certainly not weak.
Meituan's ground promotion capability is undoubtedly unquestionable. Meituan's test is whether it has the courage to go all in strategically. After all, unlike Didi, which went straight to community group buying, Meituan had previously wavered in fresh food e-commerce, which is why it entered community group buying later than Didi. Moreover, whether Meituan's patience will be as unstable as when it first entered ride-hailing remains to be seen.
Returning to the community e-commerce business itself. The front-end group leaders, end logistics, and middle supply chain are the three key factors determining success.
**Compared to traditional e-commerce, community e-commerce currently still focuses on fresh food, with generally fewer SKUs. Additionally, many places can rely on super fresh food wholesale markets, so it is not the most critical point in the early competition.** Therefore, the early stage focuses more on logistics and group leaders, with group leaders being the most critical.
First, look at logistics. Meituan's logistics advantage lies in two-wheeled riders, but same-city delivery capacity is not its strong point. In the community group buying route from large warehouse to self-operated warehouse/grid warehouse to group leader (pickup point), it mainly relies on four-wheeled freight vehicles, which is an area where Meituan优选 needs to focus.
Didi started with taxis, which is four-wheeled passenger transport, but it has already been developing freight earlier this year. Didi's advantage is its extensive experience in vehicle scheduling, and efficient supply-demand matching is Didi's core capability. This can be quickly replicated to freight vehicle scheduling, and the next focus will be on supplementing freight capacity.
Next, look at the most critical group leaders. The difficulty in managing group leaders lies in whether they can provide users with consistent and stable services. After all, group leaders are not only responsible for customer acquisition but also for sales, customer complaints and after-sales, and even distribution, making them the most critical link. On the other hand, whether the platform can continuously provide sufficient support and returns to group leaders is also important; otherwise, group leaders may switch to other platforms or be 'persuaded to leave.'
Therefore, the platform's management and soft service capabilities for group leaders can be considered the 'new infrastructure' of community group buying.
The capability model required for group leaders includes not only online order taking but also offline fulfillment, maintaining good social relationships with users throughout the entire chain, and providing better offline service experiences.
This is very similar to the fulfillment model of ride-hailing drivers. In addition to the 'hard service' of delivering passengers to their destinations, 'soft services' such as keeping passengers comfortable during the ride and gaining user recognition are also crucial. Didi provides information services to ride-hailing drivers and standardizes driver service management, which is similar to the capabilities needed to manage and serve 'group leaders.' This is Didi's advantage.
Compared to other giants, Orange Heart优选 places heavy emphasis on offline group leader operations. In addition to setting up a dedicated team to train and serve group leaders, Orange Heart优选 has also opened cooperative physical stores with group leaders in Chengdu. And it has 'no upper limit' on group leader subsidies.
It is reported that Orange Heart优选 rewards group leaders with 1,000 yuan for every 1,000 orders completed. It also rewards 8 yuan for each new user referred, with no upper limit. In addition to activities like order explosion rewards, referral rewards, and commission doubling, group leaders can also recommend new group leaders to become 'partners' of Orange Heart优选 and receive rewards—partners' income is calculated based on the total orders of the group leader and their recommended 'apprentices,' with a commission share of up to 13.2%.
In summary, this community group buying marathon involving giants has just begun.
In the opening stage, Orange Heart优选, with its advantage of entering two months earlier than other giants, has indeed become the internet giant with a sustained leading posture in the community group buying track. However, whether it can ultimately 'take the number one market position' as Cheng Wei said and disrupt the community group buying industry again remains to be seen.
Source: Mantis Finance (ID: TanglangFin)


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