Affected by the epidemic, community group buying has attracted increasing attention from brand owners and distributors, who are eager to try it. However, as the impact of the epidemic gradually weakens, will community group buying become a regular distribution channel? What value and significance will it bring to brand owners and distributors? How should brand owners and distributors cooperate with community group buying platforms?
Based on these questions and reflections, the New Distribution research and consulting team, together with dozens of community group buying platforms, supply chain enterprises, and software warehousing service providers such as Chui Ding Bao Dan, JD Group Union, Liao Quan, Shi Hui Tuan, Zhi Hua Zhi Guo, Di Mao You Xuan, You Jing You Tian, and You Le Tuan, conducted a systematic review and analysis of the current development status and future of the national community group buying industry, covering more than 2,000 platforms of different scales, over 300,000 group leaders, and 30 million consumers nationwide, and specially compiled the "2019-2020 China FMCG Distribution Channel Report - Community Group Buying" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report").
The main content of this Report includes four parts: an overview of community group buying, the transaction model and process of community group buying, research on community group buying platforms, and the current status and future of the community group buying industry. It will comprehensively analyze the development logic of the community group buying industry from multiple dimensions, including the background, definition, and characteristics of the community group buying model, comparisons with other retail and e-commerce models, the profile of community group buying group leaders, consumer profiles, shopping process satisfaction, the landscape and distribution of community group buying platforms, introductions to 10 mainstream community group buying platforms, and insights for brand owners and distributors on cooperating with community group buying platforms.
Through this Report, we hope that FMCG manufacturers can gain a more intuitive and comprehensive understanding of community group buying, thereby gaining insight into the changes occurring in China's FMCG distribution channels and consumers, and better winning in the channel. The following are some contents of the Report:
The New Distribution research and consulting team divides the current FMCG distribution channels into three categories: traditional channels, modern channels, and e-commerce channels. E-commerce channels can be further divided into B2C, B2B, C2C, and O2O based on differences in transaction subjects, purchasing subjects, and purchasing methods. Community group buying is essentially a form of social e-commerce, specifically community-based social e-commerce.
From the perspective of development history, community group buying is a product of innovative development in fresh food e-commerce. In 2014, the fresh food e-commerce company Xuxian.com was established, mainly featuring a pre-sale and next-day self-pickup model, marking the emergence of community group buying. However, due to the immaturity of the fresh food industry, Xuxian.com eventually failed.
The merger of Pinduoduo and Pinduoduo Good Goods became a watershed in the development of fresh food e-commerce. Subsequently, the rapid development of Pinduoduo triggered model exploration in the fresh food e-commerce industry. At the same time, WeChat ecosystem mini-programs and WeChat Pay gradually improved, and social e-commerce developed rapidly. Community-based fresh food group buying e-commerce began to emerge, with community group buying platforms represented by Niwonin gradually appearing and achieving rapid development.
The rapid development of community group buying also attracted capital to enter the market. In 2018, a large number of community group buying platforms emerged, attracting over 4 billion yuan in capital for aggressive layout. In 2019, the community group buying track suddenly cooled, with total financing for the year only around 2 billion yuan.
In early 2020, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic brought community group buying back into the spotlight of capital and various industries.
The development of community group buying is still in a phase of rapid replication. No platform has yet been able to cover the entire country, and regional characteristics are obvious. Rapid development and regional expansion remain the primary development strategies for many platforms. At the same time, as competition intensifies in various regions, the industry has begun to see phenomena such as investment mergers and acquisitions, closures, and shutdowns.
Unlike traditional e-commerce, community group buying relies heavily on the sharing and recommendations of KOLs (group leaders). Group leaders are the core link in community group buying transactions, and consumer orders are mostly triggered by passive demand; whereas in traditional e-commerce, consumers mostly search actively based on their own needs, and active search is the core feature of traditional e-commerce.
Retail store owners serving as group leaders are currently the main composition of group leaders in the community group buying industry. Both mother group leaders and retail store owner group leaders have their own advantages and disadvantages in terms of operations and professionalism.
Women aged 25-45 in third-tier, fourth-tier, and below cities are the main group of group leaders on community group buying platforms, and the further down the market, the higher the enthusiasm to become group leaders.
Women aged 30-49 are the main shopping group on community group buying platforms.
The above are some contents of the "2019-2020 China FMCG Community Group Buying Industry Report (Circulation Edition)". You can obtain it by replying with the keyword "community group buying" in the backend of the New Distribution official account. For more information about the report, please consult to purchase the full version.
For purchasing the full version of the report, please contact: Yang Hongyu (Oscar Yang) at +86185-2033-2627 or oscar.yang@fmcgdealers.com
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