One of the major trends in e-commerce this year is definitely community group buying, with the pandemic serving as a key catalyst, prompting residents to actively try this model. For example, we know well-known platforms like Shihuituan, Shixianghui, and Kaola Select. These platforms mainly recruit moms and community store owners as group leaders to conduct group buying business. But today, the village chief wants to talk about not the group leaders recruited by official platforms, but individuals in residential communities running their own community group buying businesses. We'll focus on the following points: 1. Can community group buying make money? 2. Why do individual group leaders have the opportunity to do it? 3. How do individual group leaders acquire customers? 4. What products do individual group leaders choose? 5. How to operate a community group buying group daily. Before formally introducing, let's look at a few pictures. This is my residential community, where an individual group leader runs a group buying group. Isn't it quite active? -01- Can community group buying make money? I think before discussing how individuals can do community group buying, we should first answer the question: can community group buying make money? Let's do a simple calculation so everyone has a deep understanding. Generally, an ordinary residential community has 10 buildings, typically with two elevators and four households per floor, and 18 floors, totaling 720 households. If we calculate based on 500 households, with each household spending an average of 30 yuan per day on groceries, the total daily grocery spending is 15,000 yuan. If one-third of transactions go through individual group buying channels, that's 5,000 yuan. With an 8% net profit margin, that's 400 yuan per day, or about 12,000 yuan per month. For an individual, it's completely worthwhile, especially since most communities have more households. -02- Advantages of individual community group buying Next, let's discuss the advantages of individuals doing community group buying. I hope everyone remembers that when I say "individual doing," I mean full-time, not part-time. The case I'm sharing is of a pair of sisters in my community. For ease of understanding, I'll refer to them as Youyou. 1. More flexible and free time Because they do community group buying full-time, compared to part-time moms or community store owners, they have more flexible time. Moms may need to take care of children, pick them up from school, and cook. Community store owners also have their own business to run, and at most, they serve as pickup points. Even as a pickup point, they are responsible for organizing goods, which is actually troublesome. 2. Convenient storage and pickup Youyou rented a three-bedroom, one-living-room unfinished apartment specifically to store goods, buying shelves, a refrigerator, and a freezer. It also supports buyers coming for self-pickup. 3. More timely delivery Because they are right in the community and work full-time, delivery efficiency is higher. The distance is short, and during peak times, they can deliver in batches. 4. More professional service In the daily group, any questions are answered promptly. And if you need a product, you can just @ the group owner or send a private message to know what's available. -03- How individual community groups acquire customers Based on my observation and summary, I categorize Youyou's customer acquisition in our community into the following four points: 1. Win over the community group owner When Youyou first started, our community already had an owners' group, and occasionally there were ads from group buying platforms. For example, Miss Fresh and Dingdong Maicai, but these were posted by owners spontaneously. Youyou probably won over the group owner, so in the first month, she posted her group buying business information almost daily, including QR codes for her own group buying groups. 2. Set up a stall in the community Our community has a small square where owners are allowed to set up stalls. Elderly women and moms gather there morning and evening to walk, dance, and some sell their homegrown vegetables. In the early days, they set up stalls there morning and evening, selling vegetables at low prices. The purpose of the stall was not to sell those vegetables but to get residents to add WeChat and join the group, and also to inform them where they live. This added WeChat contacts, explained their business, shortened the distance, and strengthened trust. 3. Win over moms Youyou herself used to be a mom, so when walking with her kids morning and evening, she easily struck up conversations with other moms and naturally introduced her business. Not only Youyou, but many moms in our community who sell diapers and masks as agents do the same. The community is a natural place to acquire customers, and as long as you are bold and put aside your pride, customer acquisition is very targeted. 4. Word-of-mouth I had seen Youyou's stall and group introductions before, but I actually joined her group buying group because a family member recommended it and pulled me in. Now Youyou's group buying groups include not only our community but also residents from nearby resettlement housing and villa areas. So she now has two group buying groups, each with over 400 members. I've counted that each group places at least 50 orders per day. -04- How individual community groups select products 1. Rarely sell vegetables Youyou rarely sells common vegetables like eggplant, peppers, lettuce, and green beans, mainly for the following reasons:

  1. These vegetables must be purchased the day before and sold out the next day; if they stay overnight, they become waste.
  2. For such fresh vegetables, no one will deliver to you; individuals need to go to the wholesale market themselves, which is too far.
  3. The gross margin for such vegetables is too low, and delivery needs to be especially timely. 2. Mostly fruits and foods So Youyou mainly does group buying for fruits, as well as some local specialties and snacks.
  4. They can be pre-ordered and delivered at a specified time.
  5. When a certain quantity is reached, the merchant will ship for free or deliver directly to the door (even if the merchant uses flash delivery).
  6. They are easy to store, with a shelf life longer than 24 hours.
  7. The gross margin is relatively high. For example, selling a famous roast duck; if users buy it themselves, the cost is high. But through Youyou's group buying, the price is definitely not expensive, and Youyou herself earns a good profit. Seasonal products are also a must-promote, such as the recent peach-shaped plums, peaches, Lin'an spring bamboo shoots, sweet potatoes, and upcoming chestnuts and oranges. Daily necessities like rice, oil, salt, and sauce can also be purchased directly. Our family now buys rice through her, and it's delivered within 10 minutes. 3. Quantity and price Besides regular fruits, the products sold generally have guaranteed quantities, such as 3 jin, 5 jin, 20 pieces, or 50 pieces. Prices are definitely cheaper than buying yourself, although some products may be more expensive than at the community store, but compared to spending time to buy, users are willing to pay an extra one or two yuan. Overall, it's definitely very affordable. Because compared to store rent, apartment rent is cheaper, and wholesale prices are already low. -05- Daily operations of community group buying We just mentioned customer acquisition and product selection as part of operations. Besides that, how are daily group buying groups operated? 1. Send red envelopes frequently Regarding sending red envelopes, I've said it many times in the paid group of Shili Village, and I've told them various ways to send them. Don't think sending red envelopes is difficult or that it requires a huge cost. Actually, it's not. Red envelopes play different roles in different occasions and businesses. In Youyou's community group buying, she sends red envelopes every time a new product is launched and every time goods arrive. But each red envelope is just 1 cent. Why send them? Mainly to serve as a strong reminder! The notification of a red envelope is definitely more tempting than a text message. And even if it's only 10 cents, someone will grab it. 2. Order relay Why not send orders directly to the group owner privately? Why not make a product link? Why do group relays in the group? The core reason is to create contact opportunities and strengthen sales. Every time a user relays in the group, there's a new message, and you'll open the group to check. Every time an order is added, it stimulates you to make another order decision. That's the purpose of group relays. 3. Send more materials Especially buyer shows. Every time you send a product, provide more attractive shopping information. For example, when selling buns, include real photos of breakfast shops and the production process. When selling spring bamboo shoots, include photos of bamboo forests, videos of digging, and cooking tutorials. Also, include actual photos of buyers receiving the product or the finished product. These are materials that build trust and greatly stimulate other users' desire to order. -06- What individuals need to pay attention to when doing community group buying First, let me tell you that Youyou definitely makes money from community group buying, with at least 100 orders per day. I also believe that individuals have opportunities in community group buying. But if you want to do it, I need you to pay attention to the following aspects: 1. Community size This is a prerequisite. As I mentioned earlier, the competitive landscape in the community includes not only community stores but also group leaders from other platforms. So if you want to do community group buying, you must ensure that your community has enough households. Even if your own community is not large enough, ensure that two or three nearby communities together have enough households. 2. Product quality is paramount A few products can be a bit more expensive, but if product quality is poor, it ruins your reputation. After all, everyone is in the same community; you see each other often, and news spreads quickly in such a small community. So, for all products, you must personally inspect them! If users have any issues with products, offer no-questions-asked returns or exchanges, and even proactively compensate. This relationship is delicate. 3. Timely service Since you're in the same community, better service strengthens users' trust in you. Deliver as soon as possible; never delay. Solve problems as soon as possible; never shirk responsibility. Here's a small point: for example, sometimes we receive fresh items by courier when we're not home. We'll have the courier deliver them to Youyou's place, and they're happy to store them for us. Because we have to go pick them up and feel we owe them a favor, won't we buy again next time? So, don't be afraid of trouble. 4. Try not to hoard inventory Except for daily necessities like rice, oil, salt, and sauce, which are long-lasting, you can stock some for convenient delivery. For other products, don't stock up. As an individual doing group buying, purchase on demand and deliver on demand. This greatly reduces the pressure of storage, capital, and waste. Because you rent the apartment anyway, even if there are no goods, the space is still there, and you need to live somewhere. Alright, that's all for today. Source: Shili Village (ID: shilipxl); Author: Tianya living in Shili Village Tips will be paid 400-2000 yuan upon adoption.