The general trend is unstoppable. In the current group buying arena, Xingsheng Youxuan stands out, while Tongcheng, Shihuituan, and Shixianghui compete for second place. Didi enters from Chengdu in the southwest, and Meituan expands in East and North China. The outcome is uncertain. This time, we focus on Meituan to witness Wang Xing's killer instinct.

-01- If you want war, then war it is!

2 billion yuan to open cities!

This is Meituan's exposed determination: stepping on Didi, competing fiercely with Xingsheng Youxuan. Meituan is fully motivated this time, killing one person every ten steps, leaving no trace for a thousand miles.

Whenever Meituan enters Didi's territory, rumors of Meituan acquiring Didi surface. This time, both are competing in the community group buying track, but the difference is that Didi struck first.

Didi is fierce, investing 20 million yuan, using capital to pave the way, and waging a price war in Chengdu. Currently, two warehouses have been opened in Chengdu, targeting Shihuituan, the number one in Chengdu. Cheng Wei appears calm but has a fierce inner drive; he wants to take the regional top spot.

Meituan, on the other hand, burns money to open the way, arriving later but overtaking, with heavy troops entering the game. According to reports, this time Meituan's emphasis on community group buying will exceed its B-side business Kuaitu (快驴). The high specification is rare. Currently, the first choices are East China and North China, with 2 billion yuan to fight the market. 2 billion yuan versus 20 million yuan—Meituan is going to make a big move!

It is understood that Meituan's first shot in group buying targets Jinan and Qingdao in Shandong, and they are currently preparing site selection and warehouse opening. For Meituan, Jinan and Qingdao lack oligarchs, and a single dominant player is rare. Although small and medium-sized group buying relying on regional joint procurement are densely distributed, their risk resistance is average. With Meituan's expedition, they will struggle to survive.

-02- Eliminate the "Group Leader"?

The most notable question is how Meituan will enter the community group buying track. Will it rise from the ground like Didi and establish a new mountain? Or will it learn from Alibaba, using capital to open the way and race horses on the track?

According to reports, Meituan is likely to enter the track with the central warehouse + front warehouse model of Meituan Maicai, using front warehouses to open the community group buying model. Is this layout a natural progression or a big step forward? Let's analyze below.

Unlike the underlying design logic of front warehouses of Dingdong Maicai and Miss Fresh, Meituan Maicai deliberately left a gap when laying out front warehouses: combining self-pickup stations with rider home delivery, rather than going all the way like PUPU Maicai, Dingdong Maicai, and Miss Fresh.

Meituan Maicai relies on flexible tactics, allowing customers to choose self-pickup or delivery to home. After the test of the pandemic, Meituan Maicai's model has impressed people. In the future, Meituan may replace group leaders with front warehouse station managers on the basis of large warehouses + small warehouses.

This approach has obvious effects: First, it can achieve same-day delivery, innovating the delivery timeliness of group buying; second, station managers are self-operated, making management easy; third, policies are implemented quickly and execution is strong. If combined with Meituan's ground promotion riders, the power is terrifying, and the title of the strongest group buying player is well-deserved.

Compared with Alibaba's Yifagou station manager model, Meituan Maicai's front warehouse station managers are full-time, with a base salary and professionalism, while Cainiao Station managers are mostly part-time, with significant gaps in after-sales, customer service, and service awareness compared to self-operated.

But the drawbacks of Meituan Maicai's approach are also obvious: self-operation limits fission attributes. Once franchising is opened, it will be backfired by station managers, and there are precedents in the group buying track.

A senior practitioner in community group buying revealed that Shihuituan once piloted a station manager model, but after converting group leaders to full-time station managers, these group leaders found themselves to be just advanced porters, so they successively "defected," starting their own small operations to seek higher profits. Greed knows no bounds. Station managers have higher requirements than group leaders, making them harder to control. The issue of station manager balance will affect the basic foundation of Meituan's entire group buying layout.

At the same time, the large warehouse + small warehouse approach is not conducive to sinking into lower-tier markets. Facing Xingsheng Youxuan's rural-encircling-city strategy, Meituan is temporarily unable to cope.

To "replace" group leaders, Meituan still needs to prioritize stability and face the chaotic situation with a natural layout—nothing better!

-03- Killer Instinct

Now dark clouds are pressing down on the city. Didi recalls the tragic defeat in Wuxi during the food delivery war, and this time on the group buying track, history repeats itself.

Compared to Meituan, Didi currently only has an advantage in C-end traffic. Meituan, relying on its years of experience in the fresh food arena, has made up for its supply chain shortcomings. In frozen products, it is hard to find an opponent. In the future, it will focus on "high frequency, fulfillment, and cost-effectiveness" to strangle Didi.

Meituan has no boundaries, Wang Xing has no friends, and Meituan is a killer who is not too cold!

Source: Kaiman 4000 (ID: kaiman4000) Author: Brother Six JOJO

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