---
title: "The Ebb and Flow of Community Group Buying Through the Eyes of a 'Group Leader'"
description: "Zhang Hong, a community group-buying leader in Wuhan, has seen her workload surge with the latest COVID-19 outbreak, receiving over 400 orders in a day. Over two years in the role, she has witnessed the rise and fall of the industry, balancing the challenges of low commissions, platform pressures, and the personal connections that sustain her work."
author: "关注社区团购的"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
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published: "2022-03-15"
language: "en"
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---

# The Ebb and Flow of Community Group Buying Through the Eyes of a 'Group Leader'

> Zhang Hong, a community group-buying leader in Wuhan, has seen her workload surge with the latest COVID-19 outbreak, receiving over 400 orders in a day. Over two years in the role, she has witnessed the rise and fall of the industry, balancing the challenges of low commissions, platform pressures, and the personal connections that sustain her work.

"Dear neighbors, today's orders have all arrived. Please come down in an orderly manner to pick up your goods," Zhang Hong has been busier than usual lately. As a "group leader," her workload is often closely tied to the pandemic.

On February 22, Wuhan held a press conference on COVID-19 prevention and control, reporting 14 new confirmed cases and infections, along with the locations they had visited. This marked the third severe outbreak the city had faced since early 2020.

The day after the press conference, Zhang Hong received over 400 orders across various platforms, whereas on normal days without outbreaks, her total daily orders across all platforms had sometimes been below 200.

In another month, Zhang Hong will have officially been a community group-buying leader for two years. During this time, she has witnessed firsthand the rise and fall of the community group-buying industry.

**Whether busy or idle, the nearly 60-year-old Zhang Hong sorts goods delivered by various platforms every day in her small area at the community gate, waiting for neighbors to pick them up. Although being a group leader has been widely criticized as a thankless job, Zhang Hong seems to have grown accustomed to this life.**

In a conversation with this dedicated group leader, we at Jiou Pai (jioupai) also discovered from another perspective the residual "foundation" of the community group-buying industry and the special role of the group leader.

**From a Retired Civil Servant to a Community Group Leader**

Zhang Hong's path to becoming a group leader is closely linked to the sudden onset of the pandemic.

On December 31, 2019, Wuhan issued its first notice about an unknown pneumonia, confirming the presence of an unprecedented virus in the city.

On the evening of January 19, Professor Zhong Nanshan confirmed human-to-human transmission of the new pneumonia; at 10 a.m. on January 23, Wuhan implemented an unprecedented lockdown; and on February 17, residents were banned from going to supermarkets to buy goods themselves.

The increasingly stringent policy controls quickly spread panic across Zhang Hong's social circle. At the same time, they laid the groundwork for the later prevalence of community group buying.

"At the end of February, like all community residents, I followed the community's instructions and lined up at the basketball court downstairs to pick up vegetables," Zhang Hong saw the hard work of community workers.

(Image source: Internet)

Having retired from a government institution years ago, she discussed with her family and decided to join the volunteer team. Through coordination with local Wuhan supermarkets like Wushang and Zhongbai, Zhang Hong began to understand the underlying model of community group buying. At that time, with the pandemic still raging in Wuhan, community lockdown management and the promotion of community group-buying services were inherently compatible.

Because of the sudden pandemic, many daily supplies in the community were completely unable to meet residents' needs. Against this backdrop, Zhang Hong and several other retired colleagues from the community's veteran cadre office took on the role of "group leaders," responsible for contacting local retail companies in Wuhan.

**Initially, Zhang Hong dealt with private platforms such as Dajianhui, Silingtuan, and Kunli, but eventually gave up due to issues like stale products and untimely delivery. Later, she transitioned to unicorn community group-buying platforms like Shihuituan and Shixianghui, which gradually stabilized.**

Moreover, although nominally a group leader, Zhang Hong actually served as a volunteer. Every day, she was responsible for coordinating with delivery drivers, unloading goods, and notifying residents to pick up their vegetables based on orders placed on the app, without any compensation.

It wasn't until the pandemic gradually stabilized that Zhang Hong truly became a group leader. Thanks to her excellent performance during the "internship," platforms like Meituan and Taocaicai did not impose any assessment thresholds on her. Zhang Hong had not heard of the rumored performance and new-user requirements such as "complete 70 orders within 7 days with a customer unit price above 1 yuan; attract 5 new users."

"At first, I only had a few dozen orders a day, and the platform's regional manager praised me for outperforming other regions." Zhang Hong seemed to have little awareness of the rumors about group leader KPIs.

Not pursuing performance and with the original intention of ensuring the basic living needs of the community's elderly, Zhang Hong "accidentally" began her career as a group leader. However, she never expected to continue for over two years.

**After Becoming a Group Leader, a Different Kind of Fulfillment**

After becoming a formal group leader, Zhang Hong's daily work became "simple."

Compared to her previous volunteer experience, she was initially unfamiliar with verifying user orders and coordinating pickup and delivery. Now, Zhang Hong has long been accustomed to a busy life.

Waking up just after 8 a.m., Zhang Hong's first task is to go to her designated area, a small open space next to the community gatehouse. She then disinfects more than a dozen storage bins with alcohol disinfectant, top to bottom.

At 9:15 a.m., the first platform's goods arrive at the community gate, and Zhang Hong quickly helps the driver unload. Next, she must sort and package the goods from various platforms as quickly as possible to ensure that neighbors can be notified to pick up their orders in the afternoon.

(Photo by Jiou Pai)

In the evening, after the last neighbor picks up their goods, Zhang Hong cleans up her area thoroughly. Then she returns home to prepare for the next group-buying session, sharing the link in the community's large group chat.

**In a 24-hour day, she spends nearly two-thirds of her time busy with community group-buying matters.**

(Image source: Zhang Hong's community WeChat group-buying group)

Moreover, her career as a group leader has not been smooth sailing. Shortly after taking over as the Meituan Select group leader, a batch of new Meituan Select goods was checked by Zhang Hong, and she found that several customers' orders were short. Out of necessity, she contacted the Meituan Select truck driver and operations staff, and managed to replenish the goods that same day.

Of course, shortages still occurred from time to time, and Zhang Hong spent her free time shuttling between platform operations and residents.

"The people I interact with most are not regional managers but truck drivers," like most ordinary group leaders, once regional managers set targets, there is little further communication with the many group leaders.

Another major annoyance is home delivery. Zhang Hong's community has many retired colleagues, including some elderly with mobility issues. Out of kindness and a sense of responsibility, Zhang Hong often carries heavy items like rice and milk, climbing up to the seventh floor.

Sometimes, when buildings are locked down due to the pandemic, she also assists medical staff in providing basic food supplies to residents in isolated buildings. Having worked in the community for decades and becoming the "group leader" in residents' minds after retirement, personal connections have become Zhang Hong's greatest asset in the community group-buying industry.

**According to the "2021 China Community Group Buying Market Data Report," the eight major complaints about community group buying in 2021 were: refund issues, shipping issues, product quality, false promotions, after-sales service, information leakage, frozen merchant funds, and untimely ticket issuance.**

Although product quality varies across platforms, and shortages or quality issues often occur, neighbors do not make things difficult for Zhang Hong and sometimes even proactively cooperate with her in exchanging goods.

On the other hand, as her work as a group leader deepened, Zhang Hong gradually witnessed the rise and fall of brands within the community group-buying industry.

The private brands she first encountered when starting community group buying have either gone bankrupt or transformed, with almost none surviving to this day. Zhang Hong's most vivid memory is from June 2020, when she contacted a fresh food delivery company called "Kunli." After several months of cooperation, it ended due to product quality issues.

(Photo by Jiou Pai)

Later, she heard that the brand had transformed into a physical store, but business still did not improve. With the entry of giants like Alibaba, Meituan, and Pinduoduo, staying put for these local private platforms was undoubtedly like boiling a frog in warm water.

"This platform's stuff is a bit expensive; might as well go to the offline supermarket," Zhang Hong sometimes pays attention to neighbors' comments about different platforms in the group chat, while also marveling at the strong ability of the big companies to sustain burning cash.

Now, the daily order volume across the four platforms Zhang Hong operates can reach nearly 500 at its peak, covering over a thousand people in the community. This is undoubtedly a testament to her diligent work.

**The latest data shows that in 2021, the transaction scale of China's community group-buying market reached 120.51 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 60.4%. In 2021, the number of community group-buying users reached 646 million, a year-on-year increase of 37.44%.**

Beyond the data, Zhang Hong has seen all the ups and downs of community group buying.

**Can a Group Leader Make Money?**

Although Zhang Hong's original intention was not to make a profit, with her pension, she doesn't financially need the group leader job to significantly increase her income.

But as several major internet companies fiercely compete in community group buying, the internet is still filled with discussions about the salary of this "special" position.

**"Just a bunch of tools who provide labor to earn service fees," a group leader on a certain platform described their job online.**

Zhang Hong agrees with this statement. Like most group leaders, Zhang Hong's income as a group leader consists of two main parts: "commission" and "bonus."

Image source: Meituan Select group leader mini-program

The size of the bonus is linked to the progress of attracting new users and the number of daily link shares. According to the data on Zhang Hong's Meituan group leader app, a 5-yuan bonus requires Zhang Hong to get 7 people to place orders and share the link 3 times.

For attracting new users, inviting customers to repurchase can earn up to 8 yuan, while inviting new users can earn up to 35 yuan. Of course, behind the rosy vision lies a harsh reality: after the cash-burning wars of major platforms in 2021, there are few new users left.

The relatively reliable source of income is actually the commission. Currently, most platforms Zhang Hong works with have significantly reduced the commission rate for group leaders compared to the peak period, dropping from 15% to less than 5%, with only Taocaicai and Jingxi sometimes reaching 10%. Of course, it also depends on the category of products ordered by users.

Zhang Hong also empathizes with the harsh treatment of group leaders by platforms. Usually, the most common complaint in Zhang Hong's group leader chat group is that the platform only calculates rewards when users place orders through the link provided by the group leader.

"Sometimes the backend shows that the daily order count has exceeded 20, but the group leader reward activity still hasn't been triggered," after a user's first purchase, they are more accustomed to entering the mini-program or app themselves to place orders, which brings uncertainty to Zhang Hong's income.

Image source: Taocaicai mini-program

Based on the current 400 orders per day, with an average of over 100 orders per platform per day, Zhang Hong finds that the daily income from the four major platforms, led by Meituan Select, is around 40 yuan each, expanding to about 6,000 yuan per month. Compared to the online complaints of earning 30 yuan in 7 days, it's much better.

Of course, the biggest difference between Zhang Hong and other group leaders is that the community provides her with pickup points, storage bins, and even refrigerated cabinets. Zhang Hong's only cost comes from the plastic bags she buys from the platform. For other sites operated by mom-and-pop stores, even the cost of water and electricity cannot be ignored.

**"Flexible hours," "generous commissions," "part-time opportunity"—these advantages of the group leader position promoted by platforms seem somewhat unreal after truly experiencing them.**

Many newcomers ultimately end up like some community group-buying brands, quietly exiting.

**Final Thoughts**

"Being able to become a group leader after retirement, I still feel very proud," no matter how long the pandemic lasts, Zhang Hong will continue to hold this position. In this role based on personal connections, Zhang Hong is one of the better performers, while the persistence of other group leaders may be more tragic.

Ceding one's own relationship network, coupled with extremely low-cost physical labor. The role of group leader, seemingly without any barriers to entry, also hides a lot of helplessness.

**In addition to the delivery rider positions that have frequently topped the hot searches recently, another major flexible job—community group-buying group leaders—also deserves more attention.**

Entering 2022, for all players in the community group-buying industry, no brand can confidently continue burning cash.

But when this "passionate" business becomes rational and returns to increasing revenue and reducing expenditure, how much pressure will be transferred to group leaders?

Source: Jiou Pai (ID: jioupai) Author: Hei Jialun References: 1. "Saving Years of Connections, Going to Sea as a Meituan Group Leader Selling Vegetables, Earning 30 Yuan in 7 Days" Lueda Cankao 2. "2021 China Community Group Buying Market Data Report" Wangjingshe

_**-END-**_


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