Now 'community groups' and 'property security guards' have become hot commodities. Connecting with users through terminal community groups is the best opportunity for BC integration.
-01- Since the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, businesses have suddenly discovered that 'community groups' and 'property security guards' have become hot commodities. The more severe the epidemic area, the more effective they are.
Because traditional channels are blocked, they have become one of the few new channels that remain open.
Traditional stores are no longer effective. Except for some stores involved in essential livelihood needs that are allowed to open, many stores are not allowed to open. Even if they open, many people are afraid to go to crowded areas. Especially those in quarantine, they are not allowed to go out either.
E-commerce has also suddenly become powerless. For high-frequency essential needs, such as vegetables and daily necessities, this is not their strength. To put it bluntly, e-commerce is a gathering place for specific categories, such as long-tail products, high value-added products, and high-value products. It is mainly non-essential.
Private domain traffic suddenly stopped working. First, private domain traffic is mainly for personalized, niche products, not essential needs; second, private domain traffic does not have such high coverage. Vegetables and daily necessities are categories involving hundreds of millions of families. Which private domain traffic has such high coverage?
Community groups have become the best choice for achieving contactless ordering and 'contactless delivery' for the last mile.
-02- During the epidemic, whoever can establish a connection with users (families) will have business.
In the past, going to the store was the main commercial channel. Going to the store is user initiative. The premise is that users have sufficient freedom of movement.
During the epidemic, users' freedom of movement is restricted, requiring contactless ordering models and contactless delivery methods.
Contactless delivery methods mainly involve community delivery. Although it is not yet fully to the door.
'Contactless' ordering methods are nothing more than three types:
First, there are already ordering platforms, such as Hema, and many new retail platforms. New retail particularly emphasizes people, goods, and places. People refers to connecting with users through internet technology.
Second, community groups. Essential products, high frequency, large volume, require short-distance delivery (last mile). Community groups are the best connection method, and community delivery is the best delivery method.
Third, property security guards. This is a makeshift connection method. It is particularly effective for elderly people who cannot use platforms and groups. However, this model will disappear immediately after the epidemic.
In the past, contact-based commerce, users found stores. Users were active, stores were passive.
Now, contactless commerce, both parties can be active simultaneously. They can find each other. Because a community must have more than one store. A user may not only be in one group.
-03- In the past, when we talked about three-dimensional space (offline, community, network), we particularly emphasized that community is the router that connects the three-dimensional space.
Commercial communities generally have two types:
First, vertical communities. Communities are established because of common interests and values. For example, my 'Liu Chunxiong New Marketing Group' only talks about new marketing, not other topics. Group members come from all over the world, and in a specific city or community, the density is extremely low.
This type of community is suitable for niche products and personalized products. The so-called private domain traffic roughly refers to this type of community.
This type of community often needs to be built by manufacturers themselves.
Second, community groups. Community refers to a geographical concept. For example, convenience stores are often community stores, mainly serving users within a '5-minute walk'.
Community groups are about pulling users who are very close (community) into the group. These users live in the same community, seeing each other often. Offline shopping is almost in the same or similar stores. If it is a family compound, they may also be colleagues.
Community groups are mainly pulled by retail (catering) stores. Of course, now community group buying also has mothers pulling groups, which is also a community group.
Community groups naturally connect the two dimensions of offline and community. If you add a mini-program, it naturally connects the three dimensions.
-04- Our understanding of e-commerce is greatly influenced by Alibaba. When we talk about e-commerce, we think of benchmarking against Alibaba.
When we talk about community commerce, we are greatly influenced by micro-commerce (now called social e-commerce, or private domain traffic), and often benchmark against it.
Many people's understanding of three-dimensional space, if understood according to platform e-commerce and private domain traffic, the logic will definitely not work. This is the biggest obstacle to understanding the connection of three-dimensional space. The understanding of community and e-commerce has been preconceived.
When talking about communities for mass products, the benchmark is community groups. Community groups have two natural advantages: one is strong offline relationships; the other is strong community interaction.
It is not because you build a group that you become familiar, but because you are familiar that you join the group. Even if the interaction in the group is not active, it is still a valuable group.
No business without communication, communication brings business. No one wants to disturb others in the group. Group character is personal character. Personal character is known offline, and those without character would not be pulled into the group.
The high density of residence in China determines the high frequency of purchasing essential products. Unlike the United States, where people drive to shop once a week or half a month. Because of this, the geographical radius of a community group is often very small, a truly small community, not a large Western community.
In large communities, people only meet at parties. In small communities, people see each other often, even every day going to and from work.
-05- Teacher Fang Gang said that private domain traffic is community to community. Although there is offline, it is only a supplement or decoration. So private domain traffic must be built by manufacturers themselves. Establish relationships through communities with similar but unrelated people.
Community groups must have strong offline relationships. Strong offline relationships are accumulated over time, not quickly strengthened by pulling a group.
Community groups cannot be built by oneself, only utilized. Because community groups are public resources. Therefore, community groups are not private domain traffic, but public domain traffic. They do not only sell products of a certain manufacturer, but all products of a store.
Mass products have high terminal coverage and adapt to mass demand. It requires establishing high-coverage community groups, which cannot be built by manufacturers themselves, but only by utilizing stores with group-building capabilities.
For example, in the face of this epidemic, some had to close, and some had to use property security guards as connection points, because they had not established community groups earlier.
Since community groups are public resources, what is their value to manufacturers?
Whoever activates public resources, public resources can be used by them, and leverage effects can be generated.
So, how to activate community groups? This is a professional issue, not the focus of this article.
-06- In the past, deep distribution was 2B to the end. Now, through terminal community groups to users, it is BC integration.
BC integration means that manufacturers can either directly reach the C-end through community groups, or force the B-end through the C-end.
BC integration is beneficial to brand owners. Because the channel is completely opened.
However, the premise of BC integration is that deep distribution is done well, and the community groups of the B-end (actually R-end, retail end) can be utilized by manufacturers.
In the past, deep distribution was a screening for manufacturers, and BC integration will be another screening. The manufacturers that survive will become fewer and fewer.
The weak disappear, and those who survive have opportunities.
This epidemic has witnessed the power of community groups and has also made many people form habits. After the epidemic, some customers will definitely be retained. Perhaps the home delivery business may shrink significantly, but community groups as a scene for commercial communication may solidify.
Because community groups naturally connect the two dimensions of offline and community, they will be of great value in future omni-channel marketing.
Source: Teacher Liu's New Marketing (ID: liuchunxiong1964)