Internet giants start to burn money and sell vegetables to seize the community group buying outlet

　　Our reporter Li Chunlian and Li Qiaoyu

　　Recently, there has been constant news about Internet giants entering the market to sell vegetables.

　　On December 1, mobile Taobao and Alipay launched the "Taobao Shopping" business in Hubei, using the community group buying model.

This is the first time Alibaba has opened core traffic resources to community group buying business.

　　In addition to Alibaba, Internet giants such as Tencent, Pinduoduo, Didi, and Meituan have entered the game, and the battle for burning money and selling vegetables has intensified.

"Securities Daily" reporter saw on an e-commerce platform that you can buy a variety of vegetables and fruits for 1 cent.

　　In order to attract traffic to seize the market, Internet giants are well versed in it.

Is this scene familiar?

It is still a familiar formula and a familiar taste. From online ride-hailing to shared bicycles, giants burned money to grab the market, and the crowds watched the fleece.

　　Zhu Danpeng, a senior researcher at the China Brand Research Institute, told the "Securities Daily" reporter that community group buying is a giant game. In the future, the overall competition in the industry will shift from the original capital scale and the number of fans to the integrity of the industry chain, the integration of the supply chain and the quality of fans. Compete in terms of customer system and customer stickiness.

　　Behind selling vegetables for 1 cent

　　"Securities Daily" reporters have seen in multiple e-commerce platform apps that in the exclusive area for newcomers, soybean sprouts, chestnut pumpkin, passion fruit, oranges and other varieties are all sold for 1 cent.

　　At the same time, many vegetables and fruits are priced at only 1.99 yuan, which is much cheaper than supermarkets and vegetable markets.

Such discounts have caused many people to download apps specifically to squeeze their wool.

　　Since the beginning of this year, Internet giants have continued to increase the number of community group buying platforms, and Didi tested the "Orange Heart Selection"; Meituan launched the "Meituan Selection", and the competition on this track has become increasingly fierce.

　　In addition to the e-commerce platforms under the giants, starting from community group purchases, it has already laid a world of prosperous selection and is making efforts to expand.

　　At the end of November, Xingsheng Optimal Group officially entered the Shenzhen area and started operations, and the first batch of 6000 stores went online.

　　Regarding the strong entry of Internet giants, the relevant person of Xingsheng Optimal Group told the reporter of "Securities Daily", "We will still follow our own rhythm. You will beat you, I will beat mine. Don't be biased by others. The other is Open up new cities, accelerate the penetration of the sinking market, continue to expand its own scale, and build stronger barriers to competition. It is expected to enter Anhui in December and Zhejiang in January. In 2021, it will enter more provinces such as Shanxi, Hainan, and Yunnan."

　　Behind the Internet giant's eye on the business of selling vegetables is this huge growing market.

　　IiMedia Consulting data shows that the community group buying market will develop rapidly in 2020, and the market size is expected to reach 72 billion yuan.

The community group buying market continues to sink, and at the same time, with convenient access services to achieve a high degree of user training, it is expected that the Chinese community group buying market will maintain a good growth trend in the future. By 2022, the Chinese community group buying market is expected to reach the level of 100 billion yuan.

　　Industrial Securities analysts said that fresh food is expected to become a new growth pole for e-commerce, and the influx of players into the community to join together is expected to promote the rapid growth of the industry.

Fresh food is a high-frequency consumption. For Internet companies, the flow value is huge. At the same time, the fresh food industry has a trillion-level market space. The entry of fresh food e-commerce is of great significance to boosting the company’s own income level. Fresh teamwork is expected to drive the revenue of major platform companies to a new level.

　　Community group buying becomes the hottest outlet

　　With the entry of Internet giants, traditional community group buying platforms are facing an uphill battle.

　　As market rumors flourish and optimize the new round of financing has been quietly launched, the company's relevant person told the "Securities Daily" reporter that the company has no public information for the time being. Regardless of whether it is financing or not, the company will insist on implementing the "user experience" "The operating policy.

　　In fact, since the beginning of this year, community group buying is becoming a hot spot for capital.

　　At the end of May, Shihui Group completed a $81.4 million C1 round of financing led by GGV Jiyuan Capital; at the end of July, it received another $80 million C2 round of financing led by CDH Investment; at the end of November, Shihui Group announced the completion of 196 million US dollars. USD C3 round of financing.

　　In July of this year, Xingsheng preferred to complete the C+ round of financing with an amount of approximately US$800 million. The lead investor in this round is KKR, with Sequoia China, Tencent, Tianyi Capital and others following the investment.

　　“Community group buying must be one of the outlets of the new retail field in the future.” Zhu Danpeng believes that Chinese consumers have already enjoyed the benefits, convenience, safety, and efficient services brought by the entire community group buying.

For Internet companies, relying on their strong industrial chain, logistics and service system advantages, they will greatly increase customer stickiness.

　　Wherever the Internet giants go, they will face a reshuffle.

Under the power of capital, how the industry structure will evolve is still unknown.

Judging from the previous development of online car-hailing and shared bicycles, who can survive and become the leader in this trend is the final winner.

　　In this regard, relevant people in Xingsheng Optoelectronics said that for a market where “selling vegetables” is so rigidly needed, consumer experience must be the first element, and money-burning subsidies can only be periodic, which is a common way for giants to acquire users in the short term.

The past competitions such as shared bicycles and unmanned shelves have been fully verified. There is no future by burning money. If you can't perform well, you can't provide a good service experience. In the end, it is just a feather.

(Securities Daily)