The Folded Small Vendor: The trend of group buying washes out the small shops in the community

　　Ren Liying

　　A penny of 4 eggs, a penny of 90 grams of passion fruit, 13.49 yuan for 30 eggs, 400 grams of pork and green onion dumplings for a limited time price of 2.59 yuan... Open all kinds of community group buying software, "small and big" shopping surprises Come.

　　The ultra-low prices and door-to-door delivery free young office workers who have no time to take care of the vegetable market from another daily trivial matter.

However, in this battle for the sinking market, Internet giants acted as intruders to promote changes in the circulation field. The scope is not only vegetables and fruits, but also fast-moving consumer goods have also entered the "hunting" of community group buying. As a result, the living space of a group of small merchants and vendors is being folded.

1

Small business hawker:

Can't fight the price war, life is getting harder and harder

　　At the beginning of 2021, affected by the epidemic, community group buying took advantage of the trend in various districts of Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, and the trend was booming.

As the epidemic subsided, vegetable farms, commissaries, and convenience stores began to resume business one after another. The cannibalization and squeeze brought about by the Internet community group buying to the interests of stall owners finally came to light.

　　The Banyuetan reporter randomly visited several fresh food stalls at the Xiyangling Farmers Wholesale Market in Yuhua District, Shijiazhuang City.

　　Zhang Junxiu, owner of the Junxiu Fresh Food Store, said: "After the outbreak began at the beginning of the year, the community was closed for management. Many community group buying software and WeChat groups allowed everyone to buy food without leaving home. Although the price is slightly more expensive than the wholesale market, it is delivered to your door. Special merchandise discounts are strong or limited-time discounts. Many people have become accustomed to this purchase method after more than one month of use. Therefore, even if the closed community management is lifted two days before the Spring Festival, the number of customers in the market has never increased. ."

　　It is not just the merchants in the farmer’s fresh produce wholesale market that are affected. The Banyuetan reporter randomly visited small shops, convenience stores, and supermarkets in various districts of Yuhua District. Many shopkeepers said that “the days are getting harder and harder”.

He Jun, the owner of a vegetable shop on Jinma Road, said that some regular customers have flown to the community for group purchases, making some fresh vegetables unsold and rotten in the shop, and losses are inevitable.

　　"Songhuadan sells 0.99 yuan a piece online, we sell one for 2.8 yuan here, but my gross profit is only a few cents. Winter melon sells 0.99 yuan a catty online, but I have to sell 3.28 yuan to make money. How to compete Huh?" He Jun said.

　　65-year-old Li Erbai and his wife run a small shop of 10 square meters. Recently, their business has been worsening every day.

"Our old couple live mainly on this small shop. In the past few years, they were able to earn several thousand yuan in one month. This year's epidemic impact, coupled with community group purchases, has greatly reduced income. One month after the cost is removed, they can earn one or two thousand yuan. Fortunately, food and accommodation are in the store. I don’t know what to do in the future." Li Erbai said.

2

Head of the shop: Being in a number of groups, a dilemma

　　Wang Yun is the proprietress of the "Just Good" convenience store in Jiuli Courtyard Community, Yuhua District, Shijiazhuang City. Now she has one more identity-the community group buying group leader. She is also the group leader of 5 community group buying companies, namely Xingsheng Optimal and Orange Heart. Optimal, Shihui Mission, Meituan Optimal, Buy more vegetables.

　　Is there a conflict in being the head of the five groups?

Wang Yun said that it's not that complicated, but because she can leave the store online and have a place to buy things from her family, so she becomes the leader of the group.

　　"I can't make a lot of money. There is a larger supermarket in our community that is also a group purchase and pick-up point. There are many people over there. However, I don't put much effort into my daily life because there is also a business of sending and receiving express delivery." Wang Yun said .

　　But more group leaders are not as Buddhist as Wang Yun.

Many delegation leaders said that when this tide hit, there was no choice at all. After taking the opportunity, they found that it was not that simple. They did not make much money, increased the cost of time, and added a lot of trouble.

　　The reporter of Ban Yue Tan found that in convenience stores, lottery sites, express collection points, barber shops, driving school stores, etc., in second-tier cities and more sinking counties and towns and towns, many store owners have gained a new identity this year-head of the team.

　　"The situation is compelling, and we have to transform. For example, a box of Red Bull drinks sold to our group leader is 98 yuan on the group-buying platform, and 108 yuan to other people, but 108 yuan is also cheaper than the purchase price of our convenience store. , How do you sell in physical stores?” Aunt Li said why many small supermarket shopkeepers are troubled by the transformation of heads.

　　Internet giants have penetrated into cities outside the first-tier cities like capillaries through crazy subsidies.

According to Aunt Li's observation, now many grandparents have also started group buying. They no longer regard snapping up vegetables and eggs in the morning market as the best option. The number of elderly people who come to her to pick up vegetables is increasing.

　　"The group buying platform says that there are 9-10 points, but the actual situation is not so ideal. For example, the group buying platform does not provide plastic bags, and the bags are our heads' own pockets. At the same time, many goods need to be refrigerated, even if there is only one piece, you have to plug in the refrigerator. . Sometimes the residents of the community do not come to pick up the order for two or three days after placing the order, we have to help keep it." Aunt Li said.

　　Many delegation leaders said that the competition of group buying in multiple communities has forced the surrounding small shops to participate, otherwise they will be marginalized.

Aunt Li told the Banyuetan reporter that many times she feels that her small store is more like a collection point, and she has to bear operating risks and costs, such as rent, staff wages, and daily losses, but she does not cooperate with the platform and has no business. Very helpless.

3

Competitive hunting: the secret behind low prices

　　Fan Xiuying, the owner of the Fatty Fresh Store on Jinma Road, although she is currently the team leader and helping different group buying platforms "match orders", she told Banyuetan reporters that she is currently considering giving up the store’s fruit and vegetable business and focusing on daily necessities. .

　　"Customers can grab a few cents and a pound of apples and oranges on the platform. Who will come to the fresh store to buy fruit? I have already rotten several batches here. Sometimes I will grab low-priced vegetables on the platform. Fruits are sold in their own stores. It always feels strange and deformed." Fan Xiuying said.

　　In fact, "grabbing bargains" is not that simple.

The owner of the "just right" convenience store on Jinma Road gave Banyue Tan an example to reporters. Once the ribs on a certain platform were particularly cost-effective, dozens of orders came in after she released the news in the group.

As a result, no one delivered the goods the next day. "The group was exploded at that time"!

　　"Later I learned that the supplier refused to deliver the goods because they wanted to subsidize a little less. For such cheap goods, in addition to the crazy subsidy of the platform, there are also costs that the supplier let out, and some suppliers can't afford it. After that time , More than 20 customers were so angry that they retired my group leader." Wang Yun said.

　　In front of a stall selling mutton at the Xiyangling Farmers’ Market in Shijiazhuang City, Banyuetan reporters discovered that the mutton here is about 10 yuan more expensive than the community group buying platform.

The stall owner, Li Huibao, has been in the mutton business for six or seven years. He told reporters that the price of mutton was the highest this year, and the prices of fresh mutton and mutton scorpion would naturally be higher. However, the low price on the community group buying platform is the stock of frozen mutton, with different quality .

　　Many stall owners said that the platform has a lot of low prices. For example, the photos of vegetables and fruits on the photos are different from the actual delivery quality.

"Nowadays, many young customers don't choose dishes. As long as they don't rot so obviously, the quality is actually invisible. The prices of special dishes and ordinary dishes are definitely different, but for young customers, the visual difference is not big. Say.

4

Group buying software really creates a "shopping paradise"?

　　Does community group buying software really create a "shopping paradise"?

Nie Huihua, a professor at the School of Economics of Renmin University of China and a researcher at the National Institute of Development and Strategy, believes that in the short term, consumers will buy cheap goods.

In the long run, once consumers develop the habit of buying vegetables on the Internet platform, the platform will have the ability to carry out "big data".

　　Some citizens are also worried that the platform is rich in funds and can change tricks to engage in activities to attract customers. In the long run, the community stalls will either die or be tied to the platform's chariot.

Once a monopoly is formed, can consumers have good fruit?

　　On December 22, 2020, the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Ministry of Commerce convened an administrative guidance meeting on regulating the order of community group purchases. During the meeting, the “nine must not” were proposed. Among them, low-price dumping and Internet data were not allowed to "kill familiarity". The problem that arises in.

　　At the beginning of December last year, Cangzhou Huahai Shunda Grain, Oil and Seasoning Company stated that it had received complaints from many parties, and the community group buying platforms represented by Duoduomai and Meituan Zhuangyou had severely low prices, and even individual products were far below the ex-factory price, which harmed customers. interest.

Since then, Henan Weilong Foods also issued a similar notice to stop supply.

　　A netizen commented: "The current advantage will be doubled back in the future. Capital integration of the supply chain is actually eliminating middlemen, and the middlemen who are currently being eliminated are the bottom-level people who make a living by buying vegetables to feed their families. Little people. How can they live without a skill after grabbing their jobs? This is a matter of people's livelihood."

　　"Community group buying is a retail business, not an Internet business. The ultra-low price will undoubtedly destroy the retail industry supplier’s price system. It is intended to provide the retail industry with more channels and more possible businesses. But under the subsidy, the retail industry was eaten up.” said Cong Shan, the regional manager of group buying in a community in Shijiazhuang City.