"Morning meeting and leaving in the afternoon", caught in a layoff storm
What happened to Shihui Group, a community group buying "veteran" platform
On August 23, the employees of the multi-site tenhui group told the Red Star Capital Bureau that due to the strategic integration of the company's business in some areas of the company with Alibaba's MMC (community e-commerce business group), the multi-city business was shut down, and many employees were suddenly informed by the company Layoffs.
Some employees said that they were still at work in the morning and were notified of layoffs in the afternoon. They did not get the entry contract and did not get the n+1 compensation.
Shihui Group is a "veteran-level" platform for community group buying.
On August 21, Chen Ying, the founder of Shihui Group, issued an internal open letter "A Self-Innovation Focusing on the Long-term Value of Users", stating that "in some business areas with lower efficiency, drastic reforms will be carried out."
The Red Star Capital Bureau called the Shihui Group about this matter, and the staff of Shihui Group confirmed the authenticity of the internal open letter and stated that due to the abolition of some areas, there are indeed layoffs; and some areas will reach an agreement with the Alibaba community e-commerce business group. Integration and cooperation.
However, the staff member said that it is not yet clear about the specific integration and cooperation methods.
Tenhui group employees were laid off in many places
On August 23, Mao Qinqin (a pseudonym), a probationary employee of the Shihui Group, revealed to the Red Star Capital Bureau that recently her department was suddenly laid off by the company.
Mao Qinqin said that on August 21, the company sent an open letter e-mail mentioning the so-called regional integration, "I was still at work in the morning on the 21st, and suddenly had a meeting in the afternoon to discuss internal integration (layoffs). During the meeting, the office computers were all It was taken away, and SF Express came to send things to the door that afternoon."
"The layoffs were not notified in advance in accordance with the regulations, and I have not given an explanation until now." Mao Qinqin told the Red Star Capital Bureau, "After the meeting, we went to HR and the district chief (regional person in charge) to talk about the layoffs. There is no compensation if the period has expired; if the probation period has passed, one month’s compensation will not be received.” According to Mao Qinqin’s understanding, no one can get the n+1 compensation, but the compensation for employees after the regularization is still unclear. clear.
After the Red Star Capital Bureau interviewed a number of Shihui Mission employees, they learned that currently, employees are suddenly laid off in Zhengzhou, Xi'an, Kunming, Fuzhou, Chengdu, Xuzhou and other places.
And many employees confirmed to the Red Star Capital Bureau that the layoffs involve all employees in almost all departments such as operations, procurement, data, and marketing.
But these employees are not completely consistent, such as "senior management may go to other cities, others are basically unemployed"; "all employees were laid off, the city's business as a whole closed and withdrawn."
In addition, the Red Star Capital Bureau noticed that Shihui Mission was accused of withholding employees’ entry contracts.
A number of probationary interviewees said that after joining the Ten Club, there is a half-year probation period, during which no entry contract has been obtained, so it is difficult to initiate labor arbitration; when leaving the company, the company requires the employee to sign on the condition of the current month’s salary Resignation letter for voluntary resignation.
"I joined the company in May this year. I haven't gotten the entry contract so far. I have asked for no results during the period. But without the contract, I can't bring up labor arbitration." Li Hui (pseudonym), an employee of the Tenhui Mission in Zhengzhou, told Red Star Capital Bureau said.
Xu Feng (pseudonym), an employee of the Tenhui Group Xuzhou region, said, “If you don’t sign voluntary resignation, you may not get your salary in August. Employees who sign on the spot to confirm voluntary resignation can get an interview with Ali MMC Hema. But whether it can be hired, we have to wait for notification."
"Alibaba originally invested in the Shihui Group. Now Hema wants to do community group purchases by itself. The Shihui Group will package and sell us people to Ali." Xu Feng revealed that Ali paid 2 billion yuan to complete the integration. Hui Tuan needs to close business in 20 cities.
The Red Star Capital Bureau called the Shihui Group about this matter. The staff of the Shihui Group confirmed the authenticity of the internal open letter to the Red Star Capital Bureau, and stated that due to the abolition of some areas, there are indeed layoffs; some areas will communicate with the Alibaba community. The business group reached an integrated cooperation.
However, the staff member said that it is not clear about the specific cooperation method.
Is the cooperation with Alibaba MMC a precursor to Shihui Group’s exit?
Large-scale layoffs and business closure overnight were surprising.
Public information shows that before the giants flooded into the community group buying track in July 2020, Shihui Group had achieved the top of the community group buying and became the second player in the market after Xingsheng Optimal.
Since 2018, Shihui Group has received a total of 7 rounds of financing with a total amount of over 8.29 billion yuan, including Alibaba, GGV Jiyuan Capital, Times Capital, CICC Capital and many other well-known institutions to participate in investment.
With Internet giants deploying community group buying, the industry track has become crowded.
In addition to external competition, Shihui Group also faces problems such as stricter market supervision and declining consumer reputation.
According to the domestic online consumer dispute mediation platform Dian Su Bao, in the first half of 2021, Xingsheng Optimal, Orange Heart Optimal, Shihui Tuan, Meituan Optimal, etc. received the most complaints from users. The complaints mainly focused on return and refund issues and merchandise. Quality, order issues, false promotions, poor after-sales service, online fraud, etc.
At the beginning of 2021, Shihui Mission began to carry out business cooperation and collaboration with Ali’s MMC business group; at the end of January, Shihui Mission’s business was fully integrated into the mobile Taobao “Taobao Buying Food” portal.
According to 36 krypton reports, in the peak period, Taobao shopping traffic accounted for 30% of the total order volume of the Shihui group, but the current ratio has dropped to 5%-8%.
In this internal open letter, Shihuituan once again mentioned the cooperation with the Alibaba community e-commerce business group, saying that “at the end of the supply chain, the in-depth access of various partners including Alibaba Ecology will help Shihuituan to get through More high-quality fresh food, daily chemical department store supply resources, while upgrading the product offerings for users, further enhance the Shihui Group's own supply chain capabilities."
The Red Star Capital Bureau interviewed Ali on how the two parties cooperated. As of the time of publication, no effective response has been received.
Mo Daiqing, director of the online retail department and senior analyst of the e-commerce research center of the Net Economics, analyzed the Red Star Capital Bureau: "Alibaba's investment in the Ten Hui Group aims to shorten the distance between Pinduoduo and JD.com in terms of community group purchases, and accelerate the layout. , To seize market share. At present, there has not been any oligarch in community group buying. Although the giants have entered the game, everyone still has a chance. The crisis of Shihui group may change Ali’s layout of community group buying, even with Ali MMC For regional integration in some areas, the Tenhui Group may also be out of the game."
Changes in the industry
Community group buying unicorn retreat
The future pattern may be polarized
In the community group buying competition, Shihui Group is not the first company to face the possibility of being out.
On July 26, Du Fei, the senior partner of Shixianghui, announced his official resignation on Weibo. The founder, Dai Shanhui, ceased to serve as chairman and was replaced by Yang Feng.
According to a report by the Securities Daily, at that time, the Wuhan Headquarters of the Food Sharing Club had been empty, the supplier's payment had not yet been settled, and the employees' wages had also been owed.
Earlier, Fresh Orange Technology, the main operating company of the community group buying unicorn "Tongcheng Life", issued an announcement that due to poor management, it filed an application for bankruptcy and abandoned the original community group buying business. The new brand name "Micheng" will be activated immediately. Life".
In addition, according to media reports, Jingxi Pinpin, a subsidiary of JD.com, has retreated from Shanxi; Orange Heart has moved its headquarters to Beijing and Hangzhou, and the "war subsidy" has been cancelled simultaneously.
But on the other hand, Prosperity Optimal is rumored to be about to complete a new round of US$300 million in financing, with a post-investment valuation of US$12 billion.
In this regard, Zhuang Shuai, a special researcher of the E-Commerce Research Center of the Net Economics and the founder of Bailian Consulting, told the Red Star Capital Bureau that after the "large window period" during the epidemic last year and the "fever reduction period" this year, polarization or community group buying Future direction.
“Giants such as Duoduo Maicai and Meituan Maicai have advantages in capital and traffic. Internet thinking and play are more prominent. They sacrifice profits and continue to scale up nationwide; group-buying platforms at the waist and below will focus on their original advantages. Regionally, improve the cold chain logistics, ensure the freshness of products, enrich the variety of dishes, and provide one-stop shopping service." Zhuang Shuai said.
Chengdu Commercial Daily-Red Star News Reporter Yu Yao and Xie Yutong