She Ying

　　The biggest drawback of low-price subsidies for community group purchases is that there is too much "involution", even the giants can't handle it.

Relevant departments have previously issued regulations such as "nine musts" for community group purchases to remind the industry not to deviate from the right track, not to curb the development of the industry.

　　Recently, Didi’s community group buying platform, Orange Heart Preferred, was shut down across the board.

Previously, platform companies such as Didi, Meituan, Pinduoduo, and Ali invested heavily in community group buying business. Who would have thought that community group buying has become colder today.

　　Some people believe that the turning point of community group buying is the "nine musts" of community group buying issued by relevant departments in 2020, including the prohibition of low-cost dumping.

Since then, the ultra-low-price sales behaviors such as "1 cent to buy eggs" have been restrained by major platforms, and community group buying has lost its killer tool for rapid drainage.

But if it is said that regulation has blocked the way for community group buying, this pot regulation is not to be reckoned with.

　　The more important reason is that the low-cost subsidy business model itself is not sustainable and is suspected of breaking the law.

The State Administration for Market Regulation has published administrative penalty decisions on companies such as Orange Heart Select, Duoduomaicai, and Meituan Select.

Among them, it was revealed that a certain platform sold "10,000-group Shaanxi Red Fragrant Pears 300g/unit", marked "group purchase price ￥0.88", while the purchase cost was 2.4 yuan/unit, and the price was less than half of the purchase price.

The administrative penalty decision pointed out that the actual selling price of a large number of products on these platforms was lower than the purchase cost.

If operating costs are included, the actual sales revenue is much lower than the cost.

Regulators have characterized it as "the act of selling goods below cost for the purpose of excluding competitors," violating price laws.

　　It's a pity that community group buying has come to the point where it is today.

The economic value and social value of this business form were originally verified.

In the early days of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, community group buying startups such as Xingsheng Select and Shihui Group developed very well, helping local residents to meet their living needs.

The dazzling performance of community group buying at that time stimulated the participation enthusiasm of platform business giants to a certain extent.

　　Sadly, the industry seems to be led astray.

The relevant person in charge of Xingsheng Selection later concluded, "The model of community group buying itself is advanced and has great social and economic value, but the ultra-low price subsidy method breaks its original gradual development law."

In addition, some players are following the trend and have not made good plans and preparations, and the industry itself requires a high degree of control and integration of supply chains and logistics. .

　　For these drawbacks, the giants also understand, but some are difficult to ride a tiger, so they can only continue to spend money, betting that they can get rid of their competitors before being bitten by the tiger.

This used to be the winning way for catering group purchases, online car-hailing and other industries, but it is no longer feasible now that the laws and regulations are improving day by day.

　　Among the voices criticizing community group buying, some people think that they should not care about the radish and cabbage of small merchants.

Now it seems that the biggest drawback of low-price subsidies is that the "involution" is too much, even the giants can't bear it.

In this sense, the relevant departments have previously issued regulations such as "nine musts" for community group purchases to remind the industry not to deviate from the right track, rather than to curb the development of the industry.

　　After the market beating, the giants began to strategically stop losses, and many platforms have contracted the group buying business and turned to explore a way out that is more in line with their own characteristics.

The one who jumped off the back of the tiger first may not be the loser, but may also be the smart person who stopped the loss in time.

After all, community group buying is only one of the attempts of enterprises to explore diversified businesses. As long as the enterprise remains in the green hills, there are still opportunities to be discovered in the market.