Yangcheng Evening News reporter Shen Zhao

　　Recently, the community group buying platform Shihuituan was revealed to have shut down all its businesses across the country. The company has entered the aftermath stage, mainly dealing with the settlement of supplier payments and the settlement of employee wages.

In response to the rumors, the Shihui Group has not had any official response so far.

Only internal sources say that "there are still businesses in operation" and "the company currently has more than 160 employees, mainly in Beijing."

　　Compared with the nearly 10,000 employees in its heyday, Shihui Group is now in a lonely situation.

It has almost become a conclusion that Shihui Group, which has received multiple rounds of investment from Ali, has become an "abandoned son".

From the "Hundred Regiments Battle" to the constant shuffling, the only remaining in the finals are Meituan Select, Duoduo Cai, Taocaicai and Xing Sheng Select, the community group buying will usher in the end.

　　Backed by Ali Zeng, the scenery is infinite

　　Ten Hui Group was established in June 2018 by Chen Ying, the founder of the social e-commerce platform "You Good Things", and Wang Peng, the senior vice president of "Love Fresh Bee".

At first, the community was the entrance, aiming at the daily consumption scene of the family. After starting with fresh fruits, it gradually expanded to the fields of daily necessities and household items.

After 2019, it began to grow in a puzzle style, and successively acquired strong regional community group buying platforms such as "You Me You", "Haojile" and "Neighbors Talk".

　　In 2020, the epidemic "ripened" community group purchases, and Shihui Group is backed by Ali, and its scenery is infinite.

During this period, rapid development has been achieved, and many cities have achieved profitability.

In April 2020, GMV exceeded 650 million yuan, and the daily order peak exceeded 1.6 million.

At that time, Shihui Group had already achieved the head of community group buying and was the second giant in the market after Xingsheng Choice.

　　In this year, community group buying has become a sweet spot for capital grabbing, and Shihui Group has also received 4 rounds of capital injections in one year, with a total amount of more than 400 million US dollars.

　　According to public information, since its establishment in 2018, Shihui Group has received a total of 7 rounds of financing.

Ali participated in 4 of the rounds.

In March 2021, Shihui Group received US$750 million in Series D financing led by Ali.

At the beginning of 2021, Ali even provided the entrance of Taobao grocery shopping in a prominent position on the homepage of Taobao App, and Shihui Group is the preferred supplier for this entrance.

At this time, the Shihui Group not only has a lot of capital "not bad money", but also ushered in a peak of development under the blessing of Taobao, Alipay and other apps' traffic.

　　Stricter regulation becomes "abandoned child"

　　The frantic community group buying cannot escape the words "savage growth", and supervision will follow.

Since December 22, 2020, the State Administration for Market Regulation has held several administrative guidance meetings on community group buying orders, and has imposed fines on many companies.

　　Among them, Shihui Group also received a top fine of 1.5 million yuan in May 2021 for "low-price dumping and price gouging".

In addition, due to repeated violations of the relevant provisions of the "Price Law of the People's Republic of China", the relevant regulatory authorities have been fined more than 2 million yuan.

　　It is understood that after obtaining a financing of 750 million US dollars in March 2021, the latest round of financing of Shihui Group will be opened in early July of the same year. After a valuation of nearly $5 billion.

It is a pity that the Shihui Group, which relies on capital blood transfusion, failed to develop healthily.

Because of running too fast, the quality of goods, after-sales and management problems frequently fell off the chain.

　　On the other hand, the relationship between Ali and Shihui Group is no longer close.

Ali community e-commerce integrated and upgraded "Hema Market" and "Taobao Shopping" to a new brand "Taocai". After the upgrade, the default supplier of the entrance has also changed from Shihui Group to Hema Market.

The latter not only replaced the "starter" status of Shihui Group, but also started from the WeChat ecosystem (the Hema Market Mini Program) to expand the source of customers.

The status of the Ten Hui Group in Ali's eyes is in jeopardy.

　　So far, Shihui Group has not only failed to raise funds, but also lost the support of Ali to some extent.

On August 21, 2021, Chen Ying, the founder of Shihui Group, released an internal open letter, saying that "dramatic reforms will be carried out in some low-efficiency business areas".

Since then, Shihui Group has been exposed to the news that some urban businesses have been shut down, and it has been deeply involved in layoffs.

In December 2021, it was revealed that all grid warehouses in Hunan will be closed in a short period of time. It is expected that all businesses in Changsha will be closed by the end of the year. At the same time, it is reported that the number of employees has plummeted by 80%.

　　Can Prosperity Optimum hold up?

　　The rise and fall of the Ten Hui Group can be described as the epitome of the development of community group buying.

With the closure of Tongcheng Life earlier, the reshuffle of the community group buying track has intensified: Food Sharing Club has closed down, Shihui Group has been closed, and Prosperity Selection has also been under pressure.

At present, only Meituan Select, Duoduomaicai, Taocaicai and Xingsheng Select are left in the final circle of community group buying.

The community group buying market divided up by giants has almost no room for startups.

　　Zhuang Shuai, a special researcher of the E-commerce Research Center of Netease, and the founder of Bailian Consulting, believes that community group buying is a subsidiary business model and needs to rely on mature business formats (such as e-commerce, supermarkets, convenience stores, etc.) to develop.

Therefore, in the face of competition, independent community group buying companies such as Shihui Group cannot afford high operating costs and long-term investment. If capital does not continue to support, it will be difficult to sustain.

　　Bao Yuezhong, a special researcher and a new retail expert at the E-commerce Research Center of Netease, also said that community group buying is a form of retail, and it is very difficult to make a single model.

The best development direction is to integrate with "to-store" or "to-home" retail in order to be full of vitality.

He believes: "Xingsheng Optimization will not escape the end of Shihui Group and these other platforms in the future."

　　As for the future development of community group buying, Zhuang Shuai believes that after the community group buying track has fully entered the era of giants, price competition and group leader rebates have become the norm, and no one will be able to achieve positive returns in the short term. , Experience innovation has stagnated, and the entire industry has serious internal friction. The community group buying model will continue to exist for a long time relying on mature formats.