How Meituan and Pinduoduo are transforming remote Chinese towns with community group buying


Meituan, Pinduoduo and others are counting on China’s burgeoning community group-buying business to penetrate fast-developing rural areas. Reliable mobile Internet connection allows residents in remote towns to embrace online grocery shopping. — SCMP

Xiang Meiling used to have only one job working at a small local hospital in Lichuan, a remote county on the border between central China’s Hubei province and the megapolis of Chongqing. Nowadays, when she is not attending her duties as a nurse, she runs a WeChat group of 157 members, all of them customers that she introduced to a community group-buying platform from on-demand service giant Meituan.

It all started in December, when Xiang began using Meituan Youxuan, which pools together residents of the same community to purchase groceries and other daily essentials in bulk at a discount. The 27-year-old single mother was so impressed by the selection, price and convenience that she signed up to be a community leader. Now, she spends her two-and-a-half-hour lunch break packing arriving goods at her home nearby and taking care of orders and inquiries from members.

Play, subscribe and stand a chance to win prizes worth over RM39,000! T&C applies.

Monthly Plan

RM 13.90/month

RM 11.12/month

Billed as RM 11.12 for the 1st month, RM 13.90 thereafter.

Best Value

Annual Plan

RM 12.33/month

RM 9.87/month

Billed as RM 118.40 for the 1st year, RM 148 thereafter.

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