Jing Wang does most of her family’s grocery shopping through “community group buying”.

“I used to mainly shop at the supermarkets, but the prices of goods increased dramatically after the COVID pandemic,” the mother-of-two said. 

“It was around this time when many Asian grocers started to provide the option of group buying.”

Group buying involves people banding together through social media to purchase goods in bulk. 

It became widespread in China as a survival strategy to help people get essentials during the harsh COVID-19 lockdowns when many buildings were sealed off and deliveries were restricted.

Facilitated by the multi-purpose social media platform WeChat — which allows retailers to create “sub-apps” or “mini-apps” — residents from the same building would together place a single order for groceries and meals.

The model has since become popular among Chinese communities in Australia.  

“Almost every Asian grocer in my area has created their own group-buy WeChat groups, each with around 500 people,” said Jing, who lives in the Melbourne suburb of Point Cook.

It’s difficult to compare overall prices between retailers and group-buying prices vary, but Jing said she found them to be roughly as much as 30 per cent cheaper than shopping at supermarket chains. 

“[It’s] also cheaper compared with buying the same thing on shelf from the Asian grocer,” she said. 

Another major advantage of group buying, according to Jing, was the convenience.

“As a busy mum, going to physical markets is very time-consuming,” she said.

“Almost every Chinese-Australian family I know uses group buy, especially those with children or older people in the household.”

It’s useful for more than just fresh produce.

“I’ve also ordered cooked meals, skincare products, and desserts through group buy,” Jing said.

Why is group buying cheaper?

Angela Wang, the owner of a small Asian grocer in Melbourne’s Brighton, started organising group buys during Victoria’s lengthy COVID lockdowns.

Starting with a group of around 100 people during the pandemic, Angela now has about 750 customers across two group buy WeChat groups.

The model was essentially a “pre-sale bulk buy” model that reduced costs and risks associated with the supply chain, she said.

“Fresh produce like fruits or cakes spoil very quickly … so for Coles, Woolworths or other physical grocers, they might have to worry about spoiled goods and the loss that they need to cover,” Angela said.

“They may raise the prices to cover these costs and risks, but for group buy, we don’t have to worry about these costs because things were sold beforehand.

“We’re getting the wholesale price, which is cheaper than buying individual items from supermarkets.”

With group buying, customers often get fresher produce than they would from the shelves, Angela added.

Fruit and vegetables are generally delivered the day after they have been picked, and meat is also usually fresh from the butcher.

If items are nearing expiry, they are often sold at cheaper prices.

Discounts, new products and consumer protection

Ivan Liang, the owner of an Asian grocery warehouse in Melbourne’s Mount Waverly, said creating close-knit communities was the essence of the business model. 

Ivan said there wasn’t much profit in selling to groups, but it did help bring more customers into the shop.

“When people come to pick up their orders, they would usually also shop in store,” he said.

The group-buy chats have also helped him find other products that members of the Chinese-Australian community wanted.

“I recently found a supplier that produces a specific type of greens called ‘chicken feather greens’ upon the requests of the group members,” Ivan said.

Monash University marketing expert Jeff Wang said the WeChat groups functioned as “informal unions” to safeguard customers’ rights. 

“If there’s really bad quality products or the middle person is irresponsible, consumers in the group can take actions such as [collectively] demanding their money back, or telling each other never to buy this product from this seller again.”

However, Ivan said it was important the group’s leader was reliable and responsible. 

“I would usually visit the suppliers in-person and look at their products,” he said.

“This is maybe why most customers trust Asian grocers as the organisers of group buys, as opposed to the ones that operate from their own homes or something.” 

The community group-buying model is just one of the direct-to-consumer shopping schemes that have sprung up in Australia in recent years.

All have different selling points such as the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance, which allows people to support farmers by paying an annual fee, and in return get a voice in what crops they grow.

“People want shorter supply times from paddock to plate, less handling of the food for fresher produce, and, of course, better prices,” said Farmers Markets Association secretary Jane Adams.

Another subscription model, Farmers Pick, offers surplus or “imperfect” produce that would otherwise go to waste.

“Savvy shoppers are becoming more conscious of their consumption and purchase habits,” said Farmers Pick co-founder Josh Ball.

Will group buying become more popular? 

While they became more widespread during the pandemic, Professor Wang said community group buying emerged as grass-root collectives in China more than a decade ago.

“It started with the chat rooms on the internet, where 10 or 20 people interested in buying the same things would set up a group and go to the vendor to ask for discounts,” he said.

Dr Wang said the group-buying model had potential to become popular in the wider Australian community. 

However, he said it was heavily reliant on WeChat, as the “super app” allows people to chat, form groups and send each other payments.