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I once naively thought that I knew my hometown well enough.

It only takes 30 minutes to drive from the east to the west of the city. After living here for more than 20 years, I am already familiar with everything here.

Until recently, when I went home to visit with my cousin, I suddenly found this small town very unfamiliar.

The old restaurant that I have been eating at for more than ten years is packed with people. In addition to the locals, there are many strangers with foreign accents who come to try the new food. Occasionally, local young people will join in the chat and introduce other local specialties. Everyone is having a great time.

In the past, we would call friends to drink milk tea at local milk tea shops, but now chain milk tea and coffee shops are popping up like mushrooms after a rain. My cousin even took me to a hand-brewed coffee shop he often goes to and had a chat with me. The young people who have returned to their hometowns seem to be rebuilding a familiar lifestyle.

The ways of leisure and entertainment are also growing rapidly. In the past, I went to the internet cafe and billiard room when I went home. Now, I play script-killing games, escape rooms, camping, and even go to the bar to play games with friends???

According to my observation, no matter they are tourists from other places or local young people, when they check out, they always open the group buying software and let the store owner scan the coupons.

The trend of online group buying is spreading rapidly in this small city.

Especially my cousin, when he has nothing to do, he opens the group buying software and swipes it like crazy, and keeps saying, "You are lucky to be with me, I have stockpiled a lot of awesome coupons a while ago."

What? Stocking up on coupons?

"Group purchase coupons" are definitely not unfamiliar to young people. When they go out to a restaurant on weekends, as soon as they sit down, they have to check whether there are any affordable group purchase packages. Even if there are no suitable packages, they will use group purchase coupons to pay the bill.

But, isn't it all about eating and using? Why do we need to stock up?

I asked this question to my cousin.My cousin sent me a screenshot and said:NowWeekly StorageWhatVoucher,It has been decided where I will appear every weekend.

The more mysterious my cousin was, the more curious I became, as I loved to join in on everything. Using a search engine, I embarked on a journey to find the mystery.

If something can be “hoarded”, it means that it has scarcity properties in some sense.

The group purchase coupons that we are familiar with and can be used as you eat are of course not included, but what if it is a group purchase coupon of 9.9 yuan for 100 yuan?

My cousin told me that these super low discounts either appear in the live broadcast room for a limited time and are refreshed occasionally, or are offered at key nodes such as the opening of new stores. Once you miss it, you don’t know when you will see it again.

In addition, the coupons can be returned at any time and will be automatically refunded upon expiration, so you won’t lose money even if you buy them and don’t use them.

In this way, "hoarding coupons" has become an action in which hesitation will lead to failure and bravery has no cost, which has caused countless young people to bow down.

Don’t ask, just stock up if you’re interested!

Young people are never stingy with praise. After finding the outstanding secular value of "hoarding coupons", the spiritual significance of "hoarding coupons" is also about to emerge.

In the past, when faced with high-calorie food, our appetite was turbulent, but psychologically we didn’t want to gain weight. This led to the development of “eating and drinking on behalf of others” services. Now, when we are craving for food, we stock up, and when we have stocked up, we eat it. This way, we can satisfy our cravings without gaining weight. It’s great.

To put it bluntly, "hoarding coupons" is something that can satisfy consumption desires and appetites at a low cost. When you are in an emo mood at work late at night, you can swipe and hoard coupons as much as you can, which is a way to relieve stress.

Some netizens even jokingly call "hoarding coupons" financial management. If you hoard coupons every month, you make money if you spend them, and if you return them, it's like "winning the lottery" or finding the money clipped in an "old book". Some even joked that this is a bank for each generation.

But why has “hoarding coupons” become so popular and even led the leisure life of young people in small towns? Is it just because it is cheap and convenient? In the process of in-depth exploration, I found that it seems to be more than that.

The first factor is of course price.

"My store sells the original price of 250 yuan on Meituan for 19.9 yuan."

A merchant in Beijing told me, "If you want to have traffic, you have to be cheaper than other stores." His store has long-term flash sales (flash sales must be 40% off or less), and when he opens a new store to increase popularity, he will release 500-1,000 coupons with super discounts. And because live group purchases are ranked, the lower the discount, the higher the ranking, so it is generally as low as 10% or 20% off.

Although I don't often see these and have little chance of encountering such great stuff, but after a little search, I found that the discounts in the group buying channel can also satisfy me. A normal meal costs around 30, but a full meal on the group buying flash sale only costs 10.4, and it also comes with a bottle of drink.

Such benefits are also rapidly spreading to county towns.

Today, as chain restaurant brands continue to expand into county towns, our county town has brands such as Cha Yan Yue Se, Ba Wang Cha Ji, Shanghai Auntie, Wallace, and Tustin. When you open the group buying software, the price of a single item of Ba Wang Cha Ji, which used to cost 16 yuan per cup, is reduced to 12.4 yuan. The prices of many items of Wallace are approaching single digits. Two hamburgers at Tustin cost as little as 6 yuan. . .

Even Mixue Ice City’s prices have been cut...

My cousin said that group buying is "online hand-torn coupons."

Every time I “stock up” I go home and slowly tear through the sheets one by one, picking out the ones I want to eat the most to eat on the weekend. I feel so happy.

In addition to national restaurant chains and local specialty brands, well-known restaurant brands are also offering discounts.

Taking the national live broadcast room of Baotuantuan, one of the most well-known IPs in Meituan's official live broadcast room, as an example, I stayed in it for a while and found Niu NEW Sukiyaki at nearly half price, a delicious meal for two at Waipojia for 128 yuan, and Haidilao vouchers worth 252 yuan for 290 yuan. When I encountered special live broadcasts and category day activities, the intensity was even more amazing.

After spending an entire afternoon browsing the group-buying app, my biggest feeling is that I am flipping through a giant menu. Just order whatever you want to eat, and then go there when you are free, and the merchant will make it for you. Do you understand what I mean?

If you really use one, you will find that the group buying service experience today is very different from before.

In the early years of group buying, it was common for the goods to be different from the ones described and for large portions to become small portions. The store’s signature dishes would never be sold in group purchases.

Now?

A local catering business in Ganzhou told me,Group purchase of special dishes is a daily routine"We have five popular special dishes in our store, and you can choose one from five on Meituan." I took a look and saw that the price was about 60% to 50% off. The merchant said that if it is a special occasion such as the opening of a new store, the discount will be even greater.

The dish photos are also well designed.

In addition to hiring someone to take photos and layout the packages, there is a place at the top of the merchant's homepage to display pictures, which they call the five-line picture. There will also be special pictures here. "If there is an event in the store, a poster will be specially designed and placed in the five-line picture position."

Also, if you have played group buying in recent years, you will findGroup buying has long evolved from simply "eating" to "eating, drinking, playing and having fun".

Catering is just the tip of the iceberg. Amusement park tickets, gold, photography, hotel accommodation, home appliances, and medicine can all be group-booked, not only in first-tier cities, but also in non-first-tier cities and county towns.

A foot massage and health care merchant in Ganzhou told me that the newer and smaller the store, the more active they are in listing on Meituan. New stores have less accumulation and online is their main channel for acquiring customers. "Foot massage and health care stores and women's beauty stores in those buildings basically receive group purchase orders, such as nail beauty shops."

The continuous expansion of chain brands and the rise of local small shops have gradually enriched small town life and group purchasing options.

Complete product categories, substantial discounts, and worry-free refunds have allowed many young people in small towns to start their first experience of “hoarding coupons.”

What’s very interesting is that although my cousin often says that he will refund if it doesn’t work, when I asked for his spending records, I found that he had used up all the money! In fact, I also did a quick check and according to Guosen Securities data, the redemption rate of Meituan group purchase coupons in 2023 is 80%-90%.

It seems that no one can give up the duck that is delivered to their mouth.

But the underlying reason for the rise of “hoarding coupons” is not just the rapid development of the group buying experience itself, but more importantly:Life in the "small town" has also changed.

There is a saying circulating on the Internet:Young people in cities drink 9.9 yuan coffee, while young people in small towns drink 30 yuan Starbucks.

This sentence reflects the current living conditions of a small group of people, who live in reinforced concrete and drink cheap coffee as water to refresh themselves after a hard day's work. Young people in small towns who have money and free time may not necessarily understand coffee, but in order to enjoy a more diversified life, they will try more expensive options.

In fact, with the development of the economy, the lives of people staying in small towns are getting better and better.

First of all, there is money.

My cousin said that the rate of car and house ownership is high in his hometown, and there is almost no pressure of mortgage or car loan, and if there is, it is very small. "I definitely earn little, but I have no pressure. What I earn every month can be used for food, drink and entertainment. Can you?"

When the weekend comes, people in big cities all stay at home, while friends from my hometown all go out to have fun and look for all kinds of fun places.

How to quickly find interesting places? The most common way is to recommend them to each other among friends, followed by group buying software. "The ranking and rating are not perfect, but it can help you quickly understand and filter." Whenever this friend is bored on weekends, he will check the group buying in the surrounding or nearby cities. If he finds a suitable one, he will call his friends to go and play together.

I originally thought that "hoarding coupons" was an unpopular track, and my cousin was one of the best. Who would have thought that there are so many netizens who hoard coupons on the Internet, and the strength of netizens who casually show off their coupons is so great that even my cousin has to admit defeat↓

Besides, this money should not be spent carelessly...

My cousin told me that some Starbucks group purchases on Meituan can be reduced to just over 10 yuan. He has participated in the 16:00 welfare special drink package several times, 3 cups of 14 choose 3, after the discount 44.92, can be reduced to 16.64 / cup.

"Starbucks' online ordering is super convenient. When you want to drink, you can ask two colleagues to place an order together. Whenever you want to pick up the drink, you can verify the coupon in advance on your phone. After verification, you can use the pickup code at the store. You don't have to queue up, you can pick it up directly. It's awesome!"

Another attribute of young people in county towns is that they have free time.

Survey data from Black Ant Capital shows that the average working hours for young and middle-aged people in counties is 7.2 hours, lower than the 9.5 hours (47.5 hours/week) per capita announced by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2021. The average online entertainment time per person (including short videos, games and online shopping) is about 2.5 hours, and the rest of the time can be used for housework, offline social activities, entertainment and other activities.

Young people are becoming more and more playful, and two businessmen in Ganzhou are also quite touched by this.

For our generation, foot massage and health care are closely related to business entertainment, but now, businesses have found that many college students come to the store to rest during holidays. "If there are only two or three days of vacation, many college students will not go back. They will stay overnight and add 24 hours to relax. After all, we provide meals."

Catering businesses have similar observations. "Many young people will find our restaurant through Meituan and eat there. They have foreign accents and carry backpacks. You can tell at a glance that they are just out for fun."

I have a strong sense of this as well...

A while ago, the old man released a new DLC, and then I found that every day when my colleagues and I were still working overtime, my childhood friends in my hometown had already started playing passionately...

Look at the amount of time you spend playing games recently. You don’t have to go to work, brother!

So why are coupon hoarding and group buying so popular in small towns? To sum up:

With the continuous improvement of group-buying services, the leisure and entertainment needs of wealthy and free young people in small towns have gradually increased, and they have begun to use group-buying software to open the door to a "new life". The competition is about who can save more, who has a more diverse spare time life, and who can find more interesting shops in the county.

Or,You can also live a richer and more interesting life by using cost-effective consumption methods.

On social platforms, many people describe “hoarding coupons” like this:

"I can afford this price even if I eat out every day."

“I opened up a whole new world of money saving.”

In the past, when we went to the market to buy vegetables, we would bargain for a few cents, or ask for a few more onions, and we would feel a sense of accomplishment. Now, we don’t even have to ask for anything. We can open the group buying software, look around, and arrange weekend dinners and leisure entertainment at more affordable prices.

So, on this Friday, the sun hasn't set yet and the work at hand is still being finished, but you're already looking forward to the weekend.

Written by: Dodo Warrior

edit: Mangshan soldering iron tip

Art editor: Huan Yan

Image and information sources:

Meituan, Steam, Xiaohongshu