Executive Summary
We analyzed 72 e-commerce communities listed on Hive Index to understand where people gather, what these groups offer, and which communities attract the most interest.
The big picture: e-commerce communities are broad and fragmented, with many small groups and a few very large outliers.
Source: Hive Index community database · Updated 2026-06-08
- Communities
- 72
- Platforms
- 10
- Avg members
- 68K
- Median members
- 12K
Where E-Commerce Communities Are Hosted
- Independent Platforms: 15 communities (21%)
- Discord: 13 communities (18%)
- Reddit: 12 communities (17%)
- Facebook: 10 communities (14%)
- Slack: 7 communities (10%)
- Skool: 5 communities (7%)
- WhatsApp: 4 communities (6%)
- LinkedIn: 3 communities (4%)
- X / Twitter: 2 communities (3%)
- Circle: 1 communities (1%)
- 15(21%)
![Independent Platforms]()
Independent Platforms - 13(18%)
Discord - 12(17%)
Reddit - 10(14%)
Facebook - 7(10%)
Slack - 5(7%)
Skool - 4(6%)
WhatsApp - 3(4%)
LinkedIn
Format mix
- 37(51%)Forum / feed-based
- 24(33%)Chat communities
- 6(8%)Private membership
- 5(7%)Other platforms
Forum / feed-based is most common (51%), but chat communities is also well represented (33%).
Independent Platforms leads, but Discord and Reddit also represent meaningful shares.
Audience Size & Access
Community size
- Tiny: 0 communities (0%)
- Small: 3 communities (4%)
- Medium: 17 communities (24%)
- Large: 5 communities (7%)
- Huge: 21 communities (29%)
- Massive: 12 communities (17%)
- Gigantic: 0 communities (0%)
- 0(0%)Tiny<20 members
- 3(4%)Small20-100 members
- 17(24%)Medium100-1,000 members
- 5(7%)Large1,000-10,000 members
- 21(29%)Huge10,000-100,000 members
- 12(17%)Massive100,000-1M members
- 0(0%)Gigantic1M+ members
14 communities have unknown member counts.
Free vs paid
- Free to join: 47 communities (65%)
- Paid or apply-to-join: 25 communities (35%)
The average is much higher than the median (68K vs 12K), which usually means a few large groups are pulling the average up.
How E-Commerce Differs From Other Categories
E-Commerce is less free-to-join, smaller, more platform-diverse, more chat-heavy, and more paid or gated, compared with typical Hive Index topics.
| Metric | E-Commerce | Hive Index average |
|---|---|---|
| Free to join | 65% | 85% |
| Median members | 12K | 25K |
| Average members | 68K | 669K |
| Paid or apply-to-join | 35% | 15% |
| Live chat | 56% | 38% |
| Discord share | 18% | 16% |
Feature Mix
Common features appear in at least 15% of listings.
Common Features
- Forum: 47 communities (65%)
- Live Chat: 40 communities (56%)
- Paid Community: 23 communities (32%)
- Courses: 18 communities (25%)
- Online/Offline Events: 16 communities (22%)
- Newsletter: 11 communities (15%)
- 65%Forum
- 56%Live Chat
- 32%Paid Community
- 25%Courses
- 22%Online/Offline Events
- 15%Newsletter
Niche Features
- Member Perks: 7 communities (10%)
- Requires Application: 4 communities (6%)
- Job Board: 3 communities (4%)
- Pairing: 1 communities (1%)
- 10%Member Perks
- 6%Requires Application
- 4%Job Board
- 1%Pairing
Live Chat appears on 56% of listings.
What Visitors Click
- Outbound clicks / mo
- 1K
Platform supply vs. clicks
| Platform | Communities | Share of communities | Outbound clicks | Share of clicks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent Platforms | 15 | 21% | 9 | 1% |
| Discord | 13 | 18% | 246 | 19% |
| 12 | 17% | 8 | 1% | |
| 10 | 14% | 54 | 4% | |
| Slack | 7 | 10% | 503 | 40% |
| Skool | 5 | 7% | 5 | 0% |
| 4 | 6% | 434 | 34% | |
| 3 | 4% | 7 | 1% |
Share is calculated within this topic.
Slack gets 40% of clicks but only 10% of listings, so visitors click it more than you'd expect from supply alone.
Most-clicked formats
- 1K(93%)Chat communities
- 71(6%)Forum / feed-based
- 8(1%)Other platforms
- 7(1%)Private membership
Most-clicked features
- 1K(96%)Live Chat
- 429(34%)Forum
- 274(22%)Paid Community
- 257(20%)Courses
- 243(19%)Member Perks
- 132(10%)Online/Offline Events
Most-clicked size ranges
- 294(23%)Large
- 282(22%)Medium
- 212(17%)Huge
- 91(7%)Small
- 12(1%)Massive
Top-clicked listings
- 275(22%)eCommTalk
- 204(16%)Founders Hub
- 142(11%)Ecom Minds
Most clicks go to chat communities and forum / feed-based communities.
Trends
Founded year
- 2008: 2 communities (10%)
- 2009: 1 communities (5%)
- 2011: 3 communities (14%)
- 2012: 1 communities (5%)
- 2013: 1 communities (5%)
- 2014: 4 communities (19%)
- 2015: 1 communities (5%)
- 2016: 1 communities (5%)
- 2017: 2 communities (10%)
- 2019: 1 communities (5%)
- 2020: 2 communities (10%)
- 2022: 2 communities (10%)
51 communities have no founding year on file.
Most listed groups were founded around 2014.
Community Quality & Ratings
Only 3 communities have ratings so far, so read this as a small sample.
5.0 average rating across 3 communities.
Methodology & FAQ
Methodology
This report uses communities in the Hive Index database tagged as E-Commerce. We exclude removed or suppressed listings. Member counts, traffic, features, reviews, and ratings may vary by source and are updated periodically.
- •Last updated 2026-06-08
FAQ
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