Executive Summary
We analyzed 83 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 2026-07-03
- Communities
- 83
- Platforms
- 10
- Avg members
- 63K
- Median members
- 12K
Where E-Commerce Communities Are Hosted
- Independent Platforms: 19 communities (23%)
- Discord: 16 communities (19%)
- Reddit: 12 communities (14%)
- Facebook: 10 communities (12%)
- Skool: 10 communities (12%)
- Slack: 7 communities (8%)
- LinkedIn: 3 communities (4%)
- WhatsApp: 3 communities (4%)
- X / Twitter: 2 communities (2%)
- Circle: 1 communities (1%)
- 19(23%)
![Independent Platforms]()
Independent Platforms - 16(19%)
Discord - 12(14%)
Reddit - 10(12%)
Facebook - 10(12%)
Skool - 7(8%)
Slack - 3(4%)
LinkedIn - 3(4%)
WhatsApp
Format mix
- 41(49%)Forum / feed-based
- 26(31%)Chat communities
- 11(13%)Private membership
- 5(6%)Other platforms
Forum / feed-based is most common (49%), but chat communities is also well represented (31%).
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: 16 communities (19%)
- Large: 8 communities (10%)
- Huge: 26 communities (31%)
- Massive: 12 communities (14%)
- Gigantic: 0 communities (0%)
- 0(0%)Tiny<20 members
- 3(4%)Small20-100 members
- 16(19%)Medium100-1,000 members
- 8(10%)Large1,000-10,000 members
- 26(31%)Huge10,000-100,000 members
- 12(14%)Massive100,000-1M members
- 0(0%)Gigantic1M+ members
18 communities have unknown member counts.
Free vs paid
- Free to join: 50 communities (60%)
- Paid or apply-to-join: 33 communities (40%)
The average is much higher than the median (63K 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 | 60% | 85% |
| Median members | 12K | 24K |
| Average members | 63K | 652K |
| Paid or apply-to-join | 40% | 15% |
| Live chat | 61% | 40% |
| Discord share | 19% | 16% |
Feature Mix
Common features appear in at least 15% of listings.
Common Features
- Live Chat: 51 communities (61%)
- Forum: 47 communities (57%)
- Paid Community: 30 communities (36%)
- Courses: 26 communities (31%)
- Online/Offline Events: 17 communities (20%)
- 61%Live Chat
- 57%Forum
- 36%Paid Community
- 31%Courses
- 20%Online/Offline Events
Niche Features
- Newsletter: 11 communities (13%)
- Member Perks: 6 communities (7%)
- Requires Application: 5 communities (6%)
- Job Board: 3 communities (4%)
- Pairing: 1 communities (1%)
- 13%Newsletter
- 7%Member Perks
- 6%Requires Application
- 4%Job Board
- 1%Pairing
Live Chat appears on 61% 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 | 19 | 23% | 17 | 1% |
| Discord | 16 | 19% | 241 | 21% |
| 12 | 14% | 8 | 1% | |
| 10 | 12% | 39 | 3% | |
| Skool | 10 | 12% | 12 | 1% |
| Slack | 7 | 8% | 494 | 43% |
| 3 | 4% | 9 | 1% | |
| 3 | 4% | 310 | 27% |
Share is calculated within this topic.
Slack gets 43% of clicks but only 8% of listings, so visitors click it more than you'd expect from supply alone.
Most-clicked formats
- 1K(92%)Chat communities
- 64(6%)Forum / feed-based
- 15(1%)Private membership
- 13(1%)Other platforms
Most-clicked features
- 1K(96%)Live Chat
- 432(38%)Forum
- 245(22%)Paid Community
- 222(20%)Courses
- 130(11%)Online/Offline Events
- 90(8%)Requires Application
Most-clicked size ranges
- 307(27%)Large
- 192(17%)Huge
- 129(11%)Medium
- 100(9%)Small
- 19(2%)Massive
Top-clicked listings
- 281(25%)eCommTalk
- 212(19%)Founders Hub
- 93(8%)DTC Fam
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%)
62 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 2026-07-03
FAQ
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