Executive Summary
We analyzed 92 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 periodically
- Communities
- 92
- Platforms
- 10
- Avg members
- 62K
- Median members
- 11K
Where E-Commerce Communities Are Hosted
- Discord: 25 communities (27%)
- Independent Platforms: 19 communities (21%)
- Reddit: 12 communities (13%)
- Facebook: 10 communities (11%)
- Skool: 10 communities (11%)
- Slack: 7 communities (8%)
- WhatsApp: 4 communities (4%)
- LinkedIn: 3 communities (3%)
- X / Twitter: 2 communities (2%)
- Circle: 1 communities (1%)
- 25(27%)
Discord - 19(21%)
![Independent Platforms]()
Independent Platforms - 12(13%)
Reddit - 10(11%)
Facebook - 10(11%)
Skool - 7(8%)
Slack - 4(4%)
WhatsApp - 3(3%)
LinkedIn
Format mix
- 41(45%)Forum / feed-based
- 35(38%)Chat communities
- 11(12%)Private membership
- 5(5%)Other platforms
Forum / feed-based is most common (45%), but chat communities is also well represented (38%).
Discord leads, but Independent Platforms and Reddit also represent meaningful shares.
Audience Size & Access
Community size
- Tiny: 1 communities (1%)
- Small: 4 communities (4%)
- Medium: 17 communities (18%)
- Large: 8 communities (9%)
- Huge: 27 communities (29%)
- Massive: 12 communities (13%)
- Gigantic: 0 communities (0%)
- 1(1%)Tiny<20 members
- 4(4%)Small20-100 members
- 17(18%)Medium100-1,000 members
- 8(9%)Large1,000-10,000 members
- 27(29%)Huge10,000-100,000 members
- 12(13%)Massive100,000-1M members
- 0(0%)Gigantic1M+ members
23 communities have unknown member counts.
Free vs paid
- Free to join: 52 communities (57%)
- Paid or apply-to-join: 40 communities (43%)
The average is much higher than the median (62K vs 11K), 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 | 57% | 84% |
| Median members | 11K | 25K |
| Average members | 62K | 662K |
| Paid or apply-to-join | 43% | 16% |
| Live chat | 65% | 41% |
| Discord share | 27% | 18% |
Feature Mix
Common features appear in at least 15% of listings.
Common Features
- Live Chat: 60 communities (65%)
- Forum: 48 communities (52%)
- Paid Community: 37 communities (40%)
- Courses: 26 communities (28%)
- Online/Offline Events: 18 communities (20%)
- 65%Live Chat
- 52%Forum
- 40%Paid Community
- 28%Courses
- 20%Online/Offline Events
Niche Features
- Newsletter: 11 communities (12%)
- Member Perks: 6 communities (7%)
- Requires Application: 6 communities (7%)
- Job Board: 3 communities (3%)
- Pairing: 1 communities (1%)
- Tools: 1 communities (1%)
- 12%Newsletter
- 7%Member Perks
- 7%Requires Application
- 3%Job Board
- 1%Pairing
- 1%Tools
Live Chat appears on 65% of listings.
What Visitors Click
- Outbound clicks / mo
- 1K
Platform supply vs. clicks
| Platform | Communities | Share of communities | Outbound clicks | Share of clicks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discord | 25 | 27% | 391 | 29% |
| Independent Platforms | 19 | 21% | 40 | 3% |
| 12 | 13% | 28 | 2% | |
| 10 | 11% | 89 | 7% | |
| Skool | 10 | 11% | 18 | 1% |
| Slack | 7 | 8% | 483 | 36% |
| 4 | 4% | 282 | 21% | |
| 3 | 3% | 9 | 1% |
Share is calculated within this topic.
Slack gets 36% of clicks but only 8% of listings, so visitors click it more than you'd expect from supply alone.
Most-clicked formats
- 1K(86%)Chat communities
- 157(12%)Forum / feed-based
- 22(2%)Private membership
- 10(1%)Other platforms
Most-clicked features
- 1K(92%)Live Chat
- 501(37%)Forum
- 291(22%)Paid Community
- 234(17%)Requires Application
- 228(17%)Online/Offline Events
- 187(14%)Courses
Most-clicked size ranges
- 279(21%)Small
- 278(21%)Large
- 277(21%)Huge
- 219(16%)Medium
- 32(2%)Massive
Top-clicked listings
- 234(17%)eCommTalk
- 163(12%)E-commerce Group Canada
- 115(9%)Growth Partners
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%)
71 communities have no founding year on file.
Most listed groups were founded around 2014.
Community Quality & Ratings
Rating breakdown
- 21(100%)
- 0(0%)
- 0(0%)
- 0(0%)
- 0(0%)
21 reviews across 5 communities · 5.0 average rating.
Among highly rated communities
- Forumover-indexes100%vs 52% overall
- Live Chatover-indexes80%vs 65% overall
- Member Perksover-indexes40%vs 7% overall
- Online/Offline Eventsover-indexes40%vs 20% overall
- Paid Community40%vs 40% overall
Based on 5 communities rated 4+ stars.
Among reviewed communities, highly rated groups often include forum, live chat, and member perks.
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.
Updated periodically
FAQ
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