# Research Notes: Hierarchical Identity & Tier-Based Distribution Models in Chinese Social Commerce

## Sources

| # | URL | Source-Type | Accessibility | Date | Authority (1-10) |
|---|-----|-------------|---------------|------|-------------------|
| 1 | https://www.fenrunbao.cn/helpshow.aspx?bh=19785 | 行业平台文章 (分润宝) | Open | ~2024 | 6 |
| 2 | https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/576803357 | 知乎专栏 | Open | ~2022 | 6 |
| 3 | https://www.qibo.com/article/7714.html | 启博软件官网 | Open | ~2024 | 6 |
| 4 | https://www.woshipm.com/pd/6238299.html | 人人都是产品经理 | Open | ~2024 | 7 |
| 5 | https://www.jiandaoyun.com/blog/article/1781137/ | 简道云博客 | Open | ~2024 | 6 |
| 6 | https://help.youzan.com/displaylist/detail_5_5-1-64881 | 有赞帮助中心 | Open | ~2024 | 7 |
| 7 | https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/660754693 | 知乎专栏 | Open | ~2024 | 5 |
| 8 | https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/651671348 | 知乎专栏 (循环购模式) | Open | ~2023 | 6 |
| 9 | https://www.fenrunbao.cn/xueyuan/fenrunmoshi_17463.html | 分润宝 | Open | ~2024 | 6 |
| 10 | https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=6f2dfc03-c164-47d8-8571-3876489b583c | Lexology (法律分析) | Open | 2024-2025 | 9 |
| 11 | https://www.chinalawinsight.com/2020/08/articles/intellectual-property/社交电商v-s-互联网传销/ | China Law Insight (金杜) | Open | 2020 | 9 |
| 12 | https://www.zhonglun.com/research/articles/9005.html | 中伦律师事务所 | Open | ~2024 | 9 |
| 13 | https://www.netcnnet.net/study/marketing_news/1632.html | 网晨网络 | Open | ~2023 | 5 |
| 14 | https://www.sohu.com/a/1010188218_122699958 | 搜狐 (链动2+1) | Open | ~2025 | 5 |
| 15 | https://m.gmw.cn/toutiao/2025-03/21/content_1303997418.htm | 光明网 (监管新闻) | Open | 2025-03 | 8 |
| 16 | https://www.zxfull.com/2025/04/11/105739/ | 正信法学 (条例修订) | Open | 2025-04 | 7 |
| 17 | https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/1/422 | MDPI 学术论文 | Open | 2021 | 8 |
| 18 | https://vffranchiseconsulting.com/chinas-multi-level-marketing-ban-workaround/ | 行业咨询 | Open | ~2024 | 7 |

## Findings

1. **区域代理 (Regional Agent Model)**: Divides territory by administrative divisions (省/市/区/县). Agents gain exclusivity over a geographic zone; all orders shipped to that zone generate a dividend for the zone agent (typically 2-5% of GMV). Acquisition requires meeting thresholds (e.g., purchase minimum, referral quota, or application + review). The model maps onto China's city-tier hierarchy (Tier 1-5), with higher-tier zones commanding higher entry costs but also larger GMV potential. Core chain: Brand/Platform -> Regional Agent -> Distributor -> Consumer.

2. **区域代理分润计算**: Commission pool is carved from product margin (typically 10-30% of sale price). A common split: from a 100 CNY product with 20 CNY margin, 30% (6 CNY) goes to the regional agent for that zone, while the rest flows to the direct salesperson's multi-tier commission. Regional agent dividends are usually calculated per-order by matching delivery address to the agent's territory. Some platforms add a performance bonus: if a zone agent's territory exceeds a monthly GMV target, their rate increases by 1-3 percentage points.

3. **股东分红 (Shareholder Dividend Model)**: Not actual equity shareholders. Instead, top-performing distributors are designated as "shareholders" (虚拟股东/共享股东) and receive a slice of platform-level profit sharing. A typical mechanism: the platform allocates a fixed percentage of daily/weekly revenue (e.g., 5-20%) into a dividend pool, which is then distributed proportionally among qualified shareholders based on their weight (determined by personal sales volume, team volume, or level). The "循环购" (circular purchase) model divides the pool into tiers (e.g., 10 portions of 2% each), where higher-tier shareholders can also participate in lower-tier dividends.

4. **股东分红合规风险 -- highest risk model**: Using the term "股东" (shareholder) for non-equity profit-sharing is a legal red flag. Under China's Company Law, real shareholder dividends require formal equity registration, proper accounting, and tax compliance. If a platform calls users "shareholders" but grants no legal equity, it risks being deemed misleading. More critically, if the dividend is tied to recruiting new members rather than actual product sales, it crosses into pyramid selling (传销) territory. The three statutory criteria for 传销 are: (a) 拉人头 (headcount-based compensation), (b) 入门费 (entry fee disguised as product purchase), (c) 团队计酬 (multi-level team-based commission). Shareholder dividend models frequently trigger (a) and (c) scrutiny.

5. **福利区 (Welfare/Benefit Zone)**: A perks layer attached to the distribution hierarchy. Users who reach certain levels gain access to exclusive benefits: higher commission rates, exclusive products at below-market prices, free shipping, priority customer service, bonus points multipliers, or access to a "points mall" (积分商城). The welfare zone is essentially a retention mechanic -- it makes higher tiers feel materially different. Benefits are often funded from the platform's marketing budget and are not directly tied to additional revenue generation, making them lower compliance risk compared to dividend models.

6. **任务奖励 (Task-Based Rewards)**: Milestone-driven bonuses for completing specific actions. Common tasks include: (a) 新手任务 -- first referral earns 5 CNY cash, lowering barrier to entry; (b) 阶梯任务 -- invite 10 people for 50 CNY bonus, 50 people for 200 CNY + level upgrade; (c) 签到任务 -- daily check-in for points (10 points/day), 7-day streak bonus of 50 extra points; (d) 消费任务 -- spend 99/299/599 CNY to unlock progressively higher-value tasks. Rewards are one-time or periodic payouts from a fixed marketing budget, calculated as flat amounts or point multipliers.

7. **阶梯返利 (Tiered Rebate)**: Rebate rates that scale with cumulative volume. Two implementation variants exist: (a) **阶梯奖励 (non-cumulative tiers)** -- reaching a higher tier replaces the lower tier rate (max 5 tiers per platform); (b) **循环奖励 (cumulative/looping)** -- rewards reset and can be earned repeatedly. Example: monthly sales < 10K CNY at 5% commission; 10K-50K at 8%; 50K-100K at 12%; >100K at 15%. For dealer/distributor models, a base rebate of 3% might scale to 5% once quarterly sales exceed 10 million CNY, with an additional target bonus of 20K CNY at 5 million CNY threshold.

8. **Compliance landscape shifting rapidly (2024-2025)**: China's State Council included revision of the 《禁止传销条例》(Anti-Pyramid Selling Regulations) in its 2025 legislative plan. The revision is expected to细化 (clarify) standards for new business models including social e-commerce. As of 2024, at least 6 companies have been penalized for pyramid selling by market regulators. Guangzhou issued China's first social livestreaming industry compliance guidelines in October 2025. The regulatory trend is toward "事前预防、事中监控、事后追责" (prevention, monitoring, accountability).

9. **Safe design patterns emerging**: The "链动2+1" (Chain Movement 2+1) model has become a reference design -- it restricts tiers to two levels (代理/agent and 老板/boss), requires only 2 direct referrals to upgrade, and caps the total compensation depth. Direct referral rewards: 100 CNY for agents, 300 CNY for bosses. Team-based rewards: 200 CNY per indirect referral (unlimited depth for bosses). A flat 10% "平级奖" rewards bosses whose downline also reaches boss status. This model explicitly avoids the three-tier boundary while maintaining viral growth incentives.

10. **Key quantitative benchmarks across all models**: Entry thresholds range from 49-999 CNY (commonly 499 CNY for "gift package" purchases). Commission rates: Level 1 direct referral 15-20%, Level 2 indirect 5-10%. Regional agent zone dividends: 2-5% of GMV. Shareholder dividend pools: 5-20% of platform revenue. Tiered rebate steps: typically 3-5 tiers with 2-5 percentage point increments. Maximum legally safe distribution depth: 2 levels (with some platforms operating at 3 levels under careful structuring, but this is the regulatory flashpoint).

## Deep Read Notes

### Source 1: 分润宝 -- "一文看懂分销商城的分销模式及玩法" (fenrunbao.cn)
**Type**: Industry platform analysis article
**Key takeaways**: Comprehensive catalog of distribution models including regional agent, area partner, and various profit-sharing structures. The article details how a 100 CNY product with 20 CNY margin (20% commission pool) is split: direct salesperson gets three-tier commissions while the regional agent of the delivery zone receives ~30% of the commission pool (6 CNY) as zone dividend. It explains the priority principle for commission rates: per-product rate > tier rate > default rate. Regional agents are organized by 省/市/区/县 (province/city/district/county), and order attribution is determined by delivery address matching. The article emphasizes that regional agent models transform distributors from simple sellers to channel managers with local market development responsibilities.

### Source 2: 中伦律师事务所 -- "实操建议：社交电商业务模式避免落入传销陷阱" (zhonglun.com) / Lexology companion
**Type**: Law firm professional analysis
**Key takeaways**: Provides the most authoritative legal framework for assessing compliance risk. The three statutory criteria for pyramid selling under 《禁止传销条例》 Article 7 are: 拉人头 (recruiting-based compensation), 入门费 (entry fees disguised as product purchases), and 团队计酬 (multi-level team-based rewards). The article identifies that social e-commerce models using "股东分红" terminology are particularly vulnerable because: (1) the term implies equity ownership that does not exist, creating disclosure liability; (2) dividend pools funded by new member entry fees constitute 入门费; (3) when dividends are calculated based on downline volume rather than personal sales, it triggers 团队计酬. The article recommends: keeping distribution depth at 2 levels maximum, ensuring all rewards are tied to actual product sales (not recruitment), maintaining reasonable product pricing (no inflated "gift packages"), and separating marketing bonuses from sales commissions in accounting.

### Source 3: 知乎专栏 -- "循环购模式解读" (zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/651671348)
**Type**: Detailed mechanism analysis (user-generated expert content)
**Key takeaways**: The "循环购" (circular purchase) model is a concrete implementation of shareholder dividend distribution. Platform allocates 20% of each sale into a dividend pool, split into 10 equal portions of 2% each. Each shareholder tier (e.g., bronze, silver, gold, platinum, diamond) receives one portion, distributed equally among members at that tier. Crucially, higher-tier shareholders participate in ALL lower-tier portions simultaneously, creating a compounding effect. For example, a diamond shareholder receives dividends from the diamond pool (2%), plus platinum (2%), gold (2%), silver (2%), and bronze (2%) -- effectively 5x the base rate. The model requires continuous new purchases to sustain the pool, creating a potential sustainability concern. If new purchase velocity slows, dividend per person drops sharply, which can trigger member attrition cascades.

## Gaps

1. **Lack of audited case studies**: Most sources are from platform vendors or consulting firms with commercial interests. Independent, peer-reviewed analysis of actual platform performance data (conversion rates, retention, average revenue per distributor) is scarce.

2. **Welfare zone (福利区) specificity**: The concept of "福利区" as a distinct mechanism (rather than a generic perks layer) is poorly documented. No authoritative source defines it as a formal model with its own calculation methodology. It appears to be a marketing term used by various platforms inconsistently -- sometimes referring to exclusive product catalogs, sometimes to point bonus zones, sometimes to subsidized pricing areas.

3. **2025 regulatory revision details**: While the 《禁止传销条例》 revision was announced for 2025, the actual revised text and its specific provisions regarding social e-commerce distribution models have not been published as of the search date. The exact new boundaries between legal distribution and illegal pyramid selling remain uncertain.

4. **Tax implications**: None of the reviewed sources adequately address the individual income tax obligations for distributors receiving commissions, dividends, or task rewards -- a significant compliance gap for platforms operating these models at scale.

5. **Platform enforcement data**: Limited information on how WeChat, Douyin, and other platforms enforce their internal policies against multi-tier distribution. Platform-level takedowns and account restrictions are a practical compliance risk that is distinct from legal/regulatory risk, but data on enforcement patterns is not publicly available.

6. **Quantitative sustainability analysis**: No source provides a mathematical model showing the break-even point or sustainability threshold for shareholder dividend pools. The circular purchase model's dependency on continuous new member acquisition raises Ponzi-like structural concerns that have not been rigorously analyzed in publicly available sources.
