Internet Plus Rural Model Activates a New Blue Ocean for E-Commerce

Among the national comprehensive demonstration counties for e-commerce entering rural areas in 2015, 8 counties and cities in Jilin Province were selected. Standing at the forefront of "Internet Plus," rural e-commerce in Jilin Province is building a two-way circulation of "consumer goods going to the countryside" and "agricultural products entering the cities," driving the transformation of Jilin's work on agriculture, rural areas, and farmers, so that farmers can enjoy the tremendous convenience, benefits, and dividends brought by e-commerce.

Rural Taobao "builds the nest to attract the phoenix"; "a single network cable" connects urban and rural areas

"A villager bid online for a Cadillac sedan." This incident recently caused quite a stir in Tantu Village, Zhenlai County, Jilin Province. The 25-year-old "returnee" female master's graduate Wang Qi, who facilitated this transaction, took the lead among the county's 24 village Taobao service stations in transaction volume in less than a month.

In August this year, Wang Qi, who returned from studying in the United Kingdom, went back to her hometown of Tantu Village for a vacation and by chance saw a flyer recruiting Rural Taobao partners. "'Village Taobao' not only satisfies my desire to start a business, but also lets me do something for my hometown." Wang Qi overcame one hurdle after another and ultimately stood out from more than 3,000 applicants.

On August 30 this year, Zhenlai County officially joined Alibaba's Rural Taobao "Thousand Counties, Ten Thousand Villages" plan. On September 24, the county's first batch of 29 village Taobao stations officially began operations. Since then, Zhenlai County has built western Jilin's first "Village Taobao" in the 2.0 model.

"The 2.0 model has shifted from focusing on 'site selection' in the past to focusing on 'people selection,' using 'Village Taobao' to build the nest, attract young talent who have left to return home and start businesses, broaden service coverage, and activate the rural economy," said Zhang Yan, member of the Standing Committee of the Zhenlai County Party Committee and head of the Publicity Department.

Alibaba big data shows that as of October 10, Zhenlai County ranked second in Northeast China in the volume of village Taobao purchasing agency orders. In the next three years, Zhenlai will achieve full coverage of service points in all 141 administrative villages in the county.

Entering the "Village Taobao station" in Bajiazi Village, the easternmost part of Zhenlai County, a small room of less than 20 sq m was packed full with more than 10 villagers shopping online in front of computers. 54-year-old Wang Yufeng had just bought a 49-inch flat-screen TV online. "In the past, going to the county seat to buy things took half a day round trip and 40 to 50 yuan in bus fare. Now I buy curtains, sofas, and appliances all online," she said.

"I placed the first Village Taobao feed order in the three northeastern provinces. Compared with physical stores, buying chicken feed online is 337 yuan cheaper per ton." Liu Zhan, head of the Village Taobao station, did the math: the whole village has 3,200 people, and including agricultural materials, agricultural machinery, and daily expenses, annual purchasing power is around 70 million yuan, "Village Taobao has broad prospects."

Opening up the two-way channel of "consumer goods going to the countryside" and "agricultural products entering the cities"

As one of the country's top ten grain-producing counties, Nong'an County's rural e-commerce focuses on opening up the two-way circulation of "consumer goods going to the countryside" and "agricultural products entering the cities."

On the Xinnongbao mobile app developed by Jilin Xinnongbao Technology Co., Ltd., sections such as the Xinnongbao Mall, Agriculture 120, and livelihood information are listed. Farmers can not only conduct convenient buying and selling transactions through mobile phones, but also promptly learn about various benefit policies and subsidy information. "Relying on large-scale land development and intensive agricultural product production in Nong'an, Xinnongbao forms an e-commerce O2O model, drives farmers to increase production and income, builds a full-chain system for safe food, and creates a two-way supply chain for agricultural materials and agricultural products," said Pei Yanming, the person in charge.

The online platform provides farmers with convenient and discounted purchasing channels, while the offline service stations established provide farmers with scientific agricultural technical services. At present, Xinnongbao has set up more than 90 demonstration fields in 10 areas of Jilin Province including Dehui, Songyuan, and Jilin City, promoting agricultural technical services such as fertilization and pest and disease control.

Guo You, a villager from Shuanghechuan Village, Huajia Township, Nong'an County, used the zinc humate compound fertilizer promoted by Xinnongbao on his 3 hectares of land. In this year's relatively dry conditions, each hectare increased production by about 1,000 jin.

"E-commerce is a new engine driving county-level economic and social development. By advancing the development of the e-commerce industry, we let the outside world understand Nong'an, provide young people with entrepreneurial opportunities, thereby promoting modern agricultural development, driving the adjustment of crop planting structure, and enabling consumers to obtain high-quality agricultural products more conveniently," said Zhou He, Secretary of the Nong'an County Party Committee.

Opening up the "last kilometer" of rural e-commerce

Increased sales, expanded influence, guiding farmers to build brands, improve quality and efficiency, and reshaping a new pattern of rural circulation... E-commerce has brought a qualitative leap to the rural economic ecosystem.

However, after visiting farmers and e-commerce enterprises, the reporter felt that the substantial development of rural e-commerce still needs to pass several hurdles: problems such as an incomplete logistics distribution system, a low degree of standardization in agricultural and sideline products produced by farmers, and a lack of rural electronic payment methods still trouble farmers in "getting online" and e-commerce in entering villages.

"Several major logistics companies are in the town, but entering villages and hamlets is very difficult, directly restricting the development of rural e-commerce." Liu Zhan, head of the Bajiazi Village Taobao station, told the reporter that at present, Bajiazi Village uses Alibaba's Cainiao logistics for distribution, and delivery is possible only through purchases made at the Village Taobao station. Villages and hamlets without a Village Taobao station can only look on and sigh.

In addition, the low degree of standardization of agricultural and sideline products produced by farmers restricts the reverse supply chain of e-commerce. "We are now actively seeking cooperation with large cooperatives, letting them set standards, and then involving ordinary people in production according to unified standards, saying goodbye to the decentralized household production method," said Pei Yanming, head of Jilin Xinnongbao.

During interviews, the reporter learned that most farmers still use credit union passbooks to deposit and withdraw money, which is also a limitation for e-commerce platforms that require electronic payment. At the same time, the long transfer settlement period, low mobile banking activation rate, and scattered bank branch layout make some farmers who are interested in "getting online" hesitate.