Agricultural product e-commerce must focus not only on marketing but even more on quality

At present, some agricultural product e-commerce businesses have fallen into the trap of emphasizing marketing while neglecting quality. Agricultural product e-commerce should not only rely on the internet to disrupt traditional sales channels, but also, through integration with the production stage, provide consumers with genuine goods

A "foodie" friend often buys specialty products from all over the country online to try something new. But he has always had doubts: when some fresh agricultural products are sold online at high prices, they are promoted under the banners of "place of origin" and "pollution-free," but how good the quality really is leaves people with no confidence. Gradually, he began choosing community shops or roadside fruit stands, saying, "Anyway, they taste about the same." For agricultural product e-commerce businesses seeking a premium, how can they make consumers who feel things are "about the same" willingly place orders?

With the success of celebrity fruits such as Liutao peaches and Chu oranges, agricultural product e-commerce has become a popular field for mass entrepreneurship. Driven by a group of entrepreneurs who understand the internet and marketing, agricultural products originally distributed in remote areas have been packaged and promoted through the internet, entering cities, and their value has risen accordingly. For a time, various successful models of agricultural product e-commerce began to spread wildly, but most focused on how to market and package products, and the secret to success in agricultural product e-commerce was even simplified into success in marketing. Purely pursuing novel and unusual marketing methods and high-end, exquisite packaging, while being unable to prove product quality, is a "weak spot" in agricultural product e-commerce operations at a time when quality and safety still carry a "one-vote veto."

This shows that agricultural product e-commerce is still weak in integrating the agricultural production stage and has not yet effectively connected with the entire agricultural product industry chain. Under such circumstances, the old problems that may arise in the production stage and trigger quality and safety issues still exist. How to ensure the quality of agricultural products, achieve full transparency from field to table, and let consumers buy with confidence still remains to be explored.

The key for agricultural product e-commerce to connect with the agricultural production stage lies in achieving safety and transparency in the production process and traceability of quality. In traditional agricultural production, whether relying on traditional experience, being driven by profit motives, or lacking scientific guidance, the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides lacks established rules, and the production process also lacks standards. Once a quality problem occurs in agricultural products, it is even more difficult to trace the source. In recent years, although the situation has improved somewhat, it has not fundamentally changed. The intervention of internet technology can effectively change this situation. By integrating production bases, realizing data sharing among farmers or farms, and advancing the standardization and normalization of production.

For agricultural product e-commerce to connect with the agricultural production stage, it is also necessary to harness the power of consumers and involve them in the supervision of the production process. In the traditional model, the production areas of agricultural products are in rural areas, while the market is in cities. This geographical separation causes information asymmetry between producers and consumers, making it difficult for both sides to develop a sense of trust. The internet provides a channel for interaction between the two sides. Through user data analysis, e-commerce businesses can organize consumers to participate in supervision of the production process. Participation in self-inspection can effectively deepen understanding of product quality. Through channels such as QR codes, consumers can also grasp the supply source and consume with understanding and confidence. All of this helps both sides build trust.

The foundation of business lies in equal transactions. If consumers accept premiums for agricultural products, agricultural product e-commerce businesses must also guarantee quality. Agricultural product e-commerce should not only rely on the "internet" to disrupt the traditional sales channels of agricultural products, but also emphasize "commerce," being able to provide consumers with genuine goods. This is the sustainable path for the industry's development.