What new shortcuts are there for agricultural products to enter the city?

On July 30 this year, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Accelerating the Transformation of Agricultural Development Mode," proposing to innovate agricultural marketing services, vigorously develop agricultural e-commerce, guide various agricultural business entities to connect with e-commerce enterprises, and promote the development of logistics distribution, cold-chain facilities and equipment.

Open up the circulation channels for agricultural products and open the road for agricultural products to enter the city. In recent years, various explorations and trials have stood at the forefront of "Internet+": large-scale growers actively seek their own way out, using community platforms to open sales channels for agricultural products; bulk agricultural and sideline products rely on professional fresh food e-commerce platforms to land in cities; small and scattered farmers rely on the burgeoning same-city fresh food online shopping to successfully embrace the Internet in remote rural areas... Recently, reporters conducted in-depth market visits and found that various emerging online marketing models are breaking ground across Shuxiang, and a new era of modern agricultural product circulation is coming.

Shortcut One

Community platforms become a new favorite for large-scale growers' sales, bypassing middlemen and going it alone

At noon on September 7, the WeChat notification tone on Chengdu white-collar worker Li Li's phone rang nonstop.

This is the crazy time every day for foodies.

Opening WeChat, the "Kangmei Community Chengdu Aquatic Foodies" group was already in an uproar, and a new round of salmon ordering had begun. "It's even cheaper than on the market." After habitually scanning the information, Li Li decisively acted, sending an order for 3 jin of salmon to the group administrator and paying by Alipay transfer. "If I place the order now, and if it's fast, I can eat fresh salmon tonight." Just thinking about the delicious salmon made Li Li full of anticipation.

"Selling aquatic products through WeChat and other community platforms is a new model in recent years. Through community marketing, we have broken the traditional aquatic product sales model, reduced circulation costs, and improved transportation efficiency." Kang Mei, head of the foodies group, told reporters that she jointly operates the largest cold-water fish base in Xiling Town, Dayi County, with an annual output of 600,000 jin of salmon. In August 2014, they began trying a new marketing model, using WeChat community platforms to develop target consumers, then promptly holding offline activities for community friends to bring consumers together and realize direct supply of aquatic products from base to table. At present, the communities founded by Kang Mei have reached 30, with more than 3,000 group members. Last year, the aquatic product sales of the communities reached 10 million yuan, accounting for 15% of the base's total sales.

Using platforms such as WeChat to publish supply information, supplemented by offline activities to bring netizens together, is not the whole of agricultural product community marketing. Using well-known local online forums to develop offline experiential activities is also an emerging model for agricultural products to enter the city.

On August 23, the Yangquan kiwifruit base in Shibandeng Town, Jianyang City, experienced the sweetness of online platform community marketing. That day, under the planning of local mainstream online media, a netizen kiwifruit on-site picking activity was held lively. More than 200 netizens poured into the 180-mu base and instantly swept away more than 2,000 jin of kiwifruit, with sales approaching 1/10 of the base's total output this year.

Liu Lin, head of the kiwifruit base, told reporters that the traditional kiwifruit sales model is for middlemen to come to the door to purchase, then sell to supermarkets and other retail outlets. In front of powerful middlemen, planting bases and farmers rarely have pricing power. This model not only raises the sales cost of the retail link, but is also not conducive to the development of growers. Therefore, starting this year, the base has tried community marketing, casting off middlemen and going it alone.

Secret Tips Released

Product quality and price determine the success or failure of community marketing

Chen Shiping, director of the Sichuan Rural E-commerce Research Institute, believes that whether it is WeChat community marketing or netizen picking activities, both are new attempts to bypass middlemen and realize direct supply of agricultural products from land to table.

At present, the state has launched the strategy of e-commerce entering rural areas. For the vast number of agricultural business entities, they must bravely embrace the Internet, broaden the circulation model of agricultural and sideline products, and realize more agricultural products being supplied directly from land to table.

For agricultural business entities about to carry out community sales, Kang Mei and Liu Lin remind that several points should be noted in the process of connecting with the Internet: First, product quality must be guaranteed. Without the guarantee of product quality, no Internet model can work; second, attention should be paid to price positioning. Since circulation links are reduced and middlemen are bypassed, operating costs will naturally decline. For consumers, agricultural products that are both good and cheap are more attractive.

Shortcut Two

Big companies set out a grand O2O feast, fresh goods can go directly to big cities

If community marketing is suitable for capable niche growers to operate, then bulk agricultural products entering the city and households require a larger platform and channels. The O2O model is an inevitable choice.

In recent years, many O2O operating enterprises have emerged in the Chengdu market. Through the company's unified channels and packaging, a large number of agricultural and sideline products have achieved direct supply from land to table.

Among them, "Cailong.com," which innovatively established intelligent fresh-keeping electronic vegetable boxes and solved the last-mile problem of fresh food e-commerce, is the most eye-catching.

"For a long time, the 'last mile' has been the bottleneck in the development of fresh food e-commerce. How can we ensure that fresh ingredients ordered online can be received in time and kept fresh? We thought of the 'intelligent fresh-keeping electronic vegetable box.'" Yang Shaoquan, head of the company, told reporters that after intelligent fresh-keeping electronic vegetable boxes are installed for free in residential communities, citizens place orders online, fresh ingredients are sent directly to the intelligent vegetable boxes, and the intelligent vegetable boxes automatically start the refrigeration equipment. Citizens only need to enter the pickup password to retrieve the package. The intelligent vegetable box system will automatically start the refrigeration equipment according to the cold storage or fresh-keeping needs of the goods, set different fresh-keeping temperatures, and effectively ensure the freshness of agricultural and sideline products.

Since the company began laying out intelligent fresh-keeping vegetable boxes in September 2014, it has now covered more than 200 residential communities in Chengdu. Major agricultural product bases around Chengdu have successively cooperated with "Cailong.com," forming an industrial chain integrating direct procurement, sorting, packaging, and distribution, and realizing the dream of agricultural and sideline products going directly to big cities.