Agricultural input e-commerce expands savagely, agricultural input brick-and-mortar store sales cut in half
Last week, reporters visited grassroots agricultural input distributors in Jiangsu and conducted key research on some outlets of JD.com and Tiantianquan. The investigation found that wherever agricultural input e-commerce goes, the business of nearby agricultural input stores is severely impacted, while the sales of e-commerce outlets have increased substantially, with some outlets even doubling their sales for the season. Not long after the JD Agricultural Inputs Channel went online, transactions had already been completed online, and subsequent agricultural input business is also being rapidly laid out. Agricultural input e-commerce is expanding rapidly at the front line with the momentum of a fire spreading across connected camps.
At Tiantianquan Store No. 88901 in Fanshui Town, Baoying, Jiangsu, farmers coming to buy pesticides and sell fertilizer streamed in endlessly. The person in charge of the store told reporters that the store officially opened on May 28, and more than 400 farmers have already obtained membership cards. A single promotional event held for the opening already seized more than 30% of the town's agricultural input market share for the season.
The rapid money-attracting effect of agricultural input e-commerce is even more prominent in Xiaji Town, Baoying. At the Tiantianquan Xiaji store, reporters could not see mountains of pesticides and fertilizers piled up. Only a few bags of compound fertilizer were placed at the entrance, and dozens of pesticides clearly marked with member prices were displayed on the shelves, but the store's sales situation greatly surprised the reporters. The shop owner revealed that on June 23, the opening day, the store took in 1.79 million yuan, and as of the reporter's interview, sales for the season had already increased two times year-on-year. Why was the increase so large? Holding a bottle of pesticide, the shop owner said that prices were reduced right at opening. Such pesticide normally sold for 10 yuan, but was promoted at 5 yuan on opening day. Which farmer would not want to buy it?
Reporters learned that price cuts are only a routine move for agricultural input e-commerce. What is more lethal are planting packages and agricultural technical services. At one of the outlets, reporters personally experienced online agricultural technical services through a touch-screen computer. It is understood that large growers who join as members can not only obtain low-priced agricultural inputs during opening promotions, but also receive further planting packages and technical guidance during the season's planting process. The subsequent boost to outlet sales can be imagined.
While agricultural input companies are accelerating the layout of offline e-commerce outlets, the online sales of agricultural inputs by e-commerce giants has also started. Reporters visiting a JD.com front-line outlet in Suqian, Jiangsu found that since the JD Agricultural Inputs Channel went online, farmers at some outlets have begun trying to purchase agricultural inputs from JD.com. At a JD cooperation point in Caoji Township, the shop owner told reporters that in the past few days people have come one after another to ask about the prices of pesticides and fertilizers on JD.com, and a few have already placed orders. Speaking of the prospects of purchasing agricultural inputs on JD.com on behalf of farmers, the shop owner was full of expectations.
Reporters saw that the impact of offline outlets of agricultural input e-commerce on traditional distributors has already appeared. At an agricultural input store about 300 m away from the Tiantianquan outlet, the shop owner kept sighing when mentioning the recently rising internet agricultural input stores. He made a preliminary calculation that, based on sales in the past two months, this year's sales may be halved. "At this time last year, I could sell 80 tons of fertilizer a day. Now it is good if I can move 10 tons a day," the shop owner said.
What gives traditional agricultural input stores even more of a headache is the problem of credit. Mentioning the nearby Tiantianquan, the agricultural input store owner was full of complaints: "The money for agricultural inputs owed on credit last season has not been paid back to me yet, and this season the fertilizer has gone to that internet agricultural input store again, because their prices are low, they only take cash, and they also have internet agricultural technical services."
As agricultural input e-commerce outlets spread through the front-line agricultural input market, the distributors interviewed generally both hate and love agricultural input e-commerce. They hate it because it has taken away their own business, while their love for it is reflected in their expectations of joining e-commerce. "I heard that Nongyi Wang, Nongshang Yihao and others are also doing agricultural inputs. I have been paying attention. If they come here, I will have to join too, otherwise I will not be able to do business in the future," one agricultural input store owner said.
Not only Jiangsu, but looking across the whole country, offline outlets of agricultural input e-commerce are blossoming everywhere. Reporters subsequently contacted some persons in charge of agricultural input e-commerce and learned that Tiantianquan outlets have already exceeded one thousand, and e-commerce platforms such as Nongyi Wang are also rapidly spreading outlets and building stations across the country. Deep integration or fierce confrontation between traditional channels and e-commerce networks is already imminent.