Rural e-commerce development must stay grounded in local realities

Rural conditions vary greatly, and for e-commerce to take root and blossom, it must be adapted to local conditions. The reason the Zhejiang Provincial Supply and Marketing Cooperative's move into online business has produced such notable results is that it matched the needs of modern agricultural development and farmers.

Although the e-commerce development models in different parts of Zhejiang are not entirely the same, they are all choices made by local supply and marketing cooperatives based on their own actual circumstances, combined with local agricultural industry resources, farmers' needs, logistics development, the foundation for e-commerce and other relevant environmental conditions.

Rural areas are vast and sparsely populated, logistics costs are high, and developing e-commerce is not easy. The reason the Zhejiang Provincial Supply and Marketing Cooperative's move into online business has such strong momentum and notable results is that it adapted to local conditions and matched the needs of modern agricultural development and farmers.

In visits around Zhejiang, reporters found that although they are all under the supply and marketing cooperative system, the e-commerce development models are all different.

In terms of platform choice, some supply and marketing cooperatives build their own platforms, some rely on third-party platforms, and some both build their own platforms and rely on third-party platforms; in terms of business choice, some only provide platform services, some open their own online stores to sell goods, and some both operate their own businesses and provide platform services; in terms of channel choice, some are purely online, and some combine online and offline; in terms of logistics, some build their own logistics systems, and some rely on third-party logistics forces. These models each have their own characteristics and advantages, and they are all choices made by local supply and marketing cooperatives based on their own actual circumstances, combined with local agricultural industry resources, farmers' needs, logistics development, the foundation for e-commerce and other relevant environmental conditions. Actual operations have proven that these models are indeed effective platforms and vehicles for local rural e-commerce development.

In choosing goods to purchase online, the principle of adapting to local conditions is still upheld. Supply and marketing cooperatives bear the name “agriculture”, so each grassroots supply and marketing cooperative focuses on local specialty agricultural products. For example, a group of brands that have already gained prominence through online sales, such as “Erdu Bayberry”, “Fengming Hangzhou White Chrysanthemum” and “Shanyuanzi Hickory”, are all local specialty agricultural products. A group of county-level supply and marketing cooperatives in Qujiang, Shangyu, Longyou and elsewhere have used their own outlet resources to establish rural e-commerce service stations, providing farmers with various services such as online purchasing and selling on their behalf, electronic payment, consignment sales of agricultural products and e-commerce training, and have achieved good results. The supply and marketing cooperatives have therefore become an important lever for local government departments in developing rural e-commerce.

From practice, of the 20 local specialty halls undertaken by the Zhejiang provincial supply and marketing cooperative system, 16 were undertaken by county-level supply and marketing cooperatives; the 74 rural e-commerce service stations built by the provincial system were also mainly established by county-level supply and marketing cooperatives. County-level supply and marketing cooperatives face rural areas directly and are the direct organizers and guides of grassroots network construction, playing an indispensable main role in developing rural e-commerce. In developing agricultural product e-commerce, county-level supply and marketing cooperatives can organize agricultural products most directly and conveniently. Letting county-level supply and marketing cooperatives “perform” is precisely a form of adapting to local conditions.

Rural conditions vary greatly, and for e-commerce to take root and blossom across the vast countryside, it must be adapted to local conditions.