Rural Distribution Channels Then and Now: Markets Are Quietly Changing
Editor's note: As distribution channels multiply, buying and selling in rural areas is becoming more and more convenient. What has become of the rural market, once the main channel for farmers' consumption? Is it still as bustling as it was in the past? Will farmers still travel several li, or even dozens of li, to go to market? What impact are new distribution channels such as supermarkets and the internet having on rural markets? With these questions in mind, the reporter walked into two townships in Meishan city, Sichuan province, to go to market together with the local folks and find the answers.
Markets that once ran from seven or eight in the morning to two or three in the afternoon now last only the morning; most of those minding the stalls are middle-aged and elderly people
September 20 was a market day in Hebazi town, Qingshen county, Meishan city, Sichuan province. From a little after 9 in the morning to a little after 11, the reporter walked around the streets and the farmers' market and found that the town's "market day" was indeed livelier than usual, but not the sea of people one might imagine.
Early in the morning, He Guangming carried the vegetables he had grown himself to the town to sell. The most expensive item at his stall was the cucumber that is "in vogue" right now, at 2 yuan a jin; the other vegetables were quite cheap. Selling vegetables for a day brings in about 100 yuan. "Fewer people come to market now, and vegetables don't sell as well as they did a few years ago!"
After leaving the army 30 years ago, He Guangming has made his living selling vegetables in the town. In his memory, the small town of the past was teahouses, bowls of douhua rice by the street, people selling vegetables, fish, meat and seedlings along the street, and all kinds of daily necessities in the supply and marketing cooperative... The market ran from seven or eight in the morning until two or three in the afternoon. Sellers and market-goers crowded shoulder to shoulder along the street, a truly bustling scene.
Nowadays, on market days, buyers and sellers mainly come in the morning, and after noon there is hardly anyone left. Those minding the stalls are not all locals; some come from neighboring townships, but the great majority are middle-aged and elderly people.
Guo Xiaohua, who lives near the town and is 72 this year, has children who have all gone out to work. On market days she comes to buy some vegetables; for everything else, "the supermarket and the shops have it all."
The arrival of supermarkets has, to some extent, left the liveliness of the market in the past. The reporter saw that many supermarkets, general merchandise stores, brand-name appliance stores and clothing and department stores have appeared along the town's streets.
In the largest supermarket in town, the shelves are filled with a dazzling array of goods. Owner Lü Zhenghua said his supermarket was the first in the town and once operated exclusively for many years, doing roaring business. "Those who sell goods at the market are itinerant traders; we who run supermarkets are settled merchants, open regardless of season, unafraid of rain or snow, so naturally business is better."
The emergence of various forms of distribution has expanded the town from less than 1 sq km in the past to 2 sq km today. Zhou Qihua, secretary of the market town community who has witnessed these changes, said Hebazi town has a population of about 10,000 and is a typical agricultural township; 30% of its rural young and middle-aged adults go out to work year-round, and the consumer group is mainly the elderly and children, with relatively weak purchasing power. But thanks to Hebazi town's location at the junction of "two cities, four counties and seven townships," the town has gradually developed and more and more shops have appeared. Every year at Spring Festival, large numbers of migrant workers return home, and the town ushers in a period of concentrated consumption of goods.
The fresh, cheap vegetables and locally distinctive products at the market attract many urban visitors to come and buy
September 20 was also a market day in Huaxi town, Hongya county. By 8 in the morning, stalls big and small had already been set up in the farmers' market, fully stocked with daily necessities.
"We're from Chengdu. The whole family came to Liujiang ancient town for the weekend, staying at a farmhouse inn and buying our own vegetables to cook. We saw online long ago that the ecological environment here is good and that the vegetables farmers grow themselves are fresh and cheap, so we came early to buy." Chengdu visitor Sister Li chatted with the reporter while picking out vegetables.
⟦NL> Li Sheng, the on-site manager of the farmers' market, said there are quite a few people like Sister Li who come to buy vegetables. On every market day, besides farmers and residents from the town and nearby areas, many visitors also come to buy locally produced vegetables and specialty products.
Zhang Wanxiang, a villager from Group 9 of Guogou village who was selling vegetables at the farmers' market, said, "In the early 1980s, selling vegetables for a day in the old street brought in only three or five yuan. But things are different now. Ancient town tourism has taken off, more people come to visit, and they especially like the ecological vegetables we grow. This year, the peppers from my 4 fen of land sold for more than 6,000 yuan. Annual vegetable income is expected to reach 30,000 yuan." Zhang Wanxiang said his family doesn't have enough labor; otherwise, if he switched to greenhouse vegetables, the returns could be several times what they are now.
Liu Minghua, head of Huaxi town, said, "Huaxi town is right next to Liujiang ancient town, and visitors to the ancient town favor ecological food, so we use the advantage of the flat land around the town to guide farmers in growing ecological vegetables, and farmers benefit greatly." But the strong sales of ecological vegetables created a conflict over market sales space. To solve this problem, the town built a standardized, tidy farmers' market.
"The development of society and the changes in the market are transforming the way people go to market." Huang Wenzhen, village party branch secretary of Tangba village, who was buying vegetables at the market, said, "The era of carrying loads on shoulder and back and bartering goods is over, replaced by buying directly with cash. Getting around on foot or by bicycle has mostly given way to electric bikes, motorcycles or cars, and most people no longer have to walk several li, or even dozens of li, to go to market."
Liu Minghua believes that traditional markets are still the mainstream in rural distribution. But with economic and social development and the emergence of new distribution channels, traditional markets may face even greater pressure. Taking the chain supermarket path of "large-scale, branded, diversified" operation may be the new direction for brick-and-mortar businesses to win the market.
Traditional markets are extending online, and villagers no longer have to worry about selling their agricultural products
Farmers are willing to go to market and willing to buy things in supermarkets because they trust what they can see and touch. But with the spread of the internet in rural areas and more and more young people getting involved in selling agricultural products, traditional rural markets are extending online.
Huang Zou, 28 this year, is a farmer from Group 7 of Tuqiao village, Jiangkou town, Pengshan county. When he came home for Spring Festival in 2011, he found his parents worrying about how to sell the family's more than 800 citrus trees' fruit.
Huang Zou, who likes going online, saw that Gannan navel oranges were selling briskly on the internet and immediately hit on the idea of selling citrus online. Although starting out was hard, thanks to his drive, he finally got his first order two months after opening the shop: 15 jin of oranges sold for 60 yuan.
When Huang Zou joyfully carried the fruit to the courier company to ship it, he discovered that the courier fee for 15 jin of citrus was actually 68 yuan! Huang Zou was almost too frustrated for tears, and had no choice but to carry the fruit home himself, contact the customer and refund the money. The first order won through two months of hard work died just like that. When Huang Zou rode his electric bike all over the city to courier companies big and small and finally found two that were relatively cheap, the courier fee still accounted for 1/3 of the sales amount.
The first shop held on for more than a year and never made much profit. Learning from the experience, Huang Zou opened the Keke Fruit Industry Ecological Shop in June 2013. Because the fruit tasted good and the packaging was fine, reviews were always good and sales gradually rose. One year later, annual sales revenue reached 2 million yuan.
At the end of 2013, Huang Zou founded the Keke Citrus Professional Cooperative in Dongpo district, Meishan city. When it was first established, only 5 farming households joined; by the end of this year, the number of member households is expected to exceed 100. Selling agricultural products online can increase the per capita income of the cooperative's fruit farmers by 3,000 yuan and add 20 jobs.
What Huang Zou is proudest of is that the villagers no longer have to worry about selling their fruit. Tuqiao village has 1,000 mu of fruit trees, and 70% of the fruit produced is sold through his online shop, "and the price per jin is even a few mao higher than the market purchase price."
"Our generation should have different ideas and approaches to agriculture and agricultural products than our parents' generation." Huang Zou's ideal is that Meishan's many distinctive agricultural products should open up broader markets through online platforms.
Many "e-commerce" operators like Huang Zou have appeared across Meishan, most of them farmers, selling agricultural products including distinctive fresh fruit and specialty foods. More and more courier outlets are reaching into townships, which has also changed the township logistics industry. Meishan city is working on formulating a citywide rural e-commerce development plan, supporting the development of rural e-commerce platforms, and promoting the transformation of agricultural product sales from traditional to modern.