Qingdao, Shandong: Cherries Go Online and Sell Bright Red
For Sun Guohui, a large-scale cherry grower living in Shangmifeng Community, Yuzong Branch, Xiazhuang Subdistrict, Chengyang District, Qingdao, the cherry-picking season that just passed was both comfortable and surprising.
“In the past, I had to go to the orchard at three or four in the morning before dawn to pick cherries, and when there was nothing else to do I would set up a stall by the roadside and wait for tourists to buy them. Although I made money, it was very hard work. This year is different: my son set up the internet, and sales have been great!” Sun Guohui admitted that although he did not know exactly what “Internet+” was, this high-sounding thing had already brought him real benefits.
“Last year I started trying to sell online, selling cherries on WeChat Moments and Weibo, but I was not very familiar with it at the time, and in two weeks I sold only 300 jin in total. This year I have become more experienced, and at the peak I can sell more than 500 jin in a day. Thanks to the internet, friends from all over can taste the cherries from Yu.” Sun Guohui’s son Sun Zheng said happily while sitting by the computer.
Sun Zheng, who graduated from university just last year, has helped his parents manage the cherry orchard since childhood and has now become a locally somewhat well-known “cherry WeChat merchant.” Sun Zheng told reporters that his path into WeChat business benefited from the promotion of Xiazhuang Rural E-commerce in Xiazhuang Subdistrict.
It is understood that in the process of developing modern agriculture, Xiazhuang Subdistrict has continuously explored new models, combining traditional agricultural planting, festival picking, and fruit and vegetable sales with “Internet+,” and founded the Xiazhuang Rural E-commerce platform. Besides buying famous and high-quality fruits on the platform, consumers can also keep real-time track of dynamic information released by various parks. At the same time, supporting projects such as park QR codes, client-side and other mobile terminal software, the agricultural science and technology information 110 service system, and professional logistics are also being advanced year by year. More and more IT talent and marketing planning talent are also joining the modern agriculture team, becoming a main force alongside agricultural science and technology talent and the broad ranks of fruit growers.
In April last year, Sun Zheng approached Xiazhuang Rural E-commerce with the idea of selling cherries online, and the staff there strongly supported his idea. After more than a month of exchange and learning, with the help of experts from Xiazhuang Rural E-commerce, Sun Zheng’s “Internet+” model began to take shape. He sold large cherries through cooperation with group-buying or travel websites, WeChat Moments, and other internet methods, and did so impressively.
During this year’s Cherry Mountain Festival, through the internet, Sun Zheng sold more than 2,600 jin of cherries in total. Adding the 500 jin sold by his father Sun Guohui, the total sales reached more than 3,100 jin. This delighted Old Sun beyond measure; such a figure was something he would not have dared to imagine before.
“To make internet agriculture bigger and stronger, going it alone is not as good as teamwork. Before the Cherry Mountain Festival, we organized young people from the community to come for free training, so they could learn some commonly used knowledge and techniques of internet sales as well as how to handle some difficult problems. It should be said that the results were still very good. Especially those born in the ’80s and ’90s, they all learned very well.” Wang Baoquan, head of Xiazhuang Rural E-commerce, told reporters. Their efforts also paid off. “A few days ago, from Monday to Friday, an average of 500 pieces of large cherries could be shipped per day, and this year’s cherry sales can reach more than 10 million yuan,” Wang Baoquan said.
The popularity of WeChat business has also stirred thoughts among many local farmers. Local farmer Sun Qungong told reporters, “Before, we only knew to pick cherries and sell them by the roadside, or have people come to pick them. I really never thought a phone and a computer could generate so much energy. It seems that in the future I also have to let cherries go online for sale.”