Hierarchical analysis of the Internet Plus agricultural input supply side
Original title: Cutting costs, eliminating chronic problems, building communities, improving services, looking back at the first year of agricultural input e-commerce -
How the Internet returns the agricultural input industry to its essence
Illustration: Jiao Haiyang
2015 is known as the first year of agricultural input e-commerce. At this turning point between the old and new year, reviewing the exploration paths of several well-known enterprises in the industry in agricultural input e-commerce over the past year is essential for grasping the direction of "Internet Plus agricultural inputs" in the new year. Recently, the "Internet Plus" Pesticide Regulation and Agrochemical Service Model Innovation Summit Forum was held in Haikou City, Hainan. Sui Pengfei, Director of the Institute for the Control of Agrochemicals, Ministry of Agriculture, said in his speech at the forum that China's agrochemical service level lags 10-20 years behind the general commercial environment. It is necessary to make full use of Internet technology and innovate agrochemical service models around the scientific application of pesticides in order to achieve leapfrog development, thereby supporting the implementation of the pesticide zero-growth strategy.
Rural Taobao builds a rural Internet ecosystem
"Our company's positioning is Internet Plus rural areas, not Internet Plus agriculture. Because we go beyond buying and selling products to build a rural Internet ecosystem so that farmers can fully enjoy the convenience brought by the Internet," said Wang Yanzhe, General Manager of Alibaba's Rural Taobao Business Unit.
Alibaba plans to invest 10 billion yuan to establish 1,000 county-level service centers and 100,000 village-level service stations, covering 1/3 of the country's counties and 1/6 of rural areas. This will popularize e-commerce in rural areas, break through information and logistics bottlenecks, and solve the problems of difficulty in buying and selling in rural areas. More importantly, Rural Taobao, through the construction of county and village operating store infrastructure, recruits partners locally and village-level service station managers, achieving the return of rural talent and making them leaders in rural Internet consumption.
"Today, agricultural inputs going to the countryside through e-commerce is equivalent to home appliances going to the countryside 3-5 years ago. On one hand, through the Internet brand direct-to-consumer approach, small and backward manufacturers can be eliminated, achieving a reshuffle of the pesticide industry. On the other hand, Rural Taobao collaborates with agricultural input regulatory authorities on big data monitoring to cut off the entry of counterfeit and inferior agricultural inputs at the source," said Wang Yanzhe.
The "Wangnong Loan" launched by Rural Taobao can grant credit of up to 500,000 yuan to eligible farmers and breeders. When a transaction occurs, it does not go through the farmer's or breeder's account but pays the merchant (distributor, manufacturer) directly. The interest rate is borne by the Rural Taobao merchant, the farmer or breeder, or shared by both parties. This allows agricultural input manufacturers and distributors to receive advance payment in advance, optimizing the supply chain and thoroughly solving the chronic problem of credit sales in agricultural inputs. For farmers' regular orders, which are small in quantity, distribution is handled by distributors through Cainiao Logistics. For large orders reaching a certain threshold, manufacturers can ship directly.
After-sales pesticide application service is of utmost importance. On the Rural Taobao platform, branded pesticide manufacturers can post 3-5 minute videos introducing their products, avoiding the exaggerated claims of operators in current grassroots agricultural input stores; villagers can consult pesticide manufacturers online by themselves or through partners for immediate answers; under the organization of village-level service station managers, well-known agricultural technology experts regularly conduct online training for villagers on the scientific use of pesticides; the "DingTalk" WeChat public platform has been launched, and cooperation with "Nongyisheng" and others provides instant Q&A services for online diagnosis of crop pests and diseases and medication guidance.
Tiantianquan builds a league circle for farmers
Currently, China's pesticide distribution has too many tiers, with 2,700 pesticide suppliers, 60,000 city and county distributors, and 800,000 rural retailers, serving 240 million farming households. On one hand, this causes terminal pesticide prices to be relatively high and counterfeit and inferior pesticides to harm farmers; on the other hand, production and sales are disconnected, making it difficult for technical services to be delivered.
In contrast, the top 10 pesticide suppliers and top 5 distributors in the United States hold over 80% of market share. Of the 10,000 retail stores across the country, 80% are directly operated by national service providers, and a PCA and CCA technical qualification certification and service system has been established. "This is the development direction that China's pesticide industry should pursue, and pesticide e-commerce is the key entry point to achieve this goal," believes Dr. Li Guangze, Director of Noposion Corporation.
Tiantianquan has built a league circle of farmers through the Internet, centering on farmers, recruiting planting experts "Tian Ge" and "Tian Jie" to provide farmers with technical support for planting, fertilizing, and pesticide application; joining retailers and distributors to form regional operating platforms, providing a full set of management concepts and introducing good products (seeds, pesticides, fertilizers, and agricultural machinery) to enhance their management capabilities; launching the Nongfa Loan to provide low-interest loans to large-scale growers, solving the chronic problem of credit sales in agricultural input distribution. Ultimately, within this circle, the goals of genuine products, cost savings, and adequate technical services are achieved.
Currently, the agricultural input industry has a phenomenon of "sacrificing the fundamentals for the trivial" by hyping concepts and overemphasizing marketing tactics. "We believe that the Internet can return everything to its essence, allowing the agricultural input industry to focus more on the essence of providing quality products and professional services," said Li Guangze. Through e-commerce (financial) platforms, intermediate links are eliminated, circulation efficiency is improved, distribution costs are reduced, and the industry's chronic problems of high credit sales, high inventory, and low turnover are eradicated; through continuous optimization of products and solutions, the entire pesticide industry's products become fewer and more refined, allowing farmers to easily master foolproof full-process solutions; through the crop community service concept, future agricultural technical services become more specialized, community-oriented, socialized, and Internet-based.
Tiantianquan plans to build 1,000 county-level centers within 3 years, forming a flexible and efficient county-level e-commerce operating platform; build 100,000 brand service centers, improving township e-commerce and community terminals; recruit 1 million planting experts, providing professional services and crop communities; and be able to provide 100 million farming households with quality and low-cost crop solutions, thereby safeguarding the food safety of 200 million families.
Nongyisheng serves as a private health advisor for crops
"Nongyisheng does not do agricultural input e-commerce; it only does agricultural technical solutions," said Wang Zhaoyong, CEO of Nongyisheng. Now Nongyisheng is called the "Baymax" of the agricultural circle, serving as a private health advisor for farmers' crops.
Nongyisheng launched on November 22, 2014. It is a mobile Internet APP whose core function is "quick questions." Farmers encountering routine pest and disease diagnosis and medication guidance can get solutions within one minute. According to statistics, farmers now ask more than 1,000 questions per day on the Nongyisheng platform, with 6-8 answers per question, basically generating one Q&A every 30 seconds or so. "Many agricultural technology experts report that since Nongyisheng became available, they have stopped playing mahjong and spend every day answering questions on it, paying attention to pest and disease occurrences, and learning from other experts. An agricultural technology expert nicknamed 'Bi Laoye' once set a record of answering questions online for 13 hours," said Wang Zhaoyong.
The shortcomings of agricultural technical guidance services have long been a pain point for farmers and an important reason for pesticide abuse and the prevalence of counterfeit pesticides. Nongyisheng integrates plant protection experts, agricultural technology experts, and "local experts" from agricultural input stores to provide hands-on instant online services for small farmers, family farm owners, large-scale growers, and planting cooperatives, achieving open Q&A so that answers are timely, authoritative, and unique, making it easy for farmers to put into practice.
The prescriptions that experts provide for farmers inevitably involve related pesticide products, and if farmers cannot buy them, it is still of no help. Therefore, Nongyisheng also offers a "nearby agricultural input stores" function, connecting front-end Q&A with product information from agricultural input retail stores near farmers, enabling farmers to quickly and accurately find suitable pesticide products. In addition, Nongyisheng offers a "verify authenticity" function, allowing farmers to identify the authenticity of pesticides by scanning QR codes or barcodes, preventing them from being deceived.