Chinese farmers using e-commerce to increase profits
One farmer making use of this is Mr Hao Jinde. He is making use of this alternative, and is now finding better prices for his potatoes. He sold his potatoes this year to a store belonging to the online shopping platform, Lecuntao, at his village in Jingle County, a potato growing region in northern China's Shanxi Province.
"Compared with selling to the local guys, I got about 50 yuan more," Mr Hao said.
Lyu Yaofeng, manager of the platform's Jingle County branch, said the platform could purchase the potatoes at a higher price, as they would sell them for a much higher retail price to villages about 100 km away where they do not produce potatoes.
Lecuntao is an e-commerce platform aimed at the rural market, which sets up physical stores in rural villages. Since it was launched in 2014, its physical store network has grown to over 70,000 villages in China's 25 provinces. Rural customers can either order online or make their purchases at the physical stores in their village.
According to the Ministry of Commerce, the number of online shops selling agricultural produce exceeded 1 million by September this year. They also mentioned that 6.3 percent of total online sales were from the agriculture sector, and had a 35 per cent increase year on year.
source: fijitimes.com
