E-commerce Facilitates Reduction of Marginal Costs Associated with Agricultural Products, Boosting Suppliers' Incomes

E-commerce entrepreneur Kong Lingqi was born in Xunyang County, Ankang City, Shaanxi Province, in 1982. He initially worked as an elementary school teacher in a village in Xunyang after graduating from a technical high school but soon moved to southwest China’s Sichuan Province where he did everything from waitering to distributing promotional fliers. The northwest Chinese native eventually began working at a plant-based chemical technology company and gradually worked his way up to deputy factory director after serving in roles such as quality inspector, warehouse staff, financial clerk and office clerk. He returned to Xunyang and got married in 2005 and passed an exam that the municipal science and technology bureau offered soon after, which led to him working as a civil servant tasked with improving technology in the county.

Segueing into a purely e-commerce-based undertaking in 2015, Kong initiated a venture designed to promote a clear mission that he had in mind – harnessing the potential of internet technology and the vast reach of e-commerce platforms in order to showcase tea, rice, rapeseed oil, noodles, vermicelli, edible fungus, fruits and vegetables, and other top-tier agricultural products produced in Ankang and reach a greater number of consumers – and began providing incubation and entrepreneurship services, which has played an important role in economic development in the area.

In 2017, he successfully bid for government contracts designed to promote poverty alleviation and rural vitalisation. Kong embraced innovation, assembled a team of culturally adept individuals, and excelled at crafting high-quality videos and compelling content with them, which elevated the presentation of Ankang’s agricultural treasures to a more professional level.

The businessman also implemented stringent quality control measures and a meticulous grading system, recognising the pivotal role that they play. Effective product classification and grading are crucial parts of enabling production and distribution entities to cater to the diverse requirements of different market segments, ultimately leading to the attainment of high quality coupled with competitive pricing. Kong instituted a traceability system as well in order to ensure transparency and accountability in the sourcing of every product.

He also launched a brand known as Most Ankang, which conveys good wishes for people’s health and safety and a sense of quality and authenticity when written in Chinese characters, in order to amplify the visibility and impact of his offerings in line with a genuine desire to promote healthy lifestyles and began selling all of his products under it. Packaging designed to highlight their healthy and beneficial aspects and imbue them with cultural significance was created in alignment with the brand ethos.

In 2020, Most Ankang began logging more than RMB100 million of annual e-commerce turnover and accounting for more than 50% of Ankang’s locally produced agricultural product e-commerce transaction volume. The efficiency that e-commerce platforms possess with regard to sales and marketing resulted in sales expenses decreasing and supplier farmers’ incomes rising by 10% to 20%.

Source:

AliResearch

Administration and Management Institute (AMI) of China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA)