Online consumption in Gyangze, Tibet is more convenient (constructing a new development pattern·County consumption observation)
Core reading
The time required for express logistics is getting shorter and shorter, and the e-commerce services around are more and more in place. In Gyangze County, Xigaze City, Tibet Autonomous Region, at an altitude of more than 3,700 meters, online shopping has become a shopping choice for many people.
Behind the bright spots of consumption is not only the abundance of material life, but also the formation of living habits.
Through the Internet, people in remote counties are connected to the larger world.
I just got the package, unpacked it, opened the folded balance bike, and tried it. The young man satisfactorily put the fresh thing back into the box and carried it home.
This scene took place at the gate of the express delivery point in Gyangze County, Xigaze City, Tibet Autonomous Region, at an altitude of more than 3,700 meters.
"There are more and more people shopping online in the county, and everyone often buys some novel things-just this balance scooter, there are several in the county." The staff at the express delivery point said.
In the tide of online shopping, new bright spots in consumption have also appeared in remote counties like Gyangze.
Habit change
"We can also buy goods from all over the world"
Ba Pian, a teacher of Minhang Middle School in Gyangze County, has more than 10 years of online shopping experience.
Even before working in a township under the jurisdiction of Gyangze County, she often buys goods online.
"I came from Lhasa. When I first arrived in Gyangze, I was very uncomfortable with the offline business here. I couldn't buy many of my favorite things. So I would buy some clothes and daily necessities online." Ba Pian said.
The online shopping habit of Yang Ji, an official in Gyangze County, developed earlier.
While studying in Shijiazhuang, Hebei, she learned to shop online.
"Many Tibetan youths like me have studied and lived in the eastern region. Online shopping is developed there. When we return to our hometown, we will come back with the habit of online shopping."
Behind the change in consumption habits, there are also changes in the types of goods.
Turn on Ba Pian’s mobile phone, and the shopping cart on the e-commerce platform is full of fashionable clothing, novel toys and imported snacks.
"Nowadays, when buying things at home, the first thing that comes to mind is online shopping. Only the urgent daily necessities will go to the offline supermarket to buy." Ba Pian said.
With the popularization of the Internet and smart phones, the speed at which young people receive information from the outside world has accelerated, giving them a broader vision and willingness to try more products and sales models.
Ba Pian said: “When I watched the live broadcast, I learned about a product. I think it’s good, so I just place an order; when a celebrity brings the product, I will search for the same product; I’m willing to see the recommendation from the WeChat public account and Moments Buy it and try it."
Of course, in remote areas like Gyangze, online shopping is still somewhat difficult for farmers and herdsmen with low levels of education.
However, this part of consumer enthusiasm has not weakened, but is released through the form of "buying on behalf of others."
Walking into the Laze community at the foot of the Gyangze Castle, in the small shop in Tenzin Tashi, there are piles of waist-length parcels, all of which are purchased by the villagers.
When Tenzin Tashi opened a store, he also operated an e-commerce service center in the community. Folks who don’t know how to shop online came to his shop to buy goods through the Internet, and delivered them to Tenzin Tashi’s store by express delivery, and then by neighbors. We pick it up.
"Although Gyangze is relatively remote, we can also buy goods from all over the world through the Internet." Speaking of the shopping experience now, Ba Pian smiled contentedly.
Logistics improvement
"In recent years, the volume of parcels has increased by one or two hundred times"
In 2012, Yang Chongyun came to Gyangze from other places and started express delivery services. His son Yang He also went to Gyangze in 2017 and became his father's companion.
In a flash of 10 years, the father and son witnessed the development of the express delivery industry here.
At one time, the Post was the only express company in Gyangze.
But with the arrival of practitioners like Yang He, Gyangze is now basically covered by major express logistics companies.
"In 2012, Gyangze's express delivery business had just started. I heard from my father that there were three or five normal express delivery a day, and that was 10 more." Yang He recalled, "Now, the franchise business I manage has three to five hundred parcels a day. It is the norm. It is conservatively estimated that the number of parcels in the county can reach nearly 1,000 orders a day. In these years, the number of parcels has increased by one or two hundred times."
The turning point came in 2017-that year, the number of parcels ordered per day reached 100 for the first time.
In communicating with customers, Yang He discovered that the opening and popularization of 4G networks is an important driving force for the promotion of online shopping.
"With a faster and better mobile network, the shopping experience is gradually improving, and everyone is willing to browse information and order products online. The Internet is not only a channel for shopping, but also a channel for understanding products."
In synchrony with the speeding up of the Internet, the speeding up of logistics services has also improved the shopping experience of county residents, making them more willing to shop online.
According to Yang He, since 2015, the road to Gyangze has been gradually upgraded. Large trucks that used to travel on various bumpy roads for many days can enter the county steadily and quickly. In 2018, the Xigaze Airport opened a direct logistics service, and the airport expressway was also available. In the near future, many air cargoes were not used for transshipment via Lhasa and other places; the informatization and automation of logistics distribution centers in Xigaze have also been continuously improved in recent years, and the efficiency of sorting and distribution has been greatly improved.
"Ten years ago, a package took more than ten days on the way, and we still dare not guarantee the timeliness with customers. Now it takes about 7 days for land transportation and 3 to 4 days for air parcels. The improvement of logistics links is an important guarantee for the improvement of e-commerce consumer experience." Yang Crane said.
Nowadays, there are more and more people shopping online, and some of them are still "big online shoppers".
"A young man bought 37 packages online at a time, which shocked us. Almost all the packages in the car were her."
Model improvement
"Create more segmented and characteristic new e-commerce models"
"E-commerce consumption is booming, but there are still'growth troubles.'" said Zhang Yi, deputy secretary of the Gyangze County Party Committee and Shanghai aid to Tibet. "The variety of goods is richer, and the logistics speed is faster than before, but overall The cost is still relatively high-although the goods are beautiful, the price may not be cheap."
In Zhang Yi's view, the increase in county consumption not only refers to the consumption of county residents, but also the consumption of the entire county, including surrounding towns and villages.
Only by making good use of the radiation effect and service effect of the county seat can the county seat be the leader to drive the development of the county economy.
"For example, some townships in Gyangze County hope to build a local-oriented e-commerce platform in the county seat to negotiate prices with merchants in a way that aggregates the needs of local residents. On the one hand, it can reduce commodity prices, and on the other hand, it can also reduce logistics costs through large-scale purchases. "Zhang Yi said, "This is a new attempt to target remote areas."
In addition to local consumers' active aggregation of demand, e-commerce platforms can also reduce costs through economies of scale.
Some practitioners in the e-commerce industry said that with the rise of a group of e-commerce companies that are mainly attacking the sinking market, everyone is thinking about how to expand their business in this field.
"This market is large, but the profits brought by consumers' scattered purchases to the platform are not high, mainly because the logistics costs are too high." A practitioner said, "With the further enrichment of purchasing behavior data of people in these areas, e-commerce The platform can predict consumer behavior in a region through big data and other methods, and then reduce logistics and distribution costs by building local warehouses."
"The infrastructure in remote areas is weak, and consumer demand is scattered. It is more difficult to use offline consumption to meet diverse local needs. From this, the booming development of e-commerce consumption is inevitable." Shanghai University of Finance and Economics Research on E-commerce Director Cui Lili said, “In the next step, it is necessary for e-commerce platforms to further explore and discover new markets in counties, especially remote counties, to create more segmented and characteristic new e-commerce models, and to make e-commerce more ecological. Enrichment and health also bring more consumer choices and development dividends to the masses."
Reporter's Notes
Consumption drives production and development
For consumers in remote counties, e-commerce expands consumption and expands insights.
Consumers and shopping again and again not only improve their living standards, but also give them the opportunity to connect with the wider world.
The concept has changed.
Over consumption, the idea of "Why can't we do these things?" took root in some people.
Especially for young people, when trends and fashions are in hand, the door of opportunity opens up-to find products with comparative advantages, county towns can also become a hot spot for entrepreneurship. Those young people who are familiar with e-commerce and follow trends, It is an important force for the growth of the industry.
Looking further, as production continues to flourish, many problems will be resolved.
As far as logistics is concerned, the expansion of production scale means that logistics costs will be diluted under the effect of scale, and logistics distribution in counties will become smoother.
In the central and western regions, the e-commerce villages and e-commerce towns bred in some regions have helped the locals reduce logistics costs and benefited the local people.
This is a process of positive feedback. The scale of the industry is getting bigger and bigger, the cost of logistics is getting lower and lower, and the convenience of consumption will be higher and higher.
Consumption drives production and development.
Building a healthy economic cycle requires a "two-wheel drive" of production and consumption to help consumers move towards a better place.
Our reporter Xu Yuyao