With vigorous consumption in rural areas and rapid development of new business formats, Zhejiang's county-level economy once again leads in high-quality development
2024-08-22
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Chao News Client Reporter Chen Jie
Local specialty Gelato (Italian ice cream), daytime coffee and evening wine have emerged, and consumption in first-tier cities has been replicated in county towns; the intangible cultural heritage handmade experience store in the ancient city has started online operations to create a "digital signboard"; local shops rooted in county towns have risen up one after another to become unique "small and beautiful" brands... In Zhejiang counties, various new consumption scenarios have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, stimulating new consumer demand.
Counties connect urban and rural areas and have huge consumption potential. Zhejiang started out by relying on the "strong county" model, and the development of its counties is also a reflection of the vitality of China's county economy to a certain extent.
This year, Zhejiang has focused on the "Consumption Promotion Year" action theme, vertically linking provinces, cities and counties to cultivate and expand new consumption, deepen innovation in consumption scenarios, and continuously and steadily expand consumption. Among them, the county consumer market has developed brilliantly. On the one hand, young people returning to their hometowns continue to drive the emergence of new business formats, and on the other hand, the potential of the county and township consumer market is also being stimulated.
According to Meituan data, in July this year, the scale of online transactions for local life services in Zhejiang counties ranked second in the country, a month-on-month increase of 23%, and the county consumer market was "stable with innovation"; among them, the county's overall tourism driving effect was significant, with the number of catering and accommodation orders increasing by more than 20% month-on-month; the number of new merchants exceeded 58,000, and market operators were full of vitality.
The consumption demand in counties and towns is strong, and new business formats continue to emerge. At present, the high-quality development of county economies in Zhejiang Province is stimulating social innovation vitality.
Local consumption is busy with new products
County tourism brings new consumption of "nostalgic cold drinks, coffee during the day and wine at night"
On a sultry afternoon in the summer vacation, a cool breeze blew in the "cold place". Many tourists came to check in Chun'an County's local specialty cold drinks and took photos of the milk tea cup cover with the words "Qiandao Lake" written on it.
Tourists check in at the store and the "cold" Qiandao Lake cup milk tea photo by Zhang Kaiwen
"Lengchang" is the first local tea ice cream brand in Qiandao Lake. When it was first established, it mainly sold Italian ice cream. Two years ago, Xiao Hu took over "Lengchang" by chance and tried to transform and develop local specialty products, so that consumers can "taste Qiandao Lake in a cup."
According to reports, most of the tea leaves used in milk tea come from local areas. For example, Jiukeng Maojian is a green tea produced in Jiukengyuan, Chun'an County. It was once a tribute tea and has a fresh and mellow taste. In the production of fruit tea, local fruits are used as much as possible, such as Qiandao Lake peaches, Jieshou oranges, Weiping persimmons... In terms of ice cream flavors, the specialties of various towns in Chun'an County are used as the theme, and "homesickness flavors" such as Fenkou rice soup flavor, Qiandao beer flavor, and Weiping fermented rice flavor are launched.
In order to further expand the market, the store launched various takeaway group purchase packages on platforms such as Meituan and Dianping in 2019. It is understood that online orders currently account for more than 30% of the turnover, and the average daily sales of the store can reach 150 orders during the peak season, which effectively supplements the offline store business.
"There are many tourists in Qiandao Lake during the peak tourist season. Online sales can increase the number of out-of-town consumption orders and promote the brand's reputation." Xiao Hu said that in the face of the fiercely competitive tea market, localized products can be more differentiated. Recently, the store has also launched local-themed drinks such as "Knowing the Thousand Islands with One Cup" and "1,078 Islands in Qiandao Lake".
As county tourism becomes increasingly popular, county towns have gradually become a treasure trove for young people who pursue "few people, beautiful scenery, a sense of relaxation, and unique experiences", and various new consumption formats have also taken root online.
In Qingtian, a hometown of overseas Chinese, the "Happy Coffee House" is still exploring a new business model of daytime coffee and evening drinks.
This coffee shop, located in the center of Qingtian County, also serves French light meals. It welcomes one to two hundred customers every day, and during the peak tourist season, there are even more than seven hundred people checking in a day.
Qingtian has a long history of coffee culture. Today, there are more than 400 coffee shops in the county, with an annual turnover of more than 200 million yuan. It is truly "the whole city is filled with the aroma of coffee." The popularity of county tourism has driven the growth of local consumption. According to Meituan data, the number of searches related to "Qingtian tourism" has increased 109.7 times year-on-year since the beginning of this year.
Cocktails from "Happiness Cafe" - White Rabbit and cherry blossoms Photo by Wang Jinglin
Xu Xiaobao, the operation director of "Happy Cafe", said that in order to cater to the young consumer group, the store is focusing on online operations and launching a variety of group purchase packages. So far, the store has sold nearly 6,000 online vouchers in half a year.
In order to fill the gap in nighttime consumption scenes, the store also learned the new business model of "daytime coffee and nighttime wine" in first-tier cities, launched various new special wine products, and transformed into a "tavern" at night to attract young consumers to come for a drink and relax.
"Reverse tourism is popular nowadays, and young people are coming to county towns to play. The consumer market has grown, and competition for local businesses has also become fiercer." Xu Xiaobao believes that in order to cope with new consumption trends in the county town market, operators also need to build a good online reputation and create differentiated products to meet the needs of new scenarios.
New business for the old store
New convenience stores and community restaurants open up new online markets
As urban-rural integration accelerates and the consumption gap between counties and towns narrows, traditional old stores are also ushering in new upgrades.
In Anji County, Xu Zuping, a 50-year-old "supermarket veteran", runs a new convenience store called "Gongcheng 24-hour convenience store". The store, which is about 200 square meters, operates throughout the city with the help of instant delivery, providing more than 6,000 kinds of goods for surrounding residents.
Lao Xu has nearly 30 years of experience in supermarket operation. He told reporters that he started to run supermarket chain business all over the country when he was in his twenties. Currently, he has opened 10 stores in Zhejiang, and has also set up stores in Chengdu, Beijing and other places.
Observing that tourism in Anji County was booming and the consumer market was growing rapidly, he planned to set up shop there. In December last year, Lao Xu launched the store on the takeaway platform and tried a new business model of instant retail. Currently, the store has more than 300 online orders every day, and in June this year, the monthly sales were nearly 10,000 orders.
He told reporters that because Anji is a tourist county, the store has more disposable bathtub covers, waterproof mobile phone cases and other general merchandise, which has also effectively increased the store's operating profit. "The Meituan platform alone can bring in two-thirds of the turnover, and even more when things are good."
Another snack bar targeting the new consumer market is Xuji, a full-category snack bar that started in Qingtian County. By taking root in community consumption and relying on online and offline dual-track operations, the snack bar has become a well-known new catering brand in the county.
In 2001, Xuji opened its first store, specializing in Wenzhou fish balls. More than 20 years later, Xuji now has 11 stores in the area. Its slogan, "A bowl of fish ball soup, fragrant for more than 20 years," has become more and more popular, and it serves more and more residents.
Six years ago, Xuji launched a takeaway service at the request of customers, which opened up a new market. In addition to meeting the daily consumption needs of residents in the surrounding communities, it also took on incremental orders from tourists. Currently, the monthly sales volume of takeaways on Meituan alone exceeds 1,000 orders, which effectively supplements the store's physical business.
The staff of "Xu Ji" expressed that they are currently planning to move all stores to platforms such as Dianping.com, and gradually launch various group purchase packages to further meet the new demands of young consumers who check in for "county tours".
To fully tap the potential of county-level consumption, effective support from the commercial system is needed. At present, the various innovative formats emerging in Zhejiang's counties have provided more diverse choices for urban and rural residents, driving further upgrades in local consumption. At the same time, the deep integration of digitalization and local entities is also accelerating the improvement of county-level commercial facilities, which is conducive to a virtuous cycle of promoting local consumption and local employment.
More importantly, the vigorous vitality of county consumption is also accelerating the return of young people, bringing new impetus to the high-quality development of county economies. According to Meituan data, in July alone, the number of new businesses in Zhejiang counties exceeded 58,000, and market operators are full of vitality.
Gao Yufei, a researcher at the Zhejiang Provincial Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, believes that county economic development should actively embrace digital technology and join the wave of digital economy, "accelerate the construction of digital infrastructure, improve the level of digitalization, promote the deep integration of digital economy and real economy, enable high-quality development of county economy, and enhance industrial added value and competitiveness."
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