Little oranges hit the web in a big way
2023-05-19 20:05:13
By Tan Maolin, Yichang International Communication Studio
Over the past month a group of special “tourists” streamed into Shuitianba Township, Zigui County of Yichang. More than 200 influencers from across Shandong, Sichuan and other provinces in China came with a common objective - to sell oranges. Of the group, around 30% have over 1 million followers.
The prime time for harvesting the spring orange Lunwan, began in April, and since then the influencers have gathered in the orchards of Zigui to assist with live-stream marketing.
In recent years, these influencers have formed a relatively fixed year-round live-streaming marketing tour route - selling pineapples in March in Hainan, oranges in April in Yichang, melons in May in Shandong. Yichang’s Zigui, well known for its strong orange industry, has become a regular stop on this route.
Xiaoxi from Jingzhou, Hubei province, is a popular cultural travel vlogger on Douyin with over 1.9 million followers. This is her second visit to Zigui. Last year, she achieved over 50,000 orders in three days while selling the Lunwan orange.
"The oranges here were picked right from the orchard behind me. They will be shipped out today and reach you in two days," Xiaoxi said as she picked oranges and showed the juicy flesh to her followers on Douyin through live-streaming on May 14 in Taiziwan Village of Zigui County.
During an interview with reporters, Xiaoxi said: "These famous oranges have good quality, so they have high repurchase rates." Compared with most other orange varieties, which ripen in September, Lunwan is unusual in that it ripens in April, she said. It is one of the products with the highest praise rate in her online store and in just two live-streaming sessions of orange sales she gained more than 20,000 fans on her Douyin account.
Suotu from Chongqing has 2.9 million followers on Douyin and is another influencer attracted by the oranges. He sold about 1,000 orders of Lunwan oranges in one day. “Many live-streamers have recommended Zigui Lunwan. It’s a product with a good reputation,” said Suotu. He added that this time he came to Zigui on his own initiative, hoping to bring high-quality new products to his fans. Two days later, he would go to Shandong or Henan provinces to continue his live-streaming marketing tour.
Wang Enjie, the Secretary General of Zigui’s e-Commerce Association, said that live-streaming marketing is the most direct channel to commercialize viewership into sales. High-quality goods with a high repurchase rate could also increase the loyalty of these live-streamers’ fans as well, he said.
In addition to the quality, the live-streamers are moved by Zigui’s strong supply support.
At the Yimouqiantian Electric Business Limited Company, 2,000 orders of Lunwan oranges were being packaged and shipped. "These are the products that the live-streamers have just sold," said Wang Yunxiang, General Manager of Yimouqiantian, who was busy packaging oranges which were sold by three live-streamers earlier that morning. Wang Yunxiang said that in the past month, about 60 out-of-town influencers had approached her for cooperation, half of whom boasts millions of followers.
In May 2020, Wang Yunxiang returned home with her husband to start a company specializing in selling oranges where she would work as an agent. In just two years, the company added two fruit washing and sorting production lines and 10 transport vehicles as a result of selling 560,000 orders for fresh oranges per year.
Wang nxiang partners with 320 farmers who plant about 1,800 mu (120 hectares) of oranges. Once the farmers receive her orders, they pick oranges from the trees and pack them into boxes. They then call a truck via an APP and a driver will ship the boxes to the local orange logistics center.
At the logistics center, the fruit washing and sorting line were on standby. After sorting by infrared ray into 3-5 grades according to their sugar levels and size, the oranges are shipped out. From the trees to the trucks, the whole process takes less than half a day.
Xiaoxi said: "By live-streaming from the orange orchards, I promote the fruits by showing their freshness, so having a stable and reliable supply chain is crucial for the eventual success of live-streaming sales." Usually, fresh orange are shipped within 48 hours, delays would not only cause order cancellations, but also damage the store’s word-of-mouth credit, causing fines and even closure, she added.
Wang Enjie said: "Our influencer partners need to focus only on selling. The local supply chain will take care of after-sales and transportation." There are 2,600 e-commerce enterprises in Zigui, operating more than 8,100 online stores and hiring more than 60,000 employees. During the peak season, the system can ship about 200,000 orders, or 800 tons of fresh oranges, in a day. Since the Lunwan oranges began to sell last month, about 900,000 orders have been sold, worth more than 60 million yuan (US$8.55 million).
Over the past month a group of special “tourists” streamed into Shuitianba Township, Zigui County of Yichang. More than 200 influencers from across Shandong, Sichuan and other provinces in China came with a common objective - to sell oranges. Of the group, around 30% have over 1 million followers.
The prime time for harvesting the spring orange Lunwan, began in April, and since then the influencers have gathered in the orchards of Zigui to assist with live-stream marketing.
In recent years, these influencers have formed a relatively fixed year-round live-streaming marketing tour route - selling pineapples in March in Hainan, oranges in April in Yichang, melons in May in Shandong. Yichang’s Zigui, well known for its strong orange industry, has become a regular stop on this route.
Xiaoxi from Jingzhou, Hubei province, is a popular cultural travel vlogger on Douyin with over 1.9 million followers. This is her second visit to Zigui. Last year, she achieved over 50,000 orders in three days while selling the Lunwan orange.
"The oranges here were picked right from the orchard behind me. They will be shipped out today and reach you in two days," Xiaoxi said as she picked oranges and showed the juicy flesh to her followers on Douyin through live-streaming on May 14 in Taiziwan Village of Zigui County.
During an interview with reporters, Xiaoxi said: "These famous oranges have good quality, so they have high repurchase rates." Compared with most other orange varieties, which ripen in September, Lunwan is unusual in that it ripens in April, she said. It is one of the products with the highest praise rate in her online store and in just two live-streaming sessions of orange sales she gained more than 20,000 fans on her Douyin account.
Suotu from Chongqing has 2.9 million followers on Douyin and is another influencer attracted by the oranges. He sold about 1,000 orders of Lunwan oranges in one day. “Many live-streamers have recommended Zigui Lunwan. It’s a product with a good reputation,” said Suotu. He added that this time he came to Zigui on his own initiative, hoping to bring high-quality new products to his fans. Two days later, he would go to Shandong or Henan provinces to continue his live-streaming marketing tour.
Wang Enjie, the Secretary General of Zigui’s e-Commerce Association, said that live-streaming marketing is the most direct channel to commercialize viewership into sales. High-quality goods with a high repurchase rate could also increase the loyalty of these live-streamers’ fans as well, he said.
In addition to the quality, the live-streamers are moved by Zigui’s strong supply support.
At the Yimouqiantian Electric Business Limited Company, 2,000 orders of Lunwan oranges were being packaged and shipped. "These are the products that the live-streamers have just sold," said Wang Yunxiang, General Manager of Yimouqiantian, who was busy packaging oranges which were sold by three live-streamers earlier that morning. Wang Yunxiang said that in the past month, about 60 out-of-town influencers had approached her for cooperation, half of whom boasts millions of followers.
In May 2020, Wang Yunxiang returned home with her husband to start a company specializing in selling oranges where she would work as an agent. In just two years, the company added two fruit washing and sorting production lines and 10 transport vehicles as a result of selling 560,000 orders for fresh oranges per year.
Wang nxiang partners with 320 farmers who plant about 1,800 mu (120 hectares) of oranges. Once the farmers receive her orders, they pick oranges from the trees and pack them into boxes. They then call a truck via an APP and a driver will ship the boxes to the local orange logistics center.
At the logistics center, the fruit washing and sorting line were on standby. After sorting by infrared ray into 3-5 grades according to their sugar levels and size, the oranges are shipped out. From the trees to the trucks, the whole process takes less than half a day.
Xiaoxi said: "By live-streaming from the orange orchards, I promote the fruits by showing their freshness, so having a stable and reliable supply chain is crucial for the eventual success of live-streaming sales." Usually, fresh orange are shipped within 48 hours, delays would not only cause order cancellations, but also damage the store’s word-of-mouth credit, causing fines and even closure, she added.
Wang Enjie said: "Our influencer partners need to focus only on selling. The local supply chain will take care of after-sales and transportation." There are 2,600 e-commerce enterprises in Zigui, operating more than 8,100 online stores and hiring more than 60,000 employees. During the peak season, the system can ship about 200,000 orders, or 800 tons of fresh oranges, in a day. Since the Lunwan oranges began to sell last month, about 900,000 orders have been sold, worth more than 60 million yuan (US$8.55 million).
