Yichang farmers achieve e-commerce success
2023-01-18 19:01:00
By Yan Wanqin, Yichang International Communication Studio
Hekou Village in Yichang was selected as a "Taobao Village" for five consecutive years, according to a recent report from Ali Research.
Xiang Xingping, a 60-year-old mushroom farmer in Hekou Village, Yuan'an County, Yichang, has reached celebrity status due to the high sales of his online shiitake mushroom store, which has been in operation for eight years.
For three consecutive years, Xiang Xingping's online store has ranked at the top of shiitake mushroom product sales through Taobao. Last year, 210,000 kilograms of shiitake mushrooms were sold through his store alone, with an annual sales volume of more than 6 million yuan (about 884,694 U.S. dollars).
Hekou Village in Yichang was selected as a "Taobao Village" for five consecutive years, according to a recent report from Ali Research.
Xiang Xingping, a 60-year-old mushroom farmer in Hekou Village, Yuan'an County, Yichang, has reached celebrity status due to the high sales of his online shiitake mushroom store, which has been in operation for eight years.
For three consecutive years, Xiang Xingping's online store has ranked at the top of shiitake mushroom product sales through Taobao. Last year, 210,000 kilograms of shiitake mushrooms were sold through his store alone, with an annual sales volume of more than 6 million yuan (about 884,694 U.S. dollars).
Xiang Xingping promotes and sells products via livestreaming.
"There are about 500 orders at the peak of a day," Xiang said.
Xiang has been a shiitake mushroom vendor for more than 30 years. In 2014, he saw the opportunities brought by the development of the Internet and decided to try selling mushrooms through a Taobao store.
The shiitake mushroom is a famous specialty in Yuan'an. Xiang has processed shiitake mushrooms into 18 varieties including shiitake mushroom umbrellas, shiitake mushroom slices and shiitake mushroom legs.
"Shiitake mushroom legs were not valuable at that time and mushroom farmers dumped them. Gradually the price of mushroom legs rose from 4 yuan a kilogram to more than 20 yuan a kilogram," Xiang said.
Over the years, Xiang’s online store has accumulated more than 3,000 regular customers, and the annual order volume has reached more than 60,000.
"Our products are genuine, and there are many repeat customers because they trust our products," Xiang said.
Driven by the success of Xiang, many villagers have also turned to e-commerce. Chen Dayong was one of them.
"The highest daily sales volume can reach more than 200 orders per day. I can have a gross income of 140,000 yuan （about 20，664 U.S. dollars） each year," Chen said.
In recent years, Yuan'an County has promoted the full coverage of express delivery into the village by improving logistics sites, consolidating the foundation of the e-commerce industry.
More and more aspiring new farmers in the vast rural areas have turned to e-commerce platforms to boost rural economic development and inject new momentum into rural revitalization.
