It takes nearly a year to book a chicken?

The development of rural e-commerce in eastern and northwestern Guangdong has also become a hot topic as the news of "selling tens of millions of Qingyuan chickens a day" appeared on major websites on "Singles Day" last year. Taobao is coming, JD.com is coming. The ensuing "natural quantity" orders are gradually activating rural productivity. Chen Baifang, vice president of Qingnong Company, said that the company sold 8.57 million Qingyuan chickens on "double 11" last year, and so far almost 70 percent of them have not been supplied. (southern Metropolis Daily, April 13)

This is a positive news. After the layout of rural e-commerce has been completed, the obstruction between agricultural and sideline products and the market has been opened, and all parties are complacent and happy. Under the concept of "Internet +", it is of course a general trend for agriculture to "touch the net". In fact, the "secret war" of e-commerce giants in China's rural areas has already begun. Alibaba announced last year that he planned to invest 10 billion yuan in building 1000 county-level operation centers and 100000 village-level service stations within three to five years. JD.com also made it clear that the sinking of e-commerce business to the rural market and the related logistics layout is one of its important strategies this year.

However, the example of "Qingyuan Chicken" selling well on the Internet makes people have mixed feelings. Qingnong e-commerce was founded on November 6, 2014. five days later, Qingnong e-commerce coincided with the arrival of "double 11". On that day, Qingnong e-commerce sold a total of 8.57 million Qingyuan chickens online. However, of the 8.57 million Qingyuan chickens sold on Singles Day in 2014, less than 30 per cent have been supplied so far, and almost 70 per cent have not been supplied. "it will be six months before we can hand in all the more than 8 million chickens in Singles Day." In other words, Qingyuan Chicken sold on Singles Day in 2014 may not be sold out until September and October 2015.

It is of course a skill to sell Qingyuan chicken into futures. However, from the perspective of consumer psychology and the laws of the market, I am afraid there are still a few issues to consider:

First, are these millions of "Qingyuan Chicken" booking customers fully aware of the reality of delayed delivery before placing orders? It will be nearly a year before we can eat the "Qingyuan Chicken" in the order at the latest. does this kind of hunger marketing respect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and understand the essence of fast and convenient e-commerce transactions? In other words, how sustainable is this kind of marketing after the novelty disappears?

Second, it is said that the local goal is to sell 300 million Qingyuan chickens a year after 2018. What is the concept of 300 million Qingyuan chickens? According to the relevant statistics of Qingyuan Chicken Association: in recent years, the annual production of Qingyuan chickens in Qingyuan City is about 45 million to 50 million, which means that in the next three years, the number of Qingyuan chickens must be increased several times in an explosive manner to meet the demand of Qingnong e-commerce. The scale of aquaculture has expanded five or six times, and in a short period of two or three years, to achieve such a goal, for farmers, how to calculate the risk rate of return?

With the wings of e-commerce, Qingyuan Chicken can naturally turn a pheasant into a Phoenix. However, it is important to remember two points: the market is always rapidly changing, and although regional agricultural products are irreplaceable in a certain sense, they lack consumption rigidity after all. The advantage of e-commerce is that it is short and fast, waiting for a chicken for half a year may not be a long-term situation. What's more, in recent years, ten thousand tons of carrots in Shenyang are unsalable, and no one cares about ten thousand mu of cucumbers in Hainan. There are numerous examples of cheap grain hurting farmers. Order farming is logically safe, but just like bank deposits, it is only with a low risk coefficient, and there is no concept of absolute zero risk.

It is not easy to sell chickens, and agricultural "touching the net" should follow the laws of the market. Anyway, one thing is for sure. if we had known that the "Qingyuan Chicken" of "double 11" would have to be delivered for more than half a year, do a survey to see how many die-hard fans would be happy without a chicken.