The Rise of Rural Consumer Markets

People’s Daily October 29

Consumer markets in China’s rural areas have boomed thanks to the increase in residents’ income. In the first eight months of 2018, retail sales of consumer goods in the countryside topped 3.46 trillion yuan ($497 billion), up 10.4 percent year on year, 1.3 percentage points higher than that in cities and towns. Rural residents’ spending on e-commerce platforms reached 632.28 billion yuan ($90.8 billion) in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 34.3 percent and accounting for 15.5 percent of total online retail sales.

However, there are still a number of obstacles regarding the upgrading of consumption in rural areas. The logistics infrastructure is underdeveloped, meaning purchases often take a longer time to arrive and delivery charges are significantly higher.

Some commodities in rural grocery stores are of low quality and the variety is often limited, with a few vendors selling fake and substandard products.

Businesses should not underestimate the huge potential of rural markets. In addition to supplying readily marketable products, they can also launch well-conceived programs to change rural consumer habits to match urban trends.

Consumption upgrading plays a significant role in promoting industrial transformation, creating jobs and increasing residential incomes, all of which contribute to the goal of rural vitalization.