Xixia's Singles' Day sales break records

Riding on Alibaba's Singles' Day shopping craze, online retail sales in Xixia county, Nanyang, exceeded 102 million yuan ($15.4 million) on Nov 11, up 328 percent on the same day last year.

From midnight to 8:00 am, Straw Hat Brothers Commercial and Trading received 8,000 orders for its top selling kiwi fruit. According to Zhang Yang, general manager of the company, the turnover for Singles' Day is expected to reach 900,000 yuan.

"The company's name, Straw Hat Brothers, refers to a group of grassroots traders who started their own business to bring the characteristic products of Xixia to a broader market," Zhang said.

Kiwi fruit, mushrooms, and traditional Chinese medicine are three featured products in the county, which have a complete industrial chain, and laid a solid foundation on e-commerce platforms.

As of September, 15,000 tons of kiwi fruit have been sold online, accounting for 25 percent of the total kiwi output of Xixia, and bringing in a revenue of 185 million yuan. The market price of kiwi fruit rose from the previous 1-2.5 yuan per kilo to 3-5 yuan.

At 11:00 am that day, logistics vehicles from STO, YTO and ZTO expresses, were busy loading packages from Jiajiabao Food. Nearly 70,000 packages will depart from there to be sent to every corner of the country.

"With 40 varieties of products, the online turnover from mushrooms accounts for nearly a third of the company's total turnover. Making the most of Internet Plus, Jiajiabao completed its transformation and upgrading," said Jin Dongliang, general manager of the company.

By establishing a raw materials supply base – Funiu Mountain Edible Mushroom Farm, it not only ensures the resources of the online sales, but also generates jobs to help 113 local impoverished households.

Apart from tapping into its agricultural product resources, Xixia is devoted to the cultivation of e-commerce talents. "It is expensive to hire operation teams from outside," Zhang said. "In these two years, all the employees in our team are local."

In collaboration with Taobao University, 18 training sessions have been held in the county, with nearly 1,200 residents becoming the backbone forces of different e-commece enterprises.

With a standardized planting area, complete industrial chain and combined online and offline sales channels, Xixia is on its way to bolster itself as a characteristic e-commerce busniess zone in midwest China.