In today's podcast, Alibaba offers free shipping on fridges as China's leading online shopping websites one-up each other with promotions targeting rural areas
Throughout this week, e-commerce giant Alibaba Group is offering to deliver all home appliances bought through its popular shopping portals at no extra charge to customers in about 500,000 villages nationwide.
Its main rival, JD.com, began a six-month promotional tour in June, with marketing events in more than 100 towns.
其主要对手京东已经于6月开始了为期6个月的促销活动,在100多个乡镇展开了推广活动。
Last year, the companies hung banners in rural towns advertising their products and urging residents to start businesses online rather than migrate to cities for work.
去年,这些公司都在乡镇打上横幅来宣传自己的产品,并呼吁民众在网上创业,而不是来大城市找工作。
E-commerce companies are targeting rural areas as a potential profit center because the communities are underserved by brick-and-mortar retail.
电商将农村作为潜力巨大的获利中心,这是因为这些地区的实体零售商服务水平不高。
But the push means logistics firms have had to scramble to improve their networks, while delivery workers from rural China who work for JD.com in cities are being transferred back to their hometowns.