Workers in a purple clay enterprise of Dingshu town prepare for livestreaming events. [Photo/wxrb.com]
The internet economy has become an important driving force behind economic recovery in eastern China's Yixing city, known as the home of purple clay products, as the coronavirus epidemic wanes.
Lu Yiming, director of the service industry department of Dingshu town, said the number of purple clay products sold online has exceeded the number sold at offline markets, and online sales are continuing to expand rapidly this year.
"The epidemic has changed people's mindset toward consumption, and new models such as contactless distribution and livestreaming are rapidly developing in the purple clay market," said Lu.
Dingshu has been working to promote purple clay products on e-commerce platforms since 2016. Over 100,000 people are working in Dingshu's purple clay industry in areas such as product manufacturing, packaging, art design, and marketing. Around 60 percent of sales this year came from online channels.
Jie Tao, a purple clay enterprise that has focused on the online market for the past 15 years, has stood out among similar companies in Dingshu, as their sales have been doubling yearly thanks to professional livestream hosts and its developed online sales system.
Tang Lei, director of Zi Yu Jin Sha, a well-known purple clay brand based in Dingshu that owns over 50 chain stores nationwide, said the company's first foray into livestreaming as a means of promoting sales on e-commerce platforms has helped make up for a loss of offline sales.
According to Tang, young people are the main buyers of products displayed during livestreams, and they prefer cheaper and more practical products. However, those who buy purple clay products as collector's items tend to prefer brick-and-mortar stores. Because of this, e-commerce will not completely replace physical stores.
Lu said that Dingshu is planning to implement preferential policies to support the development of e-commerce, and the government plans to enhance supervision of the online market.
