SHANGHAI (Nov 7): The new target consumer for China’s e-commerce giants sits in the tiny hamlet of Miaoxia, deep in rural Henan province. Rural e-commerce is expected to be worth 1 trillion yuan by 2020, providing a massive incentive for marketplaces such as Alibaba’s Taobao. Alibaba and JD are spending billions of dollars to extend their reach in far-flung provinces, and smartphone brands Vivo and Oppo are surging into the top five globally on their ability to capture sales from rural consumers. Alibaba has committed to spending at least 10 billion yuan in rural areas, making it easier for customers to order and deliveries to be made. “Rural populations, especially the young rural population, are not what we knew before,” said Wang Feng, a professor of sociology at the University of California at Irvine.

Source: The Edge Markets November 07, 2016 09:00 UTC