Since 2016, e-commerce has become a powerful new engine driving the development of the flower industry's transaction end. Its transaction volume has been increasing year by year, the covered categories have been continuously expanding, and the transaction forms have become increasingly rich and diverse. Chen Rui, director of the Yunnan Province Flower Technology Training and Promotion Center, said in an interview with a reporter.

Chen Rui introduced that in 2023, the development of flower e-commerce in Yunnan Province achieved remarkable results. The number of flower e-commerce enterprises in the province has exceeded 2,000, with an online transaction volume of 8.5 billion yuan, accounting for 58% of the national flower e-commerce transaction volume. The flower e-commerce trading platforms in Yunnan Province have shown a good development trend of diversification and specialization, forming a rich pattern of six major categories: In the B2B category, platforms such as Huayibao, Huawu and Huapaizhongxin rank among the top in terms of online transaction volume; The B2C category includes subscription models and comprehensive e-commerce retail models. Live-streaming e-commerce has flourished on platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou. Vertical high-end brands precisely target the high-quality market. Cross-border e-commerce is actively expanding its overseas business by relying on platforms such as Alibaba International Station.

When it comes to the development trend of flower e-commerce in Yunnan Province, Chen Rui said that it is currently at a critical stage of rapid expansion and transformation and upgrading. At the policy level, relying on relevant plans and the dividends brought by RCEP, support for cold chain logistics, cross-border trade and digital construction will be continuously strengthened. Kunming City has even set a goal of achieving an annual e-commerce sales volume of 10 billion yuan by 2025. In terms of the main practitioners, traditional flower farmers, e-commerce platforms and MCN agencies have developed in a coordinated manner. The division of labor in the supply chain has become increasingly specialized, and "flower farmer live-streaming hosts" have been emerging one after another. In terms of brand building, the influence of the "Yunhua" regional public brand has gradually increased. Many enterprises have enhanced their competitiveness through means such as geographical indication certification and IP collaborations.

However, in the field of talent cultivation, although a lot of work has been carried out focusing on areas such as e-commerce operation and cold chain technology, there is still a considerable shortage of compound talents. In the future, live-streaming e-commerce, cross-border trade and the integration of the entire industrial chain will become important development directions for flower e-commerce in Yunnan Province.

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The development of flower e-commerce in Yunnan Province has not been smooth sailing either. Chen Rui admitted that there are still many problems in the industry that need to be solved urgently at present. For instance, the market competition order is chaotic, and adverse phenomena such as low-price dumping and false publicity are common. The lack of unified standards in the links such as grading, packaging and quality inspection of flower products on e-commerce platforms leads to frequent disputes in online transactions. Small and medium-sized flower farmers have limited channels for obtaining information, weak e-commerce operation capabilities, and overly rely on middlemen, resulting in relatively high investment risks. The industry is facing a structural shortage of compound talents, especially in professional fields such as live-streaming operation, cross-border trade, and cold chain logistics. In addition, flower enterprises are also confronted with problems such as insufficient production land, long approval cycle for facility agricultural land, and high land transfer costs, which restrict the large-scale development of the industry.

For these issues, the local industry authorities, market supervision departments and technical service promotion institutions are prepared to make orderly efforts in the following four aspects. The first is to standardize market order and optimize the business environment for e-commerce. Formulate targeted supporting norms, strengthen supervision over illegal behaviors such as low-price dumping and order manipulation and credit manipulation, and achieve a parallel system of rewards and punishments through coordinated measures. Second, improve the standard system, enhance product quality, perfect the grading and packaging standards for e-commerce flowers, promote the "Cloud Flower Traceability" label to achieve full traceability, and advance the coverage of "degradable flower boxes + blockchain traceability" in key enterprises. Third, empower industrial entities and promote the connection between production and sales. Establish a wide-ranging and highly timely flower price release mechanism, and release price information through multiple channels; Implement the "Digital Competence Enhancement Project for Flower Farmers" and carry out multilingual training; Promote the "government-guided price + insurance" guarantee model, set quarterly guided prices for major varieties, and launch "flower price index insurance". Fourth, strengthen talent cultivation and enhance professional capabilities. In the "Yunnan Businessmen" training project, a flower e-commerce module was added, and practical operation training was carried out in collaboration with e-commerce platforms. Implement the "New Farmer E-commerce Incubation Program", provide entrepreneurship subsidies for young people returning to their hometowns, and cultivate professional talents.

Chen Rui stated that with the gradual advancement and implementation of a series of measures, the flower e-commerce in Yunnan Province is expected to break through the development bottleneck, achieve higher-quality development in a standardized and orderly market environment, and continuously consolidate its leading position in the national flower e-commerce field.