Digital technology stimulates "code quotient" to tap new impetus of domestic demand.

When the collection of QR codes penetrated into the streets and alleys of cities across the country, small and micro businesses that became "code merchants" also ushered in their "golden age". None of them are insignificant, but their existence has built a capillary network of China's economy and consolidated the foundation of economic development.

It seems that inadvertently, "code merchants" caught up with "online merchants" for the first time and became a new driving force for stimulating domestic demand.

In the past few years, consumption has increasingly played a "ballast stone" role in the economy, becoming the "first engine" to continuously promote China's economic growth. At present, in the depths and corners of the city, small and micro business owners have become the vitality of domestic demand. Nearly 654.38 billion small and micro individual merchants in China are scattered and small in scale, but their potential has been deeply tapped due to the empowerment of the digital economy.

The latest store economic report jointly released by China New Economic Research Institute, Alipay and Hungry Word of Mouth shows that in the first half of this year, the sales of offline "code merchants" with roadside stores as the core increased by 67% year-on-year, which is eight times the growth rate of the total retail sales of social consumer goods in China.

Code merchants, that is, offline merchants who use QR codes to collect money. Because a series of financial services, such as account management, loans, insurance and wealth management, are only obtained through a small money collection code, these small and micro businesses call themselves "code merchants" figuratively. As we all know, the domestic online market has almost been "divided" by several well-known e-commerce, whether it is PC or mobile APP. It may be too early to say that "coders" have replaced them, but with the support of digital technology, offline siege has finally found its own way and significance. In the era of mobile payment, more and more offline stores have joined the ranks of mobile payment. When QR code collection permeates the streets of major cities in China, it becomes a "code merchant". Small and micro businesses have also ushered in their "golden age". None of them are insignificant, but their existence has built a capillary network of China's economy and consolidated the foundation of economic development. According to the Small Shop Economic Report, 90% of small shop owners have become "code merchants" and their business has improved. Consumption frequency increased by 30%, sales increased by 2.5%, and sales of 100 yuan commodities increased by 5%. 80% of "code dealers" plan to expand their business scale this year.

Complementing each other, more and more cities are encouraging the development and prosperity of night economy. With the industrious "code merchants", the public service of mobile phones that can be turned off 24 hours a day, and the transportation and medical services that are on duty at night, all of them outline the details of many late-night cities and are full of personalized consumption scenes. From the perspective of commodity categories, digital economic platforms such as Alipay have the strongest "bearing capacity" for food department stores, entertainment, tourism and other services, while Shanghai, Hangzhou and Guangzhou have the most intensive food consumption, while Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Tianjin are the "entertainment cities" that are most keen on watching movies and dramas. This echoes the general trend of China's consumption structure changing from commodity consumption to service consumption. Although consumers' offline consumption scenarios are still limited by basic conditions like weather and municipal affairs a few years ago, online financial technology provides various possibilities that people can think of or expect. What is even more surprising is that with the continuous popularization of mobile payment, the extreme value and average value of the late-night heat map of mobile payment show that the consumption potential of third-and fourth-tier cities is accelerating. The data shows that the growth rate of per capita consumption in central and western cities leads the country, Sichuan, Henan and Jiangxi rank among the top three in the country, and the consumption of middle-aged and elderly people increases by 23% year-on-year. The consumption power of middle-aged and elderly people in Xiamen, Xi and Chongqing increased the most in China. As for Chengdu, Wuhan, etc. They are no less than Beijing and Shanghai. The research shows that mobile payment is breaking the traditional "Hu Huanyong Line" (that is, the northeast-southwest Heihe-Tengchong Line, which divides China into a densely populated southeast plate and a sparsely populated northwest plate), and the gap in the availability of financial services between the east and the west is rapidly narrowing.

In the era of no cash and consumption upgrade, the proliferation of "code quotient" provides more consumers with a channel to release demand. Today, the role of consumption in the economic "ballast stone" is becoming more and more obvious, and it has also become an important way to stimulate domestic demand. Looking at the data provided by online merchant banks and other institutions, the owners of small and micro enterprises such as "code merchants" are mainly service operators, among which retail businesses such as clothing stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, tobacco and alcohol groceries account for 19%, and pure service businesses such as catering, education, beauty, maintenance and housekeeping account for 8 1%. For these small and micro businesses, financial technologies such as QR codes can not only help them collect money quickly, but also start their digital operation. Based on a two-dimensional code business scenario and data, small and micro businesses can enjoy multi-dimensional financial technology services such as business analysis, account management, wealth management, insurance and loans, which can be said to benefit a lot. Based on blockchain, AI and other technologies, the digital technology platform has the opportunity to break the distance between time and space, and can provide low-cost and efficient services. At present, admission tickets for small and micro businesses in the digital age are free. Alipay has said that by providing free digital operation tools, free digital acquiring tools and free digital marketing tools, it will save at least 50 billion yuan for national coders in the next three years.

The empowerment of digital technology is expected to make the group of small and micro business owners "coders" more motivated to tap the new engine of domestic demand. Undoubtedly, in the future, digital technology enterprises need to work with the government and society to break down barriers, help build digital cities and digital China, provide more digital business tools for shopkeepers across the country, reduce costs, enhance business vitality, and let "code merchants" fully display their skills on the stage of the digital economy era.

(The writer is a fund practitioner and financial columnist.)

(Article Source: shanghai securities news) Solemnly declare: The purpose of publishing this information is to spread more information, which has nothing to do with the position of this website.