Australian Stonefruit Grower Magazine Issue 4 April 2017 | Page 4

Summerfruit CEO's Report China's huge online fresh fruit market As we finish the first ever season of exports to China, it is perhaps a good time to both take stock of how things went and also to look for new opportunities. I was fortunate to be able to attend PMA JOHN MOORE is CEO of Summerfruit Australia Ltd. P: 02 6041 6641; M: 0419 305 901; E: [email protected] Postal address: 8/452 Swift St, Albury NSW Fresh Connections in Shanghai, held 15 – 17 March this year. Unlike some other PMA events this was not a trade show, but an opportunity to learn more about the Chinese market and conduct business- to-business meetings with importers and retailers. The event included some excellent presentations about trends in the Chinese market, and perhaps globally as well. I will post these into the members section of the One in five Chinese households is already buying fresh fruit online. This is predicted to more than double within the next 12 months, increasing to 45% of households by the end of 2017. website, or can supply to summerfruit levy- payers on request. Fruit online One of the major changes is in the growth of e-commerce. One in five Chinese households is already buying fresh fruit online. This is predicted to more than double within the next 12 months, increasing to 45% of households by the end of 2017. Each month 450 million consumers visit online stores such as Alibaba.. On average, they return to review their prospective purchases at least seven times, but then buy an average of 19 items. Even at 11pm at night there are still an estimated 70 million consumers looking for products to buy. Online shopping purchases are very sensitive to price and quality. Products are seldom bought on impulse, with consumers checking the product several times before buying. Despite these barriers, supermarkets are fighting falling sales as online shopping grows. Alibaba owns Tmall Fresh, believed to be the largest online site for fresh products in China. It already has 500,000 customers, with a combined spend of around A$58 4 Australian Stonefruit Grower | April 2017 summerfruit.com.au