Tobacco Asia

68 tobaccoasia Issue 3, 2023 May / June By TobaccoChina Online Retailers are of high significance in China's tobacco industry since they are a bridge between China National Tobacco Corporation (CNTC) and consumers as well as coordinate supply and demand. The rural sales network covers over two million retailers nationwide, which are distributed in nearly 700,000 administrative villages across the country and directly serve over 500 million rural consumers. It is the closest link between the tobacco industry and the rural market and plays an irreplaceable role. However, currently, rural retailers generally face many problems such as aging customer age struc- ture, outdated terminal image facilities, shrinking rural consumer groups, limited types of products and uneven quality, extensive management, and low profitability. It can be said that the imbalance in urban and rural regional development is one of the main contradictions faced by the tobacco industry at pres- ent. In recent years, the tobacco industry has launched a series of specific assistance measures for rural retailers, which has achieved great effect. Implementing standardized retailer construction The imbalance in urban-rural regional development is the basic situation in Guangdong province, and it is also the weakness of the high-quality development of Guangdong's cigarette sales network. Although the proportion of rural network customers in the Pearl River Delta region is generally less than 10%, there are still a considerable number of the rural population in the east, west, and northern mountainous areas. By the end of 2022, there were still 86,000 rural retailers in this province. Due to the aging age structure of rural retailers, their image and facilities are outdated. Therefore, their transformation should start from their appearance. China Tobacco (Guangdong) Commercial Cor- poration has extended the standardized brand image stores of "20 Sticks" to rural areas, featuring a uni- fied and distinct brand name, visual symbols, and clean environment, which have quickly won the favor of consumers. Transforming Rural Retailers in China Retailers in rural areas are increasingly utilizing new technologies in their operations.

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