'Internet Plus' start-ups making life more enjoyable in Inner Mongolia

(chinadaily.com.cn)

Updated: 2016-05-04

Life in the city of Baotou, Inner Mongolia is getting more convenient and colorful thanks to some degree to two young people who have tied China's "Internet Plus" to people's needs in business start-ups, reports Baotou Daily recently.

"Internet Plus" is the integration of mobile Internet, big data, cloud computing and the Internet of Things with traditional industries through online platforms and IT technology. The State Council, China's cabinet, initiated the "Internet Plus" strategy last year, hoping to use the Internet to upgrade traditional industries and help boost emerging ones.

One of the two pioneers in Baotou, Sun Liping, (or "Dudu"), who describes herself as a media person, came up with an idea in 2014 -- a year that saw explosive development in self-media and in the number of users of WeChat, China's biggest instant messaging site -- to open an account on WeChat to recommend foods and places to eat to a wider audience.

Dudu managed to combine her interest in food with her work by setting up a business, "Recommender" ("Pinke"), and explains her initiative by saying, "I love food and have a strong desire to share my delicious food tips," then adds that she began her work by wandering about various cafes and restaurants, sampling their foods, tastes, and surroundings, while trying to pick the ones most worth recommending.

Dudu taking a picture of food at a Baotou canteen. [Photo/Baotou Daily]

Every word on Recommender is written by her and, when combined with the photos, gives her sense and feelings for the places, something that struck a chord with her readers.

And it wasn't long before she got more than 30,000 fans on her online social club, with daily hits going beyond 6,000, but her ever increasing search for the most delicious items is not an easy task.

It involves a lot of time to tasting and, "usually takes three days of considering and judging to make a recommendation".

But, as her reputation around Baotou grew and her words began to resonate among foodies, Dudu decided to quit her job at a Yoga club and become a full-time "Food detector" with help from her husband.

So, today their "Recommender" is around first place in Inner Mongolia in the food business and she defends her apposition by saying that she always puts quality first, noting, "I never recommend a place that doesn't live up to my requirements, no matter how much they might "offer" for a recommendation."

Occasionally the couple even offer some suggestions or advice for cafes on ways to improve, explaining that they are firm in their dream and commitment to share good things with others.

Meanwhile Li Zhongsheng, who was born in the 1980s, tried all kinds of occupations until finally put himself on the road to success with "Dingdong", a door-to-door delivery company that he opened last year. And now, in less than a year, it has managed to make itself Baotou's largest delivery company by revenues.

Dingdong currier at work on road in Baotou. [Photo/Baotou Daily]

Li explains that, by increasing speed and quantity, he became more convinced that better service and quality were the key to development and, in his own words, "We have an effective flow system and advanced facilities and are confident enough that we can even deliver for free if it doesn't arrive on time."

He spreads his profit among his staff to encourage them to consider things from the customer's side and to perfect service so that, today his couriers can earn 7 - 8,000 yuan ($108 - 124) a month.

As demand grew in Baotou, Dingdong began looking for new markets through tailored services, with urgent delivery needs being one focus.

According to one of Dingdong's customer service people, Guo Xinglu, "Once I had a customer phoning for help in getting some cold medicine", and says that she immediately placed an order for some medicine and sternly told the currier to only get it from a proper pharmacy.

She then continues, "The medicine reached the customer in only about 30 minutes," then adds that any Urgent delivery must arrive in no more than an hour and often takes less time than that.

Li also says that Dingdong has cooperated with certain suppliers and allows them to take advantage of Dingdong's storage for their goods and to advertise on the company's site and that, although they earn very little for this, it cuts the cost for customers and saves delivery time.

In conclusion, he says they are also planning to work with non-profit organizers to set up about 20 service stations, because, "We want to deliver our service as broadly as possible."

So, perhaps it was inevitable that Recommender would meet Dingdong. After all, Dingdong was both online and offline, and combined services and goods in various ways, such as a smart-phone app, WeChat, computers, and by a hotline to meet all customer needs, so naturally it tapped into food deliveries, online shopping for customers, urgent deliveries, online marketing, and even housekeeping, quick car maintenance and warehousing – some of which, by the way, can also be recommended by the "Recommender" and delivered to the doorstep quickly, making life in Baotou more convenient and enjoyable.