Iksan Village E-commerce, a 'Driving Force' for Agricultural Product Sales Amid COVID-19

Supporting Over 360 Farms This Year, Sales Surpass 1.5 Billion KRW

Iksan City Hall

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Hong Jaehee] Amid the increase in online sales due to COVID-19, the village e-commerce support project in Iksan City, Jeonbuk, is playing a leading role in boosting the sales of local agricultural products.

According to the city on the 16th, about 360 farms have participated in the village e-commerce support project either individually or jointly since January this year, with sales exceeding 1.5 billion KRW, showing more than double the growth compared to last year's sales of 600 million KRW.

Village e-commerce is a project where Iksan City acts as an agent for internet sales of local agricultural products, supporting costs such as advertising fees, commissions, delivery fees, and product page creation.

Participating farms are generating considerable sales profits by jointly shipping at the village level, securing price competitiveness and sufficient volume, attracting the interest of neighboring farms.

In Hamra, Topgoji Village, 10 farms jointly shipped ‘Dwin Garlic’ and produced and sold it over two months, achieving sales of 30 million KRW, while Susan Village in Seongdang-myeon sold 7 million KRW worth of ‘Black Soybean Seoritae,’ earning modest profits for the seven participating farms.

Kim Jeonghyun, head of Susan Village, who participated for the first time this year, said, “Although the quantity is small as a side job, the participating farms are very satisfied as they generate profits by jointly shipping. We plan to jointly ship other agricultural products such as peppers in the fall, and we hope this project will continuously help the residents.”

The city plans to continuously discover participating farms so that many farms can benefit, and to expand e-commerce activation measures in various ways such as revitalizing its own shopping mall and promoting through one-person YouTube broadcasts.

Mayor Jeong Heonyul said, “Through the village e-commerce support project, by providing experience in agricultural product sales using IT, we will enable local farms to develop independent sales capabilities, increase income, and restore village vitality to create vibrant rural communities.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.