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At present, digital technology is profoundly transforming all walks of life, and service industry is no exception.

The so-called digitalization refers to the digital transformation of specific businesses and scenes by using digital technology, which is mainly reflected in the effect of digital technology on reducing costs and increasing efficiency of various businesses. For example, it used to be necessary to pay at a bank outlet, but now it can be easily done on the mobile APP.

The total service industry in China is large. How to make full use of digital technology to achieve transformation and upgrading, so as to reduce costs and increase efficiency, is an important issue.

According to the research of "Report on Social and Economic Value of Platform" recently released by Institute of Finance and Economics of China Academy of Social Sciences, the proportion of employees in service industry has been increasing in recent years, but the human efficiency of service industry is still significantly lower than that of manufacturing industry. In 2015, the labor productivity of the service industry was equivalent to 85% of the secondary industry, and by 2021, this ratio dropped to 82%.

Digital empowerment not only involves the industrial field, but also the service industry is one of the main battlefields of digital transformation. Among the service business entities, there are many small and medium-sized enterprises, and because of their limited financial resources and capabilities, digitalization is often regarded as a matter with a higher threshold.

According to a survey conducted by the Institute of Finance and Economics of China Academy of Social Sciences, less than 1% of the total number of businesses have the ability to independently operate APP to carry out digitalization; More than 90% of businesses report high digital threshold, hoping to get a one-stop or even "fool-like" digital transformation and operation plan.

The survey also found that Internet platforms such as Alipay provide a new link for the digital transformation of small and medium-sized businesses in the service industry.

The starting point of digitalization of small and medium-sized businesses is often payment. Online payment enables small and medium-sized businesses to manage their business digitally more simply, conveniently and accurately. According to statistics, more than 80 million merchants use Alipay’s payment code service. In 2022, Alipay launched the "Three Zero Services" for small and micro businesses, and the platform reduced costs and improved efficiency for small and micro businesses by withdrawing free cash, full compensation for theft and free rights. In more than a year, Alipay has reduced fees and profits for more than 29 million small and micro businesses and individual operators by more than 10 billion yuan, directly reducing the operating costs of enterprises.

The digitalization of payment is only the first step. More and more offline businesses also hope to have their own digital operation system to open up the link between online and offline. At this time, the applet becomes a cost-effective option.

The data shows that there are currently more than 4 million applets on Alipay. Businesses using small programs can save 20%-60% of the cost compared with their own development. For small and medium-sized businesses with digital marketing needs, each company can save at least 30,000 yuan.

Most small businesses have no technical background, and it is impossible to hire full-time technicians. "Writing code" is a threshold that restricts their digital transformation. Alipay provides small and medium-sized businesses with basic tools for 0-code digital operation. According to estimates, this can also save at least 4,000-7,000 yuan per household.

Online operation of small and medium-sized businesses is very effective for expanding new customers. Digital management can expand the geographical scope and scene of enterprise customers. For example, the service radius of traditional small and medium-sized restaurants is generally around 500 meters, while the average delivery distance of online take-out is 987 meters, nearly doubling. Platforms such as Alipay have a wide user coverage, which can provide a significant increase for business operations through online traffic. Alipay’s "Star Plan" and other traffic incentive plans bring an average of 1 million users to business applets every day, and a single business can save an average of 200,000 yuan in marketing expenses a year.

The platform should not only expand new customers, but also retain old customers. Offline merchants often engage in recharge consumption, which is a good means to enhance user stickiness, but many customers are worried that small and medium-sized businesses will "run away" and often dare not recharge in small businesses. Alipay provides a "secure charging" digital stored-value card product for business members’ operation scenarios. After customers recharge, the funds are guaranteed by a third-party cooperative bank, which can be refunded at any time, and the enthusiasm of customers for recharging is obviously improved. After Alipay’s payment code merchants connected to "Anxin Charge", the average user consumption frequency increased by 1.1 times, the customer unit price increased by 58%, and the user consumption amount increased by 174%.

In recent years, issuing consumer vouchers has become an effective means to boost offline consumption. Research by the Institute of Finance and Economics of China Academy of Social Sciences shows that accurate voucher making, accurate voucher issuing and accurate verification on the Internet platform can maximize the consumption promotion effect of consumer vouchers. In 2022, Alipay held two consumer festivals in conjunction with millions of merchants across the country, which boosted the consumption scale by nearly 65 billion yuan. The overall leverage ratio of coupons, discount coupons and red envelope codes reached 1:25, that is to say, issuing a coupon of 1 yuan can incite the consumption of 25 yuan.

The digital capabilities and tools provided by the Internet platform cover almost all business links such as payment, marketing, customer acquisition, retention, etc. It can not only serve the daily business, but also stimulate new demand by issuing coupons during the "big promotion", which really solves the pain points of small and medium-sized businesses.

According to the research and analysis of the Institute of Finance and Economics of China Academy of Social Sciences, small and medium-sized businesses need an inclusive digital scheme of "three lows and four highs", that is, low technical threshold, low cost, low human capital requirements, high accuracy, high efficiency, high trust and high integration. The exploration of platforms such as Alipay in supporting the digitalization of businesses meets the internal needs of small and medium-sized businesses.

As one of the pioneers of digitalization, the Internet platform can provide positive and positive assistance to the real economy. Super Internet applications such as WeChat, Alipay and Taobao and a number of successful Internet companies have emerged in the super-large-scale domestic market, which have effectively amplified the "inclusive" attribute of the Internet and enabled more small and medium-sized businesses and remote areas to enjoy digital dividends, further activating the market potential and forming a positive cycle.

For the service industry, the Internet platform provides a new digital possibility. According to the analysis of the Institute of Finance and Economics of China Academy of Social Sciences, an important mode of "digitalization of Chinese service industry" is B-S-P-C, that is, businesses, consumers, platforms and third-party service providers participate together. The platform provides an open platform and underlying technology. Third-party service providers can carry out secondary development on the basis of the platform to provide more customized digital solutions for merchants, and merchants can obtain digital services with low cost, low threshold and high efficiency, and on this basis, consumers can get a better experience.

From the macro data, this digital model is releasing significant dividends. It is found that Alipay has driven nearly 300 billion yuan in consumption through digital means in the past three years. Ant Group has created 104,000 employment opportunities related to itself, and also promoted 1.373 million service providers and digital business eco-employment opportunities, including more than 40 new occupations.

The research of Institute of Finance and Economics of China Academy of Social Sciences concludes that Internet platform has four effects on consumption: linking, trusting, empowering and innovating. The so-called link is to efficiently connect consumers and businesses; The so-called trust is to enhance consumers’ trust in businesses; The so-called empowerment is the ability to provide digital operation and management for businesses; The so-called innovation is to drive the emergence of new consumption scenarios, categories, products and services.

The digital empowerment of the service industry is not over.

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Original title: "Daily Internet | Why is digitalization a" key key "for the service industry? 》