A love for succulent plants pushed Ma Yingchun to start her Taobao store in 2019. Since then, the former full-time mother from Ningxia has been using e-commerce to share with her customers the same joy she found from these plants that have become especially popular in recent years thanks to their low-maintenance nature.
Ma has always been very responsive to customers’ questions through text messages. In 2020, she started experimenting with livestreaming, too, as a way to better engage and communicate with her consumers. She was shy at first but found support from an unexpected source: a customer messaged her, eager to share guidance on how to use the online video tool. The customer turned out to be the owner of a beauty store on Taobao. This fellow entrepreneur was very familiar with livestreaming and shared various tips with Ma to help her better leverage the technology.
Ma says she’s been extremely grateful for the support she has received from many strangers, including fellow merchants, on Taobao. The help she received has empowered her as an entrepreneur. She currently operates eight greenhouses, planting more than 500,000 succulents across 20 acres in Ningxia. Her online business has also created job opportunities for half a dozen women from local rural communities.
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