In today's podcast, Alibaba offers free shipping on fridges as China's leading online shopping websites one-up each other with promotions targeting rural areasThroughout this week, e-commerce giant Alibaba Group is offering to deliver all home appliances bought through its popular shopping portals at no extra charge to customers in about 500,000 villages nationwide.Its main rival, JD.com, began a six-month promotional tour in June, with marketing events in more than 100 towns.Last year, the companies hung banners in rural towns advertising their products and urging residents to start businesses online rather than migrate to cities for work.E-commerce companies are targeting rural areas as a potential profit center because the communities are underserved by brick-and-mortar retail.But the push means logistics firms have had to scramble to improve their networks, while delivery workers from rural China who work for JD.com in cities are being transferred back to their hometowns.For Caixin English, this is James Bradbury.
