AI opens up a 10,000-yuan business opportunity in a small county

AI technology is constantly developing, and its application has even spread to fourth- and fifth-tier cities. Many AI business cases have already appeared in the lower-tier cities. It can be seen that the process of AI embracing the lower-tier cities is accelerating, and more and more new business opportunities are emerging.

With the rapid development of science and technology, AI technology is no longer exclusive to the elites in big cities. It has quietly penetrated into fourth- and fifth-tier cities and even into county towns.

For people in the sinking market, AI has already brought benefits to many people. For example, in the field of education, some counties and cities have enabled students to enjoy high-quality educational resources through online education platforms, without being restricted by geographical location. There are also intelligent educational robots entering the classroom, providing students with personalized learning guidance and improving learning outcomes. In the medical field, some county hospitals have popularized AI telemedicine, bringing better medical services to county residents. At the end of last year, Chongqing’s first AI digital image spokesperson for township public services was born in Longji Town, Rongchang District.

Nowadays, with the improvement and popularization of AI technology, AI is no longer so high-end. While the usage threshold is lowered, there are more and more application scenarios, allowing many users in the sinking market to participate.

Tech Planet found that in some sinking markets, many AI business cases have emerged. For example, AI advertising, AI e-commerce, AI painting, AI study rooms, and even AI matchmakers. Just like the "AI+" model of "Internet+", entering the sinking market "outside the fifth ring road", by combining the applicable scenarios of the county, a variety of new AI businesses have been created.

AI is penetrating into the market and creating new business opportunities.

1. AI advances in the lower-tier markets

The penetration of AI technology has brought many new business opportunities to small counties. Currently, it is widely used in e-commerce, local life and other scenarios.

Li Hao was originally a commercial employee in a first-tier company in Beijing, but now he has resolutely chosen to return to his hometown to start an AI e-commerce business. Li Hao told Tech Planet that his choice of AI e-commerce was not accidental. On the one hand, as he got older, it was difficult to compete with young people on the Internet platform. On the other hand, he had some money saved and was ready to start a business.

"Having worked in the technology field for many years, I have had the privilege of witnessing the rapid development of AI technology and how it has gradually entered the lower-tier markets. My job at my previous company was to research and find new application scenarios for AI. During the research process, I discovered that many AI-related business cases have emerged in some small counties, which has also allowed me to learn some experience," said Li Hao.

Li Hao chose AI e-commerce as his entrepreneurial direction, which he believes is a more reliable direction. He has previously conducted a survey of 500 people on the streets of his hometown, and 60% of them are interested in AI e-commerce shopping and will try it out. Now he has organized a team of 5 people to create an AI-based e-commerce WeChat applet, which mainly sells clothing.

According to Li Hao, the AI ​​e-commerce applet uses a large domestic model. The intelligent recommendation system is currently being constructed. By analyzing consumers' purchase history and preferences, the platform can recommend products that better meet their needs, thereby improving shopping efficiency and satisfaction. In order to match product accuracy, natural language processing technology has also been added, so that consumers can find the products they want more accurately through voice or text search.

In addition, the platform also has an AI fitting room. By using computer vision and deep learning technology, consumers can try on clothes online and see the matching effects of different styles and colors, which improves the convenience and experience of shopping. Moreover, there is also an AI customer service, which can provide consumers with 24-hour online customer service, answer their questions and provide help. At present, various functions are under testing and will be launched on a selected date.

AI's penetration in the sinking market continues. Tech Planet learned from Mr. Hu, a restaurant owner in Chongyang County, Xianning City, Hubei Province, that their restaurant is near a scenic spot, and there are many local restaurants, so the competition is fierce. In order to attract tourists' attention, Mr. Hu has been looking for ways, but none of them are satisfactory. One day, he saw an introduction about AI anchors bringing goods online, and this novel idea aroused his interest.

After some research and consultation, Boss Hu decided to give it a try and use AI anchors to promote his restaurant. However, this trial overturned his perception.

He collaborated with a local technology company and spent tens of thousands of yuan to customize a cute AI anchor and recorded a vivid promotional video for it.

In the video, the AI ​​anchor introduced the special dishes and promotions of Boss Hu’s “Food Paradise Restaurant” to the audience, and also showed the warm environment of the restaurant.

Boss Hu posted this video on various social media platforms and set up some interactive sessions to encourage viewers to comment and share. After the video was released, it quickly attracted a large number of viewers. People were attracted by the image and vivid introduction of the AI ​​anchor and expressed their desire to go to the "food paradise" to try it.

As the video spread, more and more people knew about the "Food Paradise". Many tourists who visited the local area would come to their restaurant to eat, and the business gradually became popular. During this year's Spring Festival holiday, monthly sales increased by 50% year-on-year.

Now, Boss Hu is more proficient in the application of AI. Next, he will let the AI ​​anchor add interactive functions and carry out some interesting activities, such as raffles and coupons, to further attract online customers to participate.

Some AI studios and companies that were originally opened in big cities have also taken the initiative to go down to the countryside, connect with local businesses, and create various new products such as AI models, AI audiobooks, and AI chat companions. In the words of a studio manager, AI is changing the business of county towns.

2. How profitable is AI in the lower-tier markets?

"During the Chinese New Year, I made more than 10,000 yuan doing AI photo shooting on the commercial street," He Xingxing told Tech Planet.

He is a junior student majoring in game design. He often uses the AI ​​painting tool Midjourney to create some imaginative works. He has gained a group of fans on Xiaohongshu, and some people even paid him to design corporate logos through AI. With the idea that AI painting can be monetized and make money, He took advantage of the Spring Festival to come to the entrance of Wanda Plaza in his hometown and started a street stall business of AI painting and photo.

Mr. He introduced, "The cost is really low. I just put a high-performance laptop with Midjourney tools on the stall and connect it to a high-definition camera to start doing business. I will promote my services to passers-by and tell them that it only takes a few minutes to generate a realistic AI photo for them." The whole set costs only 30 yuan, which is much cheaper than a photo studio.

Young people are particularly interested in AI photo-shooting, and many have tried it. According to He, the stall was open until the Lantern Festival, with about 10 to 20 orders a day, charging 10 to 50 yuan each time, and making more than 10,000 yuan.

In addition, AI study rooms have also become popular in fourth- and fifth-tier cities since last year. Education platforms such as Squirrel AI and Reading Boy have launched offline AI study rooms, opening up new business opportunities.

Li Heng is a franchisee of an AI study room. His store is located in a fourth-tier city. Compared with big cities, fourth- and fifth-tier cities lack educational resources, so AI education has become a way for local students to narrow the resource gap.

According to him, compared with traditional study rooms, AI study rooms are equipped with AI technology, such as AI smart learning machines, AI smart lights, AI smart screens, and AI learning products, etc., coupled with the supervision services of management personnel, to provide students with a more intelligent learning environment.

There are two charging standards for the study room: ordinary study seats are 350 yuan a year, and the high-standard study room charges 4,000 yuan a year. In addition to selling smart hardware, the average monthly income for those who do well can reach 20,000 yuan. At present, after deducting costs, Li Heng's average monthly income is about 10,000 yuan.

Others have chosen to do AI advertising. Xue Li opened an advertising shop in Huanggang, Hubei, specializing in the production of advertising covers. Since last year, Xue Li has discovered that AI ads from platforms such as JD.com and Alipay have appeared in advertising spaces at bus stops and shopping malls. With a keen sense of smell, she discovered the prospects of AI advertising and added AI advertising design services to her original business.

According to Xue Li, AI advertising leaves a lot of room for creativity and imagination, and can provide each user with the most relevant and attractive advertising content, which greatly increases the click-through rate and conversion rate of advertisements. Many customers are full of praise for the benefits brought by AI advertising.

Moreover, the low production cost of AI advertising has also made many companies willing to give it a try. In January, Xue Li had received more than 30 orders for AI advertising design, and the transaction volume increased by 20,000 yuan compared with the previous year. It is expected that the revenue share of AI advertising will further increase this year.

3. How big is the AI ​​business space in the sinking market?

The promising AI sinking market is also attracting the attention of major Internet companies. For example, Tencent and Huawei have talked about their ideas for deploying AI sinking.

Li Peng, senior vice president of Huawei and president of the Carrier Business Group, said at the 14th Global Mobile Broadband Forum that with the leap in the ability to generate pictures and texts, voice recognition and interaction capabilities, and personal assistant experience, the AI ​​application market has opened up space for penetration, and the commercialization process in vertical fields such as office, education, and games has accelerated.

At the 2023 Tencent Global Digital Ecosystem Conference, Tencent Group Senior Executive Vice President Tang Daosheng also stated that Tencent will work with partners to explore new industry opportunities such as big models and continue to expand into the lower-tier markets.

Fan Kai, founder of JavaEye Technology Community, believes that in 2024, the two markets with the most certain direction for AI are the sinking market and the overseas market. Because the penetration rate of AI in China is extremely low, most companies have not really been exposed to generative AI, and very few people can really use it. To enter the sinking market, what is needed is not how good your technology is or how strong your product is, but whether you can tap into user needs and solve user problems. This is not a sexy business, but a good business that allows you to make money and survive.

However, compared with big cities, the sinking market is bound to face some challenges. For example, some county residents may have a low awareness of AI and have doubts or concerns about its application and value. Moreover, the economic development and industrial structure of county towns may be different from those of big cities, and the application scenarios and needs of AI may also be different. It is necessary to develop AI solutions suitable for county towns in a targeted manner.

It is foreseeable that AI will further play a role in the sinking market and even change the lifestyle of users. At the same time, it will also enable enterprises and entrepreneurs to reduce costs, improve efficiency and find AI business opportunities suitable for the local area in the current environment. There is no doubt that the process of AI embracing the sinking market is accelerating.

(Note: He Xingxing, Xue Li, Li Hao, etc. in this article are all pseudonyms.)

Author: Chen Qiaohui

Source public account: Tech Planet (ID: tech618); focusing on cutting-edge Internet technology and new business.