WeChat market boost for disabled
Debuted online last December, the Yimi Diandian market, helps disabled people set up businesses.
A WeChat-based online market that sells all sorts of items and helps physically challenged people in Jiading has won fame and numerous heavyweight partners.
Debuted online last December, the Yimi Diandian market, which helps disabled people set up businesses, has partnered with industry giants such as Want Want Holdings, Unilever and Fresh Hema.
Cao Zheng, Yimi Diandian’s founder, who is himself physically challenged, has around 40 other people to operate the store and its business online and offline.
Each employee has a QR code, according to Cao. Customers scan the code to complete an online purchase and part of the profit will go to the specific employee.
First step
It is just the first step. Cao also trains them in online skills, such as operating WeChat accounts, graphics and illustration.
The online market is the lat¬est achievement of Jiading’s bid to help physically challenged people set up their own businesses online.
The district’s disabled persons’ federation initiated a three-party mutual benefit model with the participation of government, social organization and e-commerce enterprises in 2015 and since then has trained some 300 disabled people.
It relied on online platforms to help disabled people and their families earn nearly 200,000 yuan (US$31,000). “During the process, we found the operation was too simple and easy to lead to malpractice and we gave it up later,” said Jin Yun, an official with the federation.
Independent operation
The trainees mainly typed in customers’ information for logistics companies.
After that, the federation started its online market project, which is independent in operation and could offer more job opportunities for disabled people.
The Yimi Diandian market also sells handmade products by disabled people from Jiading’s 12 communities.
The market has partnered with 40 suppliers and sells more than 2,000 products.
It hires 100 disabled people and established 12 distribution teams and one operation team. An offline store is now open, Cao said.
