The impact of the revival of traditional commerce on

people’s life
-- a case study of the standardization reform of Shanghai
vegetable market

Abstract
With the development of technology, the traditional commerce gradually began to be
replaced by new technology. However, in this process, problems also have arisen.
Reform of the traditional commerce seems to meet people's needs better than
replacing it with a new one. It can not only facilitate people's life, but also preserve
culture behind it. This article will find the problems and current situation of the
traditional commercial reform through the implementation of the reform of Shanghai
vegetable market in order to know the impact of the revival of traditional commerce
on people’s life.

Introduction
In the 1980s and 1990s, shopping at vegetable markets was still a popular choice for
most residents. However, the residents’ enthusiasm is reduced with the development
of economy, the improvement of public health consciousness and the shortage of
vegetable market. Some outdoor vegetable suppliers have set up vegetable stands
along the road, which affects transport a lot. Indoor vegetable markets are cluttered,
crowded and smelly.
Such bad phenomenon has caused quite a few residents to give up consuming in the
vegetable market and choose to shop in the supermarket instead. Compared with the
vegetable market, supermarket has a good condition. It’s easy to find the advantages
to buy food in the supermarket and the number of residents who buy vegetables in
supermarket continue to increase.
With the development of the network economy, buying vegetables online becomes
more and more young people's pursuit. The advantages of online vegetables and meat
shopping are obvious : When consumers are faced with a product, the website can
provide more detailed information than the store and a record of the production
process of the product. Online shopping, consumers can easily find the products they
need from a variety of goods. Otherwise, it also saves the cost for the sellers because
they do not need to pay the rent.
Under the influence of the above two shopping methods, the development of the
vegetable market is gradually declining.
In view of the drawbacks of traditional vegetable market, the Shanghai government
has put forward the reform plan of vegetable market -- the standardization
construction of vegetable market.
On the one hand, over the past ten years, Shanghai has completed some constructions
and has made remarkable achievements. To a great extent, they have solved the
difficulties of the past administration and provided convenience for the people.
However, on the other hand, the standardized vegetable market has also appeared new
problems.
In this study, the vegetable markets and supermarkets represented by Jinshan district,
Jing'an district and Songjiang district in Shanghai are taken as the research objects.
And the aim of the study is to find the current problems and propose reasonable
solutions.

Methods
Participants
The participants in this study were divided into three categories: consumers, sellers
and managers. Consumers included those who were interviewed during the visits and
participated through questionnaires. Sellers were mainly those who operated in
vegetable markets, supermarkets and online network. The manager is the person who
is in charge of the market.

Measures
Direct Interview
We interviewed the sellers, consumers and managers directly in the markets in order
to know their opinions on the reform.
Questionnaires
The purpose of the online questionnaire is to investigate the shopping ways and habits
of the people of all ages, different occupations, residence, educational background and
so on.

Procedure
First, we collected relevant information on the reform of Shanghai's vegetable
markets and found the markets that had started standardization reforms.
Then, we chose the markets from three districts of Shanghai, namely Jinshan district,
Songjiang district and Jing'an district. During the direct interview, we interviewed
sellers, consumers and market managers to know the process of the reform of
Shanghai market.
What’s more, we released the online questionnaire in order to survey more consumers
and received more data.
Finally, we integrated the received information and used them to summarize a
conclusion.
Results
From direct interview
According to our interview in the vegetable market, we have concluded the following
points.
First, most sellers and consumers did not know that the new market was the result of
the standardization reform of the Shanghai vegetable market. The market's chief
manager was simply aware of this policy, but did not have a detailed and specific
understanding of it.
Second, after the reform of the markets, market stall fees were generally higher than
before, but due to the significant improvements in environmental change, market
management and the strict inspection of product quality, both the sellers and
consumers were willing to bear the increased costs.
Third, compared with the traditional vegetable market, the new places such as
supermarkets and vegetable vending machines had the advantages of a good
environment and convenience. But, they also had the disadvantages. For example,
people worried about the freshness of vegetables. In short, the vegetable market has
become an indispensable part of life and it’s hard to replace it.

From questionnaires
From the results of the online questionnaire, we found that women were more likely
to fill out the questionnaire. Among the people who filled out the questionnaire, those
aged 18-26 and 40-60 accounted for the majority. Half people barely go to the market,
a third once or twice a week, and the rest more than three times a week. From the
point of view of the way to buy food, in the vegetable market and the supermarket
occupied the main position, a very small number of people chose to buy online.
There are several reasons for choosing to buy in the vegetable market: the price is
low, the vegetables and meat are fresh, the distance is relatively short, the choice
range is large, the habit of buying vegetables in the vegetable market. The main
reasons for dissatisfaction are the following: bad and untidy environment, noise, dirty
ground, price differences and so on.
The main reasons for choosing to buy in the supermarket shopping are: good
environment, clearly marked price, orderly-placed goods.
The main reasons for choosing to buy vegetables online are: home delivery, more
payment methods and so on.
Before filling out the questionnaire, only about one-third of the population had some
knowledge of market standardization reform, the rest had no knowledge of it.
Most people think the market standardization reform is feasible, but a small number
of people think it is not feasible. The reasons for the low feasibility are as follows:
The large number of vegetable markets makes it difficult to complete the reform; the
infrastructure is not enough and does not meet the requirements of people; The cost of
operation is high and the corresponding price of food will also increase; the burden on
consumers will become heavier. Almost all people choose to go to the vegetable
market after the improvement of the environment. Two-thirds said the changes to
standardization in the vegetable market had had a greater impact on their lives. Others
thought the reform was dispensable.

Discussion
The reform of standardized vegetable market has changed the traditional vegetable
market and brought benefits to the public: For Consumers, they can easily and
quickly go to the market to select a wider variety of vegetables and meat at a better
price and with better quality; for seller, they can still sell vegetables for a living, and
vegetable markets can continue to provide jobs.
It is not difficult to see that the revival of the vegetable market, greatly facilitated the
lives of ordinary people, and promoted employment. From the vegetable market to the
traditional commerce, similarly, the revival of the traditional commerce, will also
have a significant impact on people's livelihood.
In addition, the traditional commerce also contains the traditional culture. When the
traditional commerce revives, the industry develops and the traditional culture behind
it will also be passed on.
The traditional commerce has experienced over a hundred years and already occupied
the important status in people’s life. With the rapid development of society, it seemed
that people gradually gave up the traditional commerce. But the reform has added new
elements into the traditional commerce, which combines with the current technology
so that the traditional commerce can return to our life.
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