In recent years, competition in mainstream business sectors such as transportation, accommodation, and office work in China's sharing economy has continued to intensify. The markets in first- and second-tier cities have gradually reached saturation, and enterprises' profit margins have been continuously compressed. Seeking new growth engines has become the core demand for industry development. At the same time, the lower-tier market centered around counties, towns, and rural areas, covering approximately 200 prefecture-level cities, 3,000 county-level cities, and 40,000 towns, accounts for about 70% of the country's population (approximately 1 billion people). Its consumption capacity is steadily increasing and its consumption concepts are highly consistent with the core logic of sharing economy. The lower-tier market not only provides a broad demand space for sharing economy but also, with its low-cost operation advantages and policy support benefits, becomes a key battleground for promoting the continuous growth of sharing economy. Based on the unique attributes of the lower-tier market, this article systematically analyzes the development potential and practical challenges of sharing economy in this market, and then proposes targeted development strategies to provide theoretical and practical support for the high-quality development of the industry.
Research Article
Open Access