On December 14, the General Office of the Ministry of Commerce, the People's Bank of China, and the National Financial Regulatory Administration jointly issued guidelines to promote new consumption models tailored to local conditions. The policy explicitly encourages exploring effective pathways to support emerging business models such as "AI + consumption" and "IP + consumption." This initiative not only signals a strong push to boost domestic demand but also highlights a transformative trend: artificial intelligence (AI), once exclusive to large enterprises, is now becoming a strategic infrastructure for small and micro enterprises (SMEs) to compete in the future consumer market.
In an era where "first-release economies," "experience economies," and "personalized consumption" are rapidly gaining traction, the survival logic of SMEs is being reshaped—those who better understand customers, respond faster, and deliver superior experiences will win the market. AI is indispensable in enabling this transformation. For SMEs, this represents not just a technological upgrade but a critical opportunity to integrate into the national new consumption strategy and achieve high-quality growth.
**AI + Consumption: From Concept to Everyday SME Operations** Traditionally, AI was perceived as a high-cost, high-barrier technology, seemingly out of reach for small shops and family-run businesses. However, with the rapid democratization of large AI models, the proliferation of SaaS tools, and the explosion of AIGC (AI-generated content), AI has truly "entered the everyday operations" of SMEs, becoming an accessible productivity tool.
For example, Xi'an Guosen Trading, using CHANJET's Hao Ye Cai, transitioned from manual order processing to AI-powered order generation. Previously, store clerks manually recorded orders and submitted them via phone or WeChat, leading to inefficiencies and errors. Now, clerks simply scan barcodes with their phones, and the system automatically matches inventory, updates prices in real-time (e.g., adjusting discounts during promotions), and synchronizes order information with warehouses and logistics—significantly reducing human intervention.
Similar cases are emerging nationwide: an e-commerce business uses AI customer service to handle over 80% of pre-sales inquiries, a hardware manufacturer boosts repeat purchases with recommendation algorithms—these are no longer "future scenarios" but real-world productivity gains for SMEs today.
**AI Reshapes Core Competencies of SMEs** Traditional SMEs heavily rely on the owner's personal experience for decision-making. However, in today's fragmented-demand, hyper-competitive consumer landscape, this model is unsustainable. AI is helping SMEs establish new operational paradigms and rebuild core competitiveness.
1. **Customer Insight**: Small shop owners once relied on memory to gauge regulars' preferences. Now, AI integrates multi-dimensional data—order history, browsing behavior, social interactions—to create precise customer profiles. Nanyang Haoyi Maternal & Child Supply Chain, using CHANJET Hao Ye Cai, analyzes local mothers' search keywords and purchase cycles to proactively offer bundled discounts on formula and diapers, significantly improving customer retention. Such data-driven insights are far more reliable and scalable than intuition.
2. **Agile Responsiveness**: AI-driven automation drastically reduces operational response times. Tasks like invoice recognition, inventory alerts, order sorting, and after-sales ticket allocation can all be handled by AI. A small hardware parts factory in Guangdong saw shipment accuracy rise from 92% to 99.6% after adopting an AI warehouse management system, while customer complaints dropped by nearly half. Employees are freed from repetitive tasks to focus on innovation and service.
3. **Predictive Decision-Making**: AI doesn’t just "look back"—it "sees ahead." By analyzing variables like historical sales, weather changes, platform traffic, and social media trends, AI dynamically forecasts short-term demand fluctuations. A fresh food retailer reduced inventory waste by 40% and increased gross margins by 8 percentage points using AI-powered dynamic pricing and restocking models. This foresight empowers SMEs to navigate uncertainty proactively.
**The Future is Here: Every SME Needs Its Own "AI Assistant"** With advancements in AIGC and intelligent agent (Agent) technology, future SMEs won’t operate solely on human effort but through collaborative AI agents—one for customer service, another for content creation, another monitoring financial risks, and another alerting to supply chain disruptions. These "digital employees" are cost-effective, tireless, and continuously learning, becoming SMEs' core weapon to overcome scale disadvantages and achieve "leapfrog growth."
Crucially, AI is lowering innovation barriers. As a long-term leader in the SME market, CHANJET offers a suite of digital solutions—from smart accounting and tax planning to business insights and decision support—enabling end-to-end digital management and deeper integration of operations and finance.
Through its next-gen enterprise AI-native development platform, CHANJET continuously enhances product efficiency, providing SMEs with intelligent tax services like Easy Tax Filing. Leveraging AI advancements and continuous training on vertical financial models, accuracy and efficiency are further improved. Additionally, CHANJET has launched dozens of AI agent applications across multiple product lines, deeply embedded in core SME business scenarios to comprehensively boost operational efficiency.
For SMEs, embracing AI is no longer about chasing trends—it’s a survival imperative to integrate into the new consumption ecosystem and secure a foothold in "first-release" and "experience" economies. The policy direction is clear, the technology is accessible, and the tools are ready. The only step left is action.
In the AI era, being small isn’t a disadvantage—being slow is. Only by proactively embedding AI into every facet of products, services, and operations can SMEs transform from "passive followers" to "active creators," becoming vital contributors to new productive forces and sharing in China’s consumption-driven prosperity.
**About CHANJET** CHANJET Information Technology Co., Ltd. (Stock Code: 1588.HK), a member of Yonyou Group, is a leading provider of cloud-based financial and business services for SMEs in China. Listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since June 26, 2014, CHANJET is dedicated to driving SME growth through innovation and technology.
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