Based on the perspective of digital economy empowerment， this study empirically investigates the impact of digital sales on farmers’ bargaining power and its underlying mechanisms， utilizing survey data from 1195 kiwifruit growers and employing a conditional mixed regression model. The findings are as follows：1） Digital sales can significantly enhance farmers’ bargaining power， a conclusion that remains robust after a series of robustness tests； 2） Digital sales mainly improve farmers’ bargaining power by enhancing farmers’ information acquisition capabilities， increasing agricultural product differentiation， and strengthening farmers’ risk-bearing capacity； 3） There is a clear digital divide in the effect of digital sales on bargaining power， with significantly different bargaining power gains between low-income and less-educated farmers and their high-income， better-educated counterparts； 4） Farmers’ participation in digital sales significantly improves the bargaining power of other farmers in the same township， while the bargaining power among farmers within the same township exhibits negative spatial dependence. Therefore， the study recommends strengthening rural information service networks， enhancing digital skills training to narrow the digital divide， and improving support systems for regional coordinated development to leverage digitalization more comprehensively in empowering farmers and promoting rural development.