---
title: "8 Major Failures and 6 Key Successes in Distributor Distribution"
description: "This article outlines eight common failures in product distribution, such as using consignment to reduce difficulty, insufficient market coverage, excessive initial promotion, lack of follow-up actions, wrong market entry timing, mismatch between advertising and ground support, ineffective outlets, and overextended operations. It also highlights six ideal outcomes for successful distribution, including completing distribution in the off-season, executing fast and concentrated efforts, achieving high cash-on-delivery rates, balancing point and area coverage, ensuring tight follow-up actions, and boosting team morale."
author: "New Distribution"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2015-07-12"
language: "en"
canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/8-major-failures-and-6-key-successes-in-distributor-distribution-65d3386b/"
markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/8-major-failures-and-6-key-successes-in-distributor-distribution-65d3386b.md"
original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/bNCf637baLKN5E8oxs0Jpw"
translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E7%BB%8F%E9%94%80%E5%95%86%E9%93%BA%E8%B4%A7%E7%9A%848%E5%A4%A7%E5%A4%B1%E8%B4%A5%E5%92%8C6%E5%A4%A7%E6%88%90%E5%8A%9F%E8%A1%A8%E7%8E%B0-65d3386b.md"
attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/8-major-failures-and-6-key-successes-in-distributor-distribution-65d3386b/"
usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt"
---

# 8 Major Failures and 6 Key Successes in Distributor Distribution

> This article outlines eight common failures in product distribution, such as using consignment to reduce difficulty, insufficient market coverage, excessive initial promotion, lack of follow-up actions, wrong market entry timing, mismatch between advertising and ground support, ineffective outlets, and overextended operations. It also highlights six ideal outcomes for successful distribution, including completing distribution in the off-season, executing fast and concentrated efforts, achieving high cash-on-delivery rates, balancing point and area coverage, ensuring tight follow-up actions, and boosting team morale.

Eight Common Failures in Product Distribution
**1. Lowering Difficulty: Consignment Leads to Slow Sales and Silent Product Death**
When launching a new product, retailers are uncertain about future sales and fear inventory buildup and capital occupation, so they lack the desire to stock up. This makes distribution extremely difficult. Many salespeople, aiming to meet company targets for the number of outlets or hoping to quickly increase distribution and sales, often agree to or tacitly accept consignment to reduce difficulty, increase distribution rate, and shorten distribution time.
However, for retailers, consigned products carry no risk: they can sell them for a profit or return them if unsold. Therefore, unless consumers specifically ask for the consigned product, retailers prefer to sell their own stocked items to recover capital faster. As a result, consigned products often face a dead end if not actively purchased by consumers. By the time we notice the product is completely stagnant at the terminal, it may be too late—often a month later—to take corrective action.
Moreover, when we attempt remedial distribution, we find that converting consignment to outright purchase becomes exponentially more difficult. Therefore, in the initial distribution round, we should insist on cash-on-delivery and not easily waver.
**2. Insufficient Coverage: Market Sales Stagnate**
Total regional market sales are the cumulative result of all individual outlets. When distribution coverage is insufficient, the cumulative sales from individual outlets are naturally low. Additionally, with limited coverage, the market's overall influence is weak, consumer visibility is low, and the pull effect on outlets is limited.
Of course, this does not mean we should not select or classify outlets during distribution. When necessary, it is acceptable to target core outlets first to stimulate sales and then gradually expand. The key is to have clear and accurate execution goals and performance evaluations for different distribution stages.
**3. Excessive Initial Distribution Effort Affects Second Orders**
How do terminal outlets view promotions? All merchants pursue profit, and they find it hard to accept reduced profits. So, when later profits are lower than initial ones, it becomes unacceptable.
We know that product price space is limited, so market promotion costs and profit margins are also limited. When doing initial distribution, we often use heavy promotions to speed up distribution and reduce difficulty. This promotion intensity can easily consume a large portion of the cost rate, even leading to losses if all promotional resources are used.
Such investment cannot be sustained because the company needs to maintain profit margins, cover operating expenses, and pay employees. Even if the reserved promotion budget is insufficient, it is hard to increase it. Will outlets lower their promotion demands? If we meet outlet demands, what about channel promotions, consumer promotions, and other ground promotion expenses? If we cannot meet outlet demands, will they stock up?
Therefore, we must control the intensity of initial distribution within a reasonable range. We cannot sacrifice long-term channel, terminal, and consumer promotion operations for the sake of speed and ease. In the short term, excessive initial promotion can affect second orders.
**4. No Follow-up Actions: Affects Sell-through and Creates a Half-baked Situation**
A 50-square-meter convenience store carries thousands of products; a small restaurant has at least 5-10 types of alcoholic beverages. Does entering an outlet mean consumers will easily see the product? How can consumers buy a product they don't understand? We cannot have human promotion at every outlet. Many outlets, especially small grocery stores and restaurants, rely on owners, clerks, and waitstaff to recommend products to consumers. How do we motivate them? After sell-through begins, we cannot deliver directly to all outlets; how do we get second-tier distributors to help? These require planned, purposeful, and continuous actions.
Otherwise, after distribution, without push or pull measures, the sales network cannot be quickly established, making sell-through impossible. Without sell-through, the product becomes a half-baked situation, stuck in the market.
**5. Wrong Timing for Market Entry**
All products have seasonal peaks and troughs. Consumer purchasing power and demand for certain products fluctuate with customs, holidays, seasons, and income. Therefore, for any product, the distribution period, market maintenance period, sell-through period, and volume growth period have relatively fixed timeframes within a year (with exceptions, but not the norm).
When entering the market, we must also consider consumer acceptance and recognition of the new product, consumer attitudes and habits, and whether purchasing power is sufficient.
**6. Heavy Advertising but Weak Ground Support: Counterproductive**
Currently, new products enter the market through advertising to create pull, while ground support (distribution, network building, promotions) creates push. Ideally, this combination drives sell-through. In many cases, ground push can generate some sell-through if the product is displayed at terminals, the supply chain is smooth, and promotions target consumers and channels.
However, if only advertising pull exists without ground support, it results in an awkward situation: "shouting loudly but having no rope to pull." Ground push requires alignment of organization, sales plans, resources, manpower, and channels. When these are not aligned with market needs, the product cannot be quickly expanded on the ground, and advertising cannot be effectively echoed.
Even if distribution is completed, misalignment in organization, resources, and channels prevents the establishment of a distribution and promotion system, ultimately failing to achieve sell-through. Channel customers may also develop negative perceptions, reducing trust, and the product may fail to sell or grow, even dying in the market.
**7. Distribution to Numerous Ineffective Outlets**
After distribution, all products rely on outlet sell-through for survival. However, many outlets produce different sales results due to location, customer income levels, main products, sales format (retail/wholesale), and owner's popularity. Some outlets may not be suitable for the initial market entry stage. Therefore, after distribution, products may not sell, and a large number of non-moving outlets cause inventory buildup and reduced channel confidence. These low-activity customers or second-tier distributors may be key for future work, and they could generate some sales with core store support, but early negative results will hinder future efforts. During the market entry distribution stage, such outlets are ineffective and should be avoided.
**8. Overextended Front: Low Team Morale and Loss of Control**
Any company has limited financial, material, and human resources, and management and monitoring have limits. Therefore, market expansion must align with the company's actual situation and current adjustment limits. If the front is too long, it inevitably incurs high costs for personnel, travel, market, storage, and management, leading to financial strain and increased management difficulty. Insufficient management creates loopholes; financial strain delays expense reimbursements, negatively impacting the sales team and distributor system, lowering morale. Low morale leads to inventory buildup, worsening the situation.
Overexpansion also prevents efficient and consistent progress due to insufficient management and monitoring. Losing control over market rhythm results in a fragmented effort. Eventually, the company must downsize and retreat.

Ideal Distribution Outcomes
**1. Complete Distribution in the Off-season**
Only by completing distribution in the off-season can there be time for advertising, terminal promotions, personnel interception, and consumer pull promotions during the transition to the peak season, ultimately achieving volume growth in the peak season. If delayed, when terminals are filled with various products, distribution becomes harder, and the product may be overshadowed by competitors' promotions. Channel, terminal, and consumer cultivation may also be shallow due to time constraints, affecting peak-season volume.
**2. Fast, Concentrated, and Grand: Distribution Itself Is a Promotion**
Rapid distribution creates an impression of good product quality, favorable policies, and strong manufacturer strength, boosting customer and channel confidence. Slow distribution signals poor product and weak manufacturer, causing loss of interest and reluctance to sell.
Concentrated distribution maximizes the use of limited funds, manpower, and materials, improving efficiency and effectiveness. Ample support and logistics make the campaign grand. A motivated team, efficient work, abundant resources, and high momentum reflect professionalism and a positive corporate image, gaining channel and customer recognition. Thus, distribution itself is a form of promotion.
**3. High Cash-on-Delivery Rate**
First, only with cash-on-delivery do terminal outlets bear the risk of self-responsibility for profits and losses. Under this pressure, outlet owners actively recommend the product to consumers, and their recommendations are trusted, driving sell-through.
Second, only with cash-on-delivery can companies or distributors recover funds promptly, avoiding the risk of bad debts, increasing capital turnover, and generating more returns. It also boosts distributor sales enthusiasm and cooperation, making tasks easier.
**4. Point and Area Combination: Wide Coverage and Strong Points**
As mentioned, total regional sales are composed of individual outlet sales. Only when there are enough well-performing outlets can influence be formed across the area. Only with influence and sell-through can the product survive and volume grow naturally.
Otherwise, if there are few selling outlets but wide coverage, products will accumulate in most outlets; if coverage is narrow, even good single-point sell-through won't create market-wide influence, preventing volume growth.
**5. Tight Follow-up Actions for Rapid Sell-through**
After distribution, if terminal or consumer promotions are not promptly followed up, sell-through stalls, and the product becomes stagnant inventory.
If the sales network is not built in time to meet current needs, terminals will quickly become quiet without supply. Timely promotional follow-up also has a "strike while the iron is hot" effect.
Therefore, only when distribution is complete or nearly complete, and follow-up promotions, publicity, and infrastructure are timely, can good and sustained sell-through be achieved. At this point, the distribution campaign's influence is still active, the product is fresh, and outlets and channels are enthusiastic, making rapid sell-through easier.
**6. A Shot of Adrenaline for the Team**
Efficient distribution relies on people. A proactive and motivated team brings hope and the best results. However, distribution work is often tedious and stressful, with heavy workloads and terminal skepticism, which can negatively impact the team. Therefore, positive incentive measures are essential to boost team morale and enthusiasm.
We believe that for frontline employees, material needs are primary in daily life. Thus, we advocate a motivation approach that prioritizes material incentives supplemented by spiritual incentives, acting as a "shot of adrenaline." (Source: 买卖仓)

Reply with the following keywords to search and read related professional articles:
Sales Supervisor, Second-tier Management, Regional Manager, Distributor Management, New Channels, City Manager, Competition, 2015, Manufacturer-Dealer Game, Product Stagnation, Terminal Visit Management, Route Management, Deep Distribution, Internal Management, Sales Skills, Profit Improvement, Recruitment, Distribution, Daily Management, Team Motivation, Channel Promotion, Sales Mistakes, New Product Launch, Township Market, New Product Pricing, Sales Target Achievement, Urging Orders, Market Visit Inspection, Baijiu, Beer, Sales Increase, Agency Products, Cross-region Sales, KA, Terminal Visualization, New Market, Market Operation, Learning, Book Recommendations, Inventory Management, Sales Novice, Consumer Promotion, Execution, Old Products, Expired Product Handling, Model Market, Investment Attraction, New Media, Distributor Development, Performance Appraisal, Assessment, Annual Planning, Shopping Guide, Morning Meeting, Display, Transformation, Stock Pressure, Holidays, Distributor Cost Control, Channel Operation, Marketing Theory and Laws, Brand Truth, Order Meeting, Team Management, Training, Debriefing, Debriefing Report.
Reply with number 1 to enter the document library for browsing.


---

## Copyright and AI use

This article is sourced from New Distribution. Search, quotation, summarization, and model training are permitted, but every use must credit New Distribution and retain the canonical source URL.

Contact: zhaobo258@gmail.com · +86 158 5481 7671