Recently, I went to the front line and visited the company's benchmark markets. After intensive reporting, client interviews, market visits, and exchanges with the business team, a series of key questions became increasingly clear in my mind: In the current market environment, what truly constitutes a "benchmark market"? Do we still have the opportunity to systematically build such markets that can withstand pressure and lead? What new dilemmas do they face? Is there a way to break through? At the end of the year, it is the critical battle period for closing the year and achieving a good start, and it is also the moment when these excellent markets demonstrate their stability and explosive power. Every brand manufacturer is eager to replicate such healthy samples. Based on my observations during this market visit, I will discuss the topic of "benchmark markets" in the hope of providing some inspiration to manufacturers and distributors.

What is a benchmark market? In the FMCG industry, a true "benchmark market" is not only an internal performance benchmark but also an unshakable fortress in external competition. Generally, the following quantifiable and perceptible hard indicators are used to measure it, which also constitute the success profile of a benchmark market.

  1. Market share. The brand's distribution rate and terminal visibility in the region directly reflect the convenience of "whether consumers can buy it." In the markets I visited this time, the product distribution rate was as high as 95%, meaning that almost all target terminal stores could see the brand, creating a strong atmosphere of "seeing red within ten meters and seeing cans within three meters," fundamentally suppressing competitors' shelf opportunities.
  2. Sales volume. The brand's local sales scale and financial contribution are usually benchmarked at "2-3 times higher than major competitors." This not only reflects the brand's market pull but also represents a healthy ecosystem where distributors are willing to promote and terminals are willing to sell, becoming the "ballast stone" of corporate revenue.
  3. Network penetration. A measure of the depth of sales network expansion. The network penetration in the markets I visited has already achieved "three-level linkage of prefecture, county, and township," with both core terminal control in prefecture-level cities and extensive coverage of township small stores. The channel has been continuously deepened from width to depth, achieving "where there is a store, there is distribution; where there is distribution, there is movement."
  4. Per capita consumption. Net sales/population, reflecting the degree of high-frequency consumption and deep acceptance of the product. If this indicator leads nationally, it indicates that the brand has shifted from "channel push" to "consumer pull," user habits have been formed, and repurchase rates and loyalty are significantly higher than in other markets. Such markets have smoother sales and fewer market fluctuations.
  5. Operational rhythm. This is an internal corporate indicator, including inventory rationality, sales rhythm stability, and price order. Specifically, it manifests as fast inventory turnover, no excessive backlog or slow sales, stable monthly/quarterly sales progress, a stable price system, orderly internal goods flow, and guaranteed channel profits. Today's benchmark markets have transcended the simple sales volume logic, representing a healthy growth state that integrates "scale + structure + rhythm." For brand manufacturers, they are not only contributors to sales but also exporters of methods and builders of confidence.

What are the key factors in building a successful benchmark market? The success of a market operation is essentially a victory of systematic integration capability—leading elite troops with strong generals, achieving win-win with sincerity, setting direction with strategy, enhancing efficiency with resources, and ensuring execution with mechanisms. This is how a sustainable growth system can be built in a complex market. Through reflection, I believe the following factors are key to building a benchmark market at the current stage.

  1. Selecting the right people: Build a combat team with "strong generals leading troops and passionate execution." The creation of an excellent market first depends on whether the right people are selected to lead the team. The biggest feeling from this business trip was the careful selection from the business leaders of the branch company to the regional managers and office supervisors at the front line—they not only possess professional market analysis capabilities and can diagnose problems with clear thinking but also have tenacious combat will and overall thinking to formulate targeted tactical strategies. Office supervisors can clearly explain customer distribution, market characteristics, distribution data, personnel layout, competitor policies, etc., based on a map. When discussing market pain points faced by other markets, they can also provide valuable solutions. More importantly, grassroots managers are good at stimulating the work enthusiasm of young teams. After work, they can enjoy together, using ways that young people like, transforming upper-level strategies into executable actions at the front line, empowering at different levels, conducting practical training, and actively identifying reserve cadres in management and providing targeted coaching. In terms of personnel use, they can dynamically adjust and complement each other based on market issues and the strengths of key personnel.
  2. Selecting the right customers: Establish a channel partner system with "consistent philosophy and long-term win-win." The healthy development of the market is inseparable from the deep trust and strategic synergy established with customers. The branch companies I visited place great emphasis on selecting and cultivating high-quality customers who identify with the brand philosophy, understand market logic, and are willing to invest together with the manufacturer. Many of them are old partners with more than ten years of cooperation. Through mechanisms such as joint policy formulation, resource coordination, and profit feedback, manufacturers guide customers to upgrade from "transaction objects" to "growth partners," forming a healthy ecosystem of "old driving new, strong supporting weak." This long-term oriented customer relationship has become an important cornerstone for the sustained and stable growth of this market. During the most difficult times for performance, they do not resort to replacing customers as a temporary solution. They truly understand customers and work with them to solve problems together. Therefore, whether it is distributors or some wholesalers in the region, they all have high praise for the brand manufacturer's services.
  3. Setting a long-term strategy: Adhere to the market path of "adapting to local conditions and developing in stages." Based on the economic level, consumption characteristics, and competitive situation of different market segments, they have formulated differentiated business strategies. For example, stabilize scale in urban markets, promote growth in county markets, and focus on penetration in township markets. The strategy is not static but gradually upgraded according to the development stage, from initial channel development to mid-term quality improvement, and then to current refined operations and benchmark building, forming a clear evolution path. It has both direction and adaptability, both goals and actions, ensuring strategic continuity and sustainable market growth.
  4. Managing resources well: Build an investment mechanism of "precise allocation and dynamic optimization." Without money, it is difficult to do a good job in the market, but with money, it does not necessarily mean the market will be done well. The efficiency of resource use directly determines the intensity and endurance of market attacks. They have established a tiered resource management mechanism: long-term strategic resources are used for core market and channel construction; medium-term tactical resources are flexibly allocated according to regional goals; and rapid response resources are used to respond to sudden competition or opportunities. Through digital data dashboards, they monitor the effectiveness of resource use in real time, establishing an evaluation system of "investment must be effective, and ineffectiveness must be accountable," ensuring that every cent of cost serves sales growth and channel health.
  5. Building an organizational closed-loop support mechanism: Form an empowerment network of "upper-lower linkage and experience replication." Facing the problem of unbalanced development within the region, they bridge the gap between strategy formulation and implementation, such as horizontally breaking down departmental barriers and promoting synergy among sales, marketing, supply chain, and other functions; vertically, through management point contact, exchange between good and poor markets, and practical coaching, they achieve rapid replication of experience and timely rectification of problems. This mechanism not only ensures the implementation of policies to the end but also fully stimulates the initiative and innovation of the front-line team. For example, they promote precise "poverty alleviation" work for underperforming markets, focusing resources on building model stores and model streets in stages.

How should current benchmark markets face difficulties? How to break through? Under the multiple challenges of current retail transformation, channel diversification, and consumption stratification, even mature benchmark markets face the practical dilemma of traditional methods failing and growth momentum weakening. This front-line insight also revealed some core pain points they face.

  1. The dilemma of resource efficiency: From "asking for resources" to "using them effectively." Benchmark markets are no longer satisfied with "getting expenses" but are more concerned with how to spend money wisely—how to achieve "investment equals conversion" through precise channel sales, audience cultivation, and manufacturer-distributor collaboration. This actually requires stronger strategic design and effect evaluation capabilities for the market, promoting the shift of resources from "cost subsidies" to "value investment."
  2. The dilemma of channel conflict: Finding a balance between "new channels" and "old price system." E-commerce and snack discount stores continue to impact the traditional price system, and instant retail is accelerating penetration. Benchmark markets must answer: How to embrace new channels without harming the basic market? The key to breaking through lies in establishing a "channel firewall"—through product differentiation, scenario customization, and interest restructuring, achieving "new channels increase increment, traditional channels stabilize profits."
  3. The dilemma of team momentum: From "inventory pressure logic" to "sales promotion logic." The traditional "inventory pressure-distribution" model can no longer drive net sales growth. Even if business personnel complete process indicators, market sales remain weak. Benchmark markets need to push teams to shift from "executing indicators" to "operating terminals," extending the assessment focus from "distribution rate" to "repurchase rate" and "inventory age health," truly ending with consumer purchases. My suggestion: Use benchmark markets as a "test field" to move from deep distribution to scenario operation. The industry has reached a consensus that the traditional FMCG industry is shifting from "channel coverage" to "scenario deep cultivation." For benchmark markets, they should not be trapped in the debate of "whether to do it" but should rely on their solid execution and systematic capabilities to take the lead in exploring new scenarios such as new retail, paving the way for the national market. Benchmark markets should be the first exploration ship to set sail. At the current stage of development, benchmark markets will face higher forging difficulty, but the core logic will not change: using "selecting people, benefiting customers, stabilizing strategies, optimizing resources, and supporting the weak" to build a sustainable growth flywheel, precipitating efficient systematic integration capabilities, and truly becoming the anchor for the brand in a turbulent market. Xing Renbao, with 18 years of marketing management experience, has served Coca-Cola, Yili, Red Bull, and other well-known FMCG companies. He currently serves as Assistant to the President of Marketing Execution at Huabin FMCG Group, focusing on corporate marketing diagnosis, manufacturer-distributor relations, channel operations, and digital transformation.