---
title: "A Big Opportunity? Retail Tong's Shutdown Brings Triple Dividends—Dealers' Chance to Win!"
description: "Recently, a major event occurred in the FMCG distribution industry: Alibaba's Retail Tong, once the industry leader, announced it would suspend operations. This presents an excellent opportunity for local FMCG dealers who can seize it to reap significant benefits. Today, we will analyze the impact of this event on the industry and explore how dealers can capitalize on this wave of opportunity. The platform's model flaws may have predetermined its fate; Retail Tong's closure was not accidental. Its ambition to integrate and absorb local dealers to achieve scale was unrealistic."
author: "订货宝"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2024-04-12"
language: "en"
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# A Big Opportunity? Retail Tong's Shutdown Brings Triple Dividends—Dealers' Chance to Win!

> Recently, a major event occurred in the FMCG distribution industry: Alibaba's Retail Tong, once the industry leader, announced it would suspend operations. This presents an excellent opportunity for local FMCG dealers who can seize it to reap significant benefits. Today, we will analyze the impact of this event on the industry and explore how dealers can capitalize on this wave of opportunity. The platform's model flaws may have predetermined its fate; Retail Tong's closure was not accidental. Its ambition to integrate and absorb local dealers to achieve scale was unrealistic.

Recently, a major event occurred in the FMCG distribution industry: Alibaba's Retail Tong, once the industry leader, announced it would suspend operations. This presents an excellent opportunity for local FMCG dealers who can seize it to reap significant benefits. Today, we will analyze the impact of this event on the industry and explore how dealers can capitalize on this wave of opportunity.

**Model flaws may have predetermined its fate**

Retail Tong's closure was not accidental. **Retail Tong's ambition to integrate and absorb local dealers to achieve scale was unrealistic.** The FMCG industry is vast and complex, with many major categories—such as beverages, snacks, and condiments—dominated by big brands with strong sales capabilities. Examples include Coca-Cola, Wahaha, and Nongfu Spring in beverages; Danone, Nestlé, and Mondelez in snacks; and Haitian in condiments.

Many big brands prefer diversified and localized channels to avoid having their sales channels controlled and threatened by intermediaries. Therefore, from the start, national platforms like Retail Tong that operated on a grand scale were met with caution or even rejection by many big brands.

To open the market, Retail Tong had to subsidize operations itself. However, the FMCG industry is highly competitive with low gross margins, requiring heavy upfront investment in warehousing, logistics, and software development, plus high labor and compliance costs, making profitability difficult. Long-term subsidies only worsened the situation.

This made it hard for Retail Tong to compete on price with cost-efficient local dealers, preventing market monopoly. Moreover, this event not only affected Retail Tong but also dealt a heavy blow to **other FMCG platforms that had raised significant investment and aimed for capital markets.**

Additionally, retail procurement differs from consumer purchasing; it requires more localization and offline services. Relying solely on subsidies fails to build platform stickiness. Once subsidies stop, orders drop significantly and return to local dealers.

**The fall of a giant platform presents a golden opportunity for dealers**

However, Retail Tong's exit does not mean the disappearance of market opportunities; on the contrary, it provides local dealers with an excellent chance for digital transformation.

First, over the past few years, Retail Tong has accustomed millions of small retail stores nationwide to ordering online, laying a digital foundation for local dealers.

Second, Retail Tong's exit leaves a market gap of tens of billions of yuan, a massive opportunity for dealers with their own platforms. With minimal guidance, they can easily acquire a large number of incremental customers.

Finally, Retail Tong has cultivated many talents familiar with B2B platform operations, becoming a valuable resource for platform-based dealers. This also addresses the urgent need for talent with platform operation expertise that dealers previously lacked in their internet transformation.

**Doing these four things well can help dealers stand out**

**First, developing your own platform is a pitfall.**

We have witnessed countless bosses who hired developers to build systems fall into this trap. One boss once gave a vivid analogy: "I wanted to buy a Mercedes to drive, but instead I burned money to build a production line to make a Mercedes. Not only did I waste money, but I also missed valuable market opportunities. It's a pity."

**Second, choose partners carefully.**

When selecting platform service providers, choose software companies with strength, a track record of successful cases, and a good reputation in the industry. Especially important are companies with local service capabilities. This ensures they can help you quickly build and operate your platform, allowing you to rapidly acquire customers and talent.

**Third, talent is key for business transformation.**

How to find talent and how to manage them? Over the past decade, OrderPal has served thousands of trading companies in their business transformation and has some experience.

Regarding finding talent, leverage online recruitment channels. Many traditional industry bosses are unfamiliar with internet talent recruitment. Focus on platforms like 51job, Zhaopin, and Liepin. You can search for keywords like "Retail Tong" experience to find candidates with such backgrounds.

There is also a low-cost method: ask retail stores about their contacts from Retail Tong, though these individuals are more focused on offline promotion and service.

As for management, traditional dealer sales staff have mixed responsibilities: opening new stores, placing orders on behalf of stores, promoting new products, and maintaining customer relationships. After building a platform with system support, their core function should shift to operations: only responsible for store expansion and customer relationship maintenance. Order placement and marketing promotion should be handled by the system, freeing up their energy to focus on developing new customers.

Since functions change, assessment methods must also change. Over the years, we have served many FMCG clients and found that many bosses still use traditional sales commission models. With a platform, a wealth of data is generated with multiple dimensions. Therefore, assessment criteria should be adjusted: not just sales revenue, but also data metrics from the platform, such as registered users, number of customers placing orders, transaction volume, customer visit data, and display task data. You can conduct precise assessments based on different stages. These data are available in mature systems; the key is whether you use them.

Of course, this is just a small part. In practice, you will encounter more issues. Therefore, finding a mature software company with experience in helping customers successfully operate platforms is much easier than crossing the river by feeling the stones yourself, saving both time and money.

**Fourth, learn from successful cases.**

Many dealer bosses say business has been tough in recent years, but many excellent companies served by OrderPal have achieved 50% or even double growth against the trend.

For example, a Tianjin client of OrderPal, Jinbaibai, achieved sales of 1 billion yuan in three years through platform integration, becoming an industry benchmark. Other excellent platform-based dealers like Rongcheng Yigou are typical examples of companies that OrderPal has helped grow and strengthen.

Their approach is gradual and progressive: **First, they built their own ordering platform using OrderPal, streamlined processes, improved efficiency, and enhanced customer stickiness.**

**Once the self-operated platform is stable, they upgrade to OrderPal's co-branded version, integrate more suppliers to join the platform for joint operations based on customer needs, providing a one-stop procurement platform, thereby upgrading the business model.**

**Opportunity has arrived, but risks are also greater**

As the saying goes, people can never earn money beyond their cognitive range. Money earned by luck will be lost by ability. If you can understand this article, your cognition is already in place, and your performance this year will surely take off. Whether you can enjoy this industry dividend depends on how quickly you act, which tests your team's execution.

_Ps: Click "Read Original" at the bottom left to get a free trial of OrderPal._


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