From a novice to a veteran in the FMCG industry. From vibrant to sluggish, until leaving. Witnessing a decade of FMCG upheaval. Before memories fade, I type out these moments with my keyboard. 2009-2019, a decade in FMCG.

2009: Flourishing In '09, a small boss pickled chicken feet at home, placed them in transparent storage boxes, and rode his electric scooter to deliver them to small shops one by one. Through consignment at these shops, he could earn a handsome profit in a year. In '09, the Sanlu milk powder scandal had just erupted. Domestic milk powder brands that once dominated sales charts suddenly faced a trust crisis. Foreign milk powder brands unexpectedly hit a development peak. According to salespeople who experienced this period: "We'd finish business just by having a meeting."

At that time, every promoter was scrambling for stock, not fearing high targets, but fearing they'd get less allocation. In '09, in a second-tier city, during the Spring Festival period, a well-performing supermarket charged 6,500 yuan per square meter for display space. At that time, housing prices in that city were about 8,000 yuan per square meter. Back then, that price was absolutely worth it! During the New Year goods season, every inch of space was precious, and all manufacturers fought for it. Even if you had money, they might not sell it to you. Getting a spot truly required "strong connections." In '09, a peer in Shenzhen shared some data. We spent 80,000 yuan on display space in just one store, and over the Spring Festival period, we sold over 500,000 yuan of goods there. Totally worth it!

2010: Relentless Targets

How much growth this year? This was the must-ask topic when FMCG peers met. In 2010, it was almost impossible to find a manufacturer that set only single-digit growth targets. Looking at the company reports, everyone had 30%+ growth. If you only grew 25%, you'd be embarrassed to speak on stage. This was a leader's lament during a team activity. Targets were the hardest parameter for evaluating one's performance. Whether you met them, and how well, directly affected your rating, bonus, and promotion. Thus, various operations—some you could imagine, some you couldn't—revolved around "meeting targets." In 2010, the FMCG industry was still in a state of barbaric growth. Power was highly concentrated in the hands of office managers. They held the financial purse strings in one hand and employee performance ratings in the other (both life-and-death powers). So, in the era of barbaric growth, leaders were never short of followers. Or to put it bluntly, never short of sycophants. The budget my boss gives me is resources! How else could I, a street-level salesperson, climb to this position in just two years? It's because I know how to leverage resources! This was said by a junior supervisor who was very adept at flattering the manager. With a stroke of the leader's pen, he could get entertainment expenses to treat supermarket managers to meals and karaoke. With another stroke, he could get several shopping cards to give to buyers the next day. After accepting your cards and meals, the products that were once in the corner would overnight have a magnificent display. In that era, there were certainly diligent workers, but there was no shortage of "talented" people who accompanied leaders in eating, drinking, and carousing, then relied on the leader's "stroke of the pen" to easily meet their targets. As for "unspoken rules," such stories were never lacking in any company, and the content was always updating.

2011: Still Golden, Satellites Everywhere Headquarters received a report from a region: Good news! Over the weekend, a 2-day promotion sold nearly xx million yuan of xx products at xx supermarket. Headquarters' commendation email was immediately copied to all offices and branches nationwide. A salesperson took out a calculator and figured: if they could sell xx million in 2 days, that meant about one sale every 6 seconds. If they sold one every 6 seconds, there would definitely be a long queue at the sales site. The foot traffic in the PPT wasn't enough to form a queue. But headquarters leaders liked such stories. Whether it was reasonable or not, we needed heroes! Besides, the PPT was shown to foreigners, and with their math skills, what could they figure out? So, satellites rose one after another across the country. Setting up a stall at a school, selling 1,000 yuan in reality, but reporting 30,000 yuan to claim credit. Setting up a tent in a community, selling only half a box in a day, but writing 150 boxes in the PPT sent to headquarters. Headquarters foreigners beamed with joy, giving thumbs up:

China, Good! Many good cases~ More material for the shareholders' meeting PPT. The Chinese managers below also beamed: That bald foreigner said this year's cases are numerous and good, and he's planning to promote me another level. The regional manager also beamed: Our region was praised by headquarters. Provincial colleagues, keep it up! The provincial manager was also happy: The region said our province is doing well, so we must continue. Hey, you, produce more cases in this area. Have your branch managers allocate more budget for it. The branch manager gritted his teeth and swallowed: Damn, we haul everything out to set up a stall, sell at most 800 yuan of goods, but spend 1,000 yuan on overtime meals and transportation. Do they expect me to do this every day?

2012: Slight Pressure Entering '12, all brand manufacturers clearly felt:

This year is a bit tough! That distributor who used to help me meet my target after a drinking session—why won't he place an order no matter how many times I urge him this year? In 2012, mobile internet began to spread. Previously, "going to the supermarket" was a top choice for many in their leisure time. From 2012, people had another option: they could stay home and scroll their phones. Mobile games, WeChat, Weibo—plenty to keep you entertained! Go to the supermarket to enjoy the air conditioning? Not as fun as scrolling your phone! Fewer people went to supermarkets, and supermarket sales plummeted. Brand managers couldn't meet their targets, so they had to ask wholesalers for help: Buddy, this month is tight. Help me take 1 million yuan of goods. The wholesaler, picking his teeth on the other end of the phone, said languidly: Your colleague Wang has already sent 2 million yuan of goods to my warehouse. His discount is 2 points lower than yours. On this end, the manager gritted his teeth: Damn, last month I agreed with Wang to control prices—no shipping below 30% off. And I secretly offered the wholesaler 30% off! He's still 2 points lower. Damn it! At the year-end celebration, everyone still happily gave thumbs up to the camera. Behind them, on the big, festive backdrop, it still read "Winning in 201X."

2013: New Phone Features WeChat users exploded, and the name "Double 11" became known to everyone this year. So, more and more orders went to Taobao and Tmall, leaving less and less time for supermarkets. It was also this year that I first received an email like this:

Headquarters will equip everyone with terminal management software. Every time you visit a supermarket, you must take a photo and upload it to the system. Was this a new management model born from hardware advancements? Or was it because headquarters executives suddenly realized: Why is the data getting uglier? And thus had to respond? Headquarters foreigners must have been scratching their heads in anxiety: Damn, no one told me China had Taobao before I was transferred here! The introduction of mobile management software helped headquarters executives fully supervise the grassroots, but it couldn't change the trend of consumers no longer going to supermarkets. Sales continued to decline. But targets still had to be met! So, products originally priced at 100 yuan were sold to wholesalers at a 50% discount. After taking the goods, wholesalers would slowly sell them on Taobao or in township markets. But did the company have that much promotional budget to clear inventory at 50% off? So, they had to first ask distributors for credit: President Zhang, I'll chug 3 bottles of liquor if you help me push the goods out this month. We've got a good price this time—45% off. The distributor, though also drunk, stayed clear-headed at the critical moment. He shook his head like a rattle-drum: Don't ask me. Let me chug 3 bottles instead. You go get the company to pay the 3 million yuan in discount fees they owe!

2014: Squeezing Employee Effort By 2014, targets were increasingly hard to meet. Many company bosses gave instructions:

Everyone must work overtime at supermarkets on weekends! Do promotions! Sell goods! So that year, FMCG workers suddenly had a "Weekend Charge Group" in their WeChat. Before waking up on Saturday, someone was already showing off in the group: I've been promoting at xx supermarket since 9 AM and already made 1,000 yuan in sales. Nonsense? At 9 AM, only elderly people are in the supermarket! The big boss quickly posted a thumbs-up below, with a comment: Great, what about the others? Let me see your efforts! Soon, a flood of photos showing effort came in. If you didn't mute the group, the notification sounds would crackle until the supermarket closed. Even the usually irritable Xiao A posted a photo. It showed him in a promotional uniform, working hard to sell in a supermarket. But the promotional board next to him read: "Special Price Period: May 15 - May 28." Unfortunately, the regional manager happened to see it and commented: Isn't today June 15?

2015: When Overseas Shopping Became a Lifestyle Once, a can of milk powder priced at 300-400 yuan would see customers buying whole boxes in supermarkets. This hot phenomenon got a bucket of cold water in '15: Overseas shopping. At first, people asked friends to send it from abroad. Later, bonded zones appeared everywhere. With a click on Tmall or JD, foreign milk powder was delivered to your doorstep. The price was only 40% of the supermarket's. With so many mom groups, the news spread quickly. Within just a year, the trend among new moms had shifted from "never buy milk powder below 300 yuan" to:

Foreign milk powder is cheaper and better. Why would I spend 300 yuan on a can from the supermarket? Do I look like I have more money than sense? At sales meetings, salespeople's complaints grew: Damn, the leader's own kids are eating Aptamil, but he tells us that 300-yuan milk powder is the trend? Is that a realistic carrot to dangle?

2016: HR Was Busy Emails came one after another. For example, about daily benefits:

Notice on the unified cancellation of xx leave. xx subsidy benefits will be officially cancelled from x month x year. Losing benefits was a minor issue. There were more serious ones: From x month x year, the company will no longer increase headcount. Positions of departed employees will not be backfilled. Doesn't that mean if one of two people in a team resigns, the remaining one has to take on all the work? Just as I was about to complain, I was called into the manager's office. It has been decided that your team's headcount will be consolidated to only x city. If you want to stay, you'll have to work in x city. If not, please sign here, and we'll apply for a certain amount of severance for you.

2017: Bystanders in the New O2O Battlefield Represented by shared bikes, O2O gradually became part of everyday life. The O2O era gave birth to delivery supermarkets that could deliver to your door in 30 minutes. Examples include JD Daojia (a collaboration between JD and Walmart), RT-Mart's Taoxianda, and PUPU, invested in by giants. The emergence of delivery supermarkets truly cut off young people's willingness to visit physical supermarkets. And a large number of snack foods relied entirely on impulse purchases triggered by browsing in supermarkets. In the O2O era, young people no longer went to supermarkets, meaning they wouldn't "impulse" on snacks. A certain snack brand that was once an industry benchmark became an object of sympathy:

I heard sales dropped by 2 billion yuan in a year.

2018: Trainees No Longer Willing to Come Once, management trainee positions at foreign FMCG companies were absolute hotcakes. Elite universities, foreign language skills, internship experience—the requirements were definitely high. But by 2018,

We used to only hold recruitment talks at 985 universities, but later found that even those who got offers wouldn't come. Recently, we've also held talks at regular undergraduate universities. Even when we interview excellent candidates, few are willing to join. Compared to the booming internet industry, supermarket-related jobs seemed too "cold." The channel shrinkage and decline you could clearly feel, and the resulting frustration, were quickly extinguishing trainees' enthusiasm. Previously, they'd work for 2 years and then jump to a competitor, because competitors were willing to pay higher salaries. Now, they work for 2 years and jump to the internet industry. Not only are salaries higher, but the industry also looks more promising than FMCG. It wasn't just trainees who didn't want to come. Ordinary salesperson jobs saw young people leave after just two days. Every time I go to a supermarket, I just take photos and check in as required. The products on the shelves barely move, so there's no sense of achievement. Enthusiastic young people stopped flooding in. FMCG became a brutal battlefield for veterans. That might not be a bad thing. If young people don't want to come, it means the company will always need us old-timers. A veteran who had just turned 35 joked self-deprecatingly.

2019: Where to Go from Here? I heard that some FMCG companies have outsourced their teams to O2O platforms. I heard that distributors who once had a stranglehold on the market have given up all the brands they represented. I heard that several headquarters trainees have jumped to Douyin. I heard that many grassroots sales reps have left to sell Ping An insurance. I heard that third-party employees have returned to their hometowns to run after-school care centers and made a good amount of money. I heard... The FMCG world, The story continues. And you, Are you still in this world? Source: FMCG Elite Club (ID: FMCG-CLUB) Tips: 400-2000 yuan will be paid for any tip used. China FMCG + Internet Professional New Media Dedicated to FMCG manufacturer and distributor transformation and channel digitalization solutions