As November arrives, a new wave of bleakness is being felt across the country. For distributors, the sales heat of 'Golden September, Silver October' is rapidly fading, and they are about to face the final off-season 'cold snap' of the year. At the same time, some companies with strong brands often set sales targets for distributors and offer corresponding rebates. To meet these targets, distributors frequently make large purchases at year-end, leading to product backlog and increased pressure on capital and inventory. Currently, there is still some time before the year-end sales peak. Facing this vacuum period and the pressure of Q4 sales targets, how should distributors balance meeting targets and inventory pressure? How should they drive sales and secure displays during the pre-holiday vacuum? With these questions, the author interviewed several distributors nationwide. Turning Pressure into Motivation: Plan Profits in Advance Liu Zhansheng, General Manager of Hebei Baoding Qichen Trading Co., Ltd., said: 'Considering the year-end date issue, reducing purchases is definitely a necessary measure, but distributors should also promptly shift their mindset and turn pressure into motivation. Even if the manufacturer doesn't set targets, distributors can plan for themselves.' He believes that distributors can relatively increase the purchase volume of gift-box products, mainly promoting them to community convenience stores. At the same time, they should reduce the frequency of promotions to control costs, maintain regular operations, and adjust based on terminal feedback at all times. This can avoid inventory backlog and make distributors less passive in the face of targets. Huang Yongmu, General Manager of Sichuan Guangyuan Jinfan Trading Co., Ltd., chooses to drive sales through channel planning. He believes that before year-end sales, distributors should fully consider which channels their products are suitable for. 'More channels are not necessarily better or more comprehensive. Products before channels is selling; channels before products is marketing. Let channels choose products, and products will have stronger sales momentum.' Huang Yongmu pointed out that channel push is a decisive factor in product sales, and terminal outlets pay more attention to product profit margins, which directly determine the promotion intensity of terminal channels for products. Distributors can make profit plans in advance, offer rebates to stores with good sales, and reasonably distribute the manufacturer's task pressure to various outlets, thereby reducing their own pressure. Responding with Stillness: Combining Years of Experience with Daily Rhythm Unlike some distributors who significantly reduce purchases or frequently promote, some large distributors choose to combine years of experience with daily operating rhythm and respond with stillness. Li Ming, General Manager of Jiangsu Guanyun Chang'e Commercial Firm, is one of them. In his view, as year-end approaches, most products are in the off-season. 'Peak season for sales volume, off-season for market development' is one of his beliefs. Taking leisure baked goods as an example, after the order rush from September to mid-October, November becomes one of the few idle periods for distributors. This time can be used for terminal relationship maintenance, market development, and product introduction, warming up for the upcoming Spring Festival. Li Ming said: 'In the last quarter, it's still best to focus on steady progress and maintain the daily rhythm for sales. I think distributors should not panic because of the manufacturer's tasks and disrupt the entire quarter's plan. ' Wu Jianghua (pseudonym), General Manager of Hubei Xiangyang Nanzhang County New Century Food & Beverage Department, holds a similar view. He believes that quarterly stocking levels should generally be based on the sales performance of the previous months, and he does not advocate inventory pressure. Regular shipments are still based on inventory, and key nodes like the Spring Festival sales period are adjusted based on historical data. 'Once products are backlogged to the next quarter, they often have to be sold at reduced prices. Although some companies promise corresponding support fees or other compensation, ultimately we have to bear the losses ourselves.' Wu Jianghua reminded peers to stay calm and avoid being trapped by preferential policies. Shifting to 'Healthy' Inventory Pressure: Distributors Return to Rational Product Selection Distributors suffering from inventory pressure need not be overly distressed. Zhang Yuanli, General Manager of Henan Zhumadian Lingling Supermarket, said that after inventory pressure becomes a fact, distributors should promptly analyze whether the products are relatively fast-selling. 'If the pressured products sell well, they can be digested through regular pressure on downstream channels, quickly recovering capital; if the products are relatively slow-moving, they can negotiate with the manufacturer for promotional support, or bundle sales based on product categories, using fast-selling products to drive slow-moving ones.' Zhang Yuanli emphasized that during the inventory pressure period, no one should harbor thoughts like 'sit, wait, or rely,' but should actively communicate with the company, downstream distributors, and terminals to turn the inventory pressure into a 'healthy' cycle. Zhang Yuanli believes that achieving 'healthy' inventory pressure is inseparable from the '80/20 rule' in marketing. Taking the betel nut brand 'Xiangyikou' he has represented for many years as an example, among 100 sales outlets, only about 20 are key stores, and their sales may account for 70% to 80% of total sales. These 20 stores are key to solving inventory pressure. Zhang Yuanli suggests that distributors personally visit and arrange displays at key stores to ensure rapid turnover. 'Based on experience, with excellent and eye-catching displays and the push of terminal store owners, product sales can increase by at least 30%, especially for products like betel nut with many competitors and little differentiation. Often, a store owner's word can determine consumer purchase behavior.' (At the request of the interviewees, some trading companies and individuals in the article are pseudonyms) Source: Food Business (tyjzksp) -END-