In the offline trading sector, distributors of daily chemical products face the greatest challenges. "E-commerce has hit hard, channels are fragmented, and consumer shopping habits have changed." "Daily chemical products have high unit prices, small stores can't sell them, and supermarkets are empty." Such comments are heard countless times during market visits. Yet, some excellent distributors still manage to break through layers of difficulty. Today, the protagonist of "New Distribution 100 People" is Guo Xiaolin, GM of Jiangsu Nantong Jindihuang Trading Co., Ltd. She represents many well-known brands such as Pechoin, Unilever, P&G, Jahwa, Bluemoon, Hanhoo, Chando, Frog Prince, and Canbo, and has expanded into beauty, candy toys, and general merchandise. Covering over 700 single large stores of more than 1,000 square meters, through a multi-brand, multi-category, and strong-channel business model, she achieves annual sales of 300 million yuan. What makes Guo Xiaolin unique? What innovations are worth learning from? This article discusses her insights.
From Retail Specialty Store to Distributor: Step by Step Jindihuang Trading was established in 2008. Before that, Guo Xiaolin had worked in clothing, then entered the FMCG industry as a manufacturer's salesperson at Longliqi. Through exposure, she gained an understanding of the pricing system in the daily chemical category and realized it was a promising business. With this idea, Guo Xiaolin started her entrepreneurial journey. Initially, she didn't directly open a trading company but opened a daily chemical specialty store (CS store) in Nantong. From 2006 to 2008, she opened six stores in just two years. The business seemed thriving, but actual profits were low—just "hard-earned money." To develop further, Guo Xiaolin decided to transition to being a distributor, establishing the current trading company and officially starting agency business. At that time, competition was fierce, with over a dozen strong peers in the Nantong area alone. Although Guo Xiaolin was adept at running retail stores, she was a novice in trading company operations. In its early stages, Jindihuang had chaotic internal management, lacking clear departmental divisions, and business expansion was slow. Through continuous trial and error and learning, the company now divides its frontline business team into six levels based on coverage area and agency category: regional general manager for north and south—business supervisor—salesperson—supervisor—promoter, driver. Besides frontline sales and management, the company also has support positions such as finance, audit, order processing, and data management. Many might think this hierarchy is too long and unnecessary. But Guo Xiaolin always believes: "The hierarchy must be sufficiently detailed to control every detail. Even if new business segments are added in the future, the existing structure makes it easier to handle, whether it's a 100 million yuan business or a 500 million or 1 billion yuan business—ready to take on anytime." Today, Jindihuang has gradually established a foothold in the local exclusive field, with annual sales of around 300 million yuan, becoming one of the leading enterprises in the region.
POS as the Core: Activating Frontline Team Potential A company's organizational structure is like the foundation of a house; on top of that, reasonable compensation and performance must consolidate it, otherwise the team is just "loose sand." At Jindihuang, the frontline team's compensation and performance system is not simply based on sales volume or gross profit commissions, but uses actual sales figures from the POS system as the benchmark for setting compensation and management standards. The benefit of this design is that frontline employees not only need to distribute products to stores but also find ways to sell them to consumers.
1. Performance Binding: A Co-creation Mechanism for Salespeople and Supervisors A salesperson's salary consists of base salary + POS completion rate + indicator assessment. Indicator tasks are usually set based on the same period last year's performance. A supervisor's salary consists of base salary + POS completion rate + staffing completeness (promoter attendance rate) + activity tracking implementation. Among these, the POS completion rate is a key indicator that closely binds salespeople and supervisors, encouraging cooperation to achieve goals together. For example, if salesperson A completes 1 million yuan in sales this month but only reaches an 80% target completion rate, they get a 1% commission; but if the completion rate reaches 100%, the commission becomes 3%. The commission is then split into two parts: 40% for the supervisor and 60% for the salesperson, because the salesperson bears more responsibility and pressure, and has more assessment items, such as settlement progress, payment collection progress, and expense ratio. Additionally, to incentivize frontline sales to actively develop new outlets, Guo Xiaolin set a "531" development award. Based on store sales levels: if sales ≥80,000 yuan, it's an A-class store, with a 5,000 yuan reward; 50,000–80,000 yuan is B-class, with a 3,000 yuan reward; <30,000 yuan is C-class, with a 1,000 yuan reward, but the store must meet the condition of normal ordering and payment for three consecutive months.
2. A Team of 400 Promoters: Building an Efficient Sales Network Stationing promoters in terminal stores to intercept customers is a common strategy for daily chemical distributors, but managing a large promoter team is undoubtedly a challenge. Jindihuang has established an efficient standard workflow for its 400 promoters through refined management. New promoters first learn how to quickly integrate into store culture and secure their position in the store. Product Knowledge Mastery: With brand support, they deeply learn product knowledge, including professionalism, efficacy, and usage processes, to improve sales efficiency. Promotion Script Training: Further enhance promoters' sales skills, effective communication, and promote sales. Additionally, after Jindihuang divided departments by category, only second- and third-tier brand departments have promoters; famous brands and small general merchandise do not, and their salaries consist of base salary + POS commission. This departmental division can lead to conflicts among promoters in the same store across different departments, as they strive for more POS commissions. For example, when a store adds products, originally only having second- and third-tier products from one department, later adding circulation products from a third department, requiring original promoters to promote new products may cause reluctance, as it distracts and may affect their performance. To solve this, Guo Xiaolin proposed—including growth rate as part of the assessment. Second- and third-tier products have high gross margins, and commissions are still paid as usual; adding growth rate increases income accordingly, making employees more receptive. For instance, if sales in a category grow from 10,000 to 15,000 yuan, an extra 100 yuan is rewarded. This way, promoters won't suppress products from other departments in the store; instead, they actively maintain the freshness and display of all products, but still focus on high-margin second- and third-tier items.
Stores Are Warehouses, Not Endpoints In the distribution business, product selection is a key link. The wide variety of products, similar efficacy, and severe homogenization have always been challenges for daily chemical distributors. When selecting products, it's necessary to consider not only the needs of different consumers but also the product lifecycle and promotional strategies. Equally important is "selling." Guo Xiaolin told New Distribution that placing products on store shelves is only half the job; the ultimate goal is to sell products from the shelf to consumers. You must be responsible not only to yourself but also to the product and the partner stores. Currently, Jindihuang does not do KA or small stores, focusing on covering over 700 single large stores averaging over 1,000 square meters. How does it achieve continuous growth year after year?
1. Bringing Online Best-sellers to Physical Stores Jindihuang has always implemented a consumer-centric product selection process. First, the purchasing department closely monitors representative small categories on e-commerce platforms like JD.com, Taobao, and Pinduoduo, screening out leading products, detailing weight, fragrance, function, price band, and analyzing why these products sell well. The company's frontline famous products and internet-famous products are core targets in terms of display, appearance, and price band. To ensure profit, they also search for similar high-margin products in the market, evaluating whether the product's specifications, fragrance, efficacy, and pricing are suitable for offline market movement. After accepting a product, based on backend POS data analysis, different assessment periods are set for different SKUs, and a last-place elimination system is adopted to promptly replace products.
2. From Shelf to Shopping Cart: Facilitating the Final Step of the Transaction Traditional daily chemical distributors typically receive plans from manufacturers for all activities, promotions, and campaigns, and are only responsible for execution; few proactively plan marketing. But Guo Xiaolin not only proactively plans and organizes promotional activities but also has the ability to think independently and innovate. She doesn't just do business for a brand but designs activities around consumer needs. This is a core competitiveness many distributors lack. Jindihuang plans two promotional activities monthly, with additional ones for big days like National Day and Women's Day. A successful case: a white-label laundry detergent, a combo of four 5kg bottles for only 99 yuan, with a free electric fan. Although the activity design was very attractive, initial sales were not as smooth as expected. "Good wine needs no bush," but promoters reported that many customers went straight to fresh produce or snacks; unless in urgent need, they rarely walked to the daily chemical area, so even the best promotions couldn't move products. Based on this, Guo Xiaolin changed her approach, focusing on the entire store: Since customers can't see my products, let the products be everywhere in the store. Through mobilization of store managers/owners, Jindihuang not only set up floor displays in the daily chemical area but also simple floor displays in snack, grocery, checkout, and even fresh produce and freezer areas. The best business model is altruistic. In the store, not only promoters but anyone who sells products can earn money, maximizing the value of each activity. The results were significant: in one promotional activity, six truckloads of 9,600 items were delivered, and after a month, only about 200 items remained. After two consecutive months, even the fan manufacturer said they couldn't keep up with supply.
3. Partner Clients and System Platform In the information age, it's necessary to flexibly use tools to reduce costs and increase efficiency. Jindihuang has built an information-based ordering platform. All partner supermarket clients can access the system platform, where they can select products in detail and view brand information, making it easier for salespeople to serve clients efficiently and promote a virtuous cycle of product ordering. At the same time, building a smarter and more efficient ordering platform helps distinguish store types, refine services for different business types, filter unreasonable items, and establish reasonable prices.
Final Thoughts The market environment is changing rapidly, with channel diversification, rapid shifts in consumer preferences, and online sales grabbing market share, all pushing traditional distributors to transform and upgrade. Facing these challenges, many distributors realize the importance of change but still feel confused and uncertain about the future direction. Jindihuang provides a good model in the daily chemical exclusive field through its detailed organizational structure, POS-centric compensation and performance system, multi-product line strategy, and consumer-needs-based marketing plans. Guo Xiaolin's story may also bring some inspiration to these distributors' businesses. Practice your "internal skills" well, and when opportunity knocks, you can firmly grasp it. Looking ahead, Guo Xiaolin plans to further deepen cooperation with terminal clients by building showrooms to lay the foundation for whole-store output, letting more supermarket owners see her product structure, the products themselves, and shelf displays, driving the company toward higher goals and continuous growth!