What is a brand-oriented distributor? A distributor that has deep regional cooperation with one or two brands, treating them as core brands. The core brand accounts for over 80% of the distributor's business, while other brands serve as structural supplements and are not the focus of daily operations. They have their own sales staff and independent distribution capabilities. Common categories include beverages, alcohol, milk, snacks, grain, oil, and personal care products. For example, most distributors of brands like Mengniu, Jinlongyu, Nice, and Nongfu Spring design their internal organizational management and external business management logic around these brands. Previously, such distributors had a relatively easy time, leveraging the strength of top-tier brands and cooperating with manufacturers to thrive. But now, times are tough. In the era of shrinking volume, brand owners face more squeeze-style competitive challenges, requiring distributors to have not only distribution capabilities (B-end) but also promotion capabilities (C-end). Under the full-depth distribution model, many distributors have gradually improved their distribution capabilities, but promotion has always relied on manufacturers, and this capability building has stagnated. When brand owners compress their original resource investment and reduce their original effort, many brand-oriented distributors find the root of their pain. Today, let's discuss this topic. Consumer operation matching in different product stages Why doesn't your product sell? This question has always troubled many marketing professionals. From the consumer's perspective, the development pattern of FMCG products is as follows:

Where there are people, there are potential users; where there are potential users, there is capacity, which is the foundation for sales;

Secondly, through basic actions like trial tasting and promotional activities, some users are moved; they are willing to try and start buying. These users become swing consumers because trying once does not mean loyalty. This is the extension of sales (starting to sell);

Then the product can meet user needs, and with continuous brand communication and interaction, some users go from building awareness to making transactions; finally, solidifying the relationship to become loyal consumers, which is deep sales. So, product sales from 0 to 1, from 1 to 100, is the process of consumers changing from potential to swing to loyal. Understanding this, we study consumer operations from different product stages, as shown in the table below: Summary: One of the core capabilities of brand-oriented distributors is to match consumer operation actions according to the product stage. In the introduction stage, precise point selection is needed to increase the distribution rate of value outlets and continuously carry out consumer ice-breaking actions (trial tasting). In the growth stage, focus on the single-store output of value outlets, using points to influence surrounding users, with the aim of enhancing consumer stickiness through quality service and deep experience. In the maturity stage, the core task is to enhance user loyalty through emotional connections, leaving no gap for competitors. C-end operations: Customer acquisition I. Product-side customer acquisition

  1. Trial tasting: The most effective and common way to acquire new FMCG consumers. It requires area planning and periodic coverage. Case study: A betel nut distributor in Xi'an conducted trial tastings, attaching brand cards to each individual piece to enhance brand perception and strengthen the product and brand.
  2. Downward competition: High quality + low price combination, extreme cost-performance, catering to consumer psychology. Case study: Baixiang Instant Noodles launched a 120g noodle block, perfectly matching consumers' current pursuit of extreme cost-performance. Distributors should support this with competitive displays.
  3. Word-of-mouth: Good product + good user word-of-mouth = hit product, seeking ways for consumers to spread the word (unified, simple, easy to remember). Case study: "Nongfu Spring is a bit sweet," "Afraid of getting angry, drink JDB," "Refreshing, eat goji berry betel nut." With these slogans, how to influence consumers?
  4. One product, one code: Use product invitation codes, new user incentives, and incentive-based acquisition. Case study: Many brands establish points systems for consumers who scan codes but don't win prizes. Distributors should support and vigorously promote this. II. Market-side customer acquisition
  5. Brand image store construction: Build flagship stores, diamond stores, gold stores, etc., based on communication area (combining brand elements with consumption scenarios). Non-brand image stores should have display execution and visual merchandising (shelves, floor mats, floor stickers, push-pull door cards, etc.).
  6. Local special events: Combine important holidays, events, etc., for brand communication activities, or regular offline sales like manufacturer weeks. Case study: A distributor actively participates in regional channel activities, such as billiards tournaments and internet cafe competitions.
  7. Brand alliance: Is there a possibility of brand alliance among the products you operate? Even a joint promotion. Can your social connections spread the word? Case study: A distributor leveraged his wife's social connections to cooperate with a public institution's union for left-behind children condolences and coordinated group purchases. III. Operations-side customer acquisition
  8. KOL, KOC fission: Through planned creative activities, trigger opinion leaders or consumers to voluntarily (or non-voluntarily, which incurs costs) generate and share content to achieve activity goals. Case study: A distributor established core customer WeChat groups for B-end and C-end, sharing funny images combining regional news with product attributes, which were widely shared by regional consumers, with good results.
  9. bC integrated operation: 2C organization + B-end scenario layout + immersive experience. 2C organization refers to a team dedicated to consumer education and interaction. B-end scenario layout refers to the three marketing transformations: terminal media, sales communication, and PR implementation. Immersive experience means not just product tasting, but ensuring tasters retain as much brand information as possible. Distributors should gradually build this capability; operating both users and customers is the key to market dominance. C-end operations: Repurchase Repurchase, also called repeat purchase rate, refers to the number of times consumers repeatedly buy a brand's product or service. The higher the repeat purchase rate, the higher the consumer's loyalty to the brand, and vice versa. For distributors, the essence of repurchase is to strengthen customer relationships. They should do these five things well:
  10. Regular research and feedback: To do C-end operations well, the first task is to deeply understand consumer needs. This requires the distributor boss or general manager to personally oversee it, arranging regular collection of consumer satisfaction and improvement suggestions through questionnaires, phone follow-ups, or community interactions, and timely adjusting product strategies and service content. Repurchase without C-end connection will not last.
  11. Create experience scenarios: In stores, showrooms, event sites, etc., create immersive experience scenarios so consumers can personally experience the product's functions, features, and advantages, enhancing their awareness and favorability. Also hold experience activities, regularly organize product experience events, tasting sessions, trial meetings, etc., inviting consumers to participate, letting them feel the product's charm and further increasing their purchase intention.
  12. Provide value-added services: Establish a system that serves C-end through B-end, such as free home delivery, quick returns and exchanges, product usage guidance, etc., to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty. For high-frequency consumption products, provide customized services like personalized packaging. Also regularly launch limited-time promotions like discounts, buy-one-get-one-free, and threshold discounts, and design combo packages like family packs, holiday gift boxes, and recommended pairings to meet diverse customer needs and increase repurchase rates.
  13. Care on holidays and special occasions: On value consumers' birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, and other special moments, send blessing messages, coupons, or small gifts to express care and blessings, strengthening the emotional bond between users and the brand.
  14. Seek new opportunities in channels and scenarios: Matching channels with scenarios is an important means to increase repurchase. For example, in community convenience stores, create family life scenarios combined with products; in office building convenience stores, create work scenarios matching overtime and staying up late. The core idea is to combine channels and scenarios to trigger consumers' own needs, thereby guiding purchase habits. C-end operations: Average order value Average order value is the total amount a customer pays in a single purchase. There are two ways to increase it: one is to make consumers buy more, and the other is to make them buy more expensive items. How to make consumers buy more? Distributors commonly use the following methods:
  15. Price reduction promotions: Stimulate customers to buy more by lowering prices. Due to price elasticity, for products with high price elasticity, this method can effectively increase purchase volume.
  16. Bundled sales: This is a variation of price reduction, commonly seen as buying a high-priced product and getting a low-priced one free.
  17. Buy and give activities: A promotion method similar to bundling, often used for new product giveaways or clearance of soon-to-expire or slow-moving items, which can also stimulate sales of similar products. How to make consumers buy more expensive items? To sell products at higher prices, note that every consumer has a psychological account, i.e., an expected price for each product. So to increase average order value, you must find ways to raise their psychological account. For example, chocolate is just candy, but as a love gift, it can be sold at a high price; diamond is just a stone, but as a wedding token, it can be sold at a sky-high price. So designing added value is one way to sell products at high prices. Of course, for distributors, product upgrade promotion, quality upgrade promotion, and packaging upgrade promotion are still the best tools to increase average order value. Two key points for C-end operations First, B-end and C-end operations are equally important. Many say deep distribution has failed and distributors should invest heavily in operating users. Those with this idea are mostly theorists. B-end is the farmland, C-end is the seed. C-end operations without B-end operations are a castle in the air. C-end operations supplement the bC integrated operation of distributors; it's not an either/or choice, but a parallel effort. Of course, C-end operations should not be simply equated with fan appreciation activities. In specific activity design, fully consider impacts and contingency plans; otherwise, it may backfire. For distributors, doing things that lose money but gain applause should be minimized. Second, don't rush for quick results. The goal of C-end operations is to cultivate loyal consumers. They are quite different from B-end customers, and effective communication is difficult. It requires starting with guidance and driving, and consumer needs are constantly changing, so their consumption behavior is highly uncertain. Distributors must be patient and persistently carry out brand C-end operations, because this will be your core competitiveness.