---
title: "Case Analysis: The Logic Behind Driving Sales in the Beverage Peak Season"
description: "As industry competition intensifies, manufacturers and distributors face growth pressure. This article analyzes common pitfalls under high growth expectations and provides practical guidelines to avoid them, emphasizing the importance of consensus, communication, and disciplined execution."
author: "邢仁宝"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2023-06-07"
language: "en"
canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/case-analysis-the-logic-behind-driving-sales-in-the-beverage-peak-season-5e2ea145/"
markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/case-analysis-the-logic-behind-driving-sales-in-the-beverage-peak-season-5e2ea145.md"
original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/ja_ZvQpZRS7DdfwMaJkaUg"
translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E6%A1%88%E4%BE%8B%E5%88%86%E6%9E%90-%E9%A5%AE%E6%96%99%E6%97%BA%E5%AD%A3%E7%9A%84%E5%8A%A8%E9%94%80%E6%8A%93%E6%89%8B%E9%80%BB%E8%BE%91-5e2ea145.md"
attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/case-analysis-the-logic-behind-driving-sales-in-the-beverage-peak-season-5e2ea145/"
usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt"
---

# Case Analysis: The Logic Behind Driving Sales in the Beverage Peak Season

> As industry competition intensifies, manufacturers and distributors face growth pressure. This article analyzes common pitfalls under high growth expectations and provides practical guidelines to avoid them, emphasizing the importance of consensus, communication, and disciplined execution.

**Introduction:** Industry competition is intensifying, and both manufacturers and distributors are under pressure to grow. Is it about short-term gains or long-term vitality? Author 丨邢仁宝 Proofreader 丨勾勾 Layout 丨何雯 In 2023, beverage sales faced significant pressure, with many companies holding high growth expectations. However, market capacity and share expansion cannot be determined by intuition or forced. Manufacturers and distributors especially need to firmly uphold operational bottom lines when growth expectations are high and sales pressure is intense, building momentum steadily and waiting for results. This article outlines common pitfalls that manufacturers and distributors may encounter under high-performance growth backgrounds and provides several guidelines to avoid these pitfalls, hoping to offer insights.

**Only Sales Pressure, No Consensus, Poor Communication Channels**
**Case:** After the pandemic restrictions were lifted, Lao Zhang, a beverage distributor in a prefecture-level city, was told when signing the sales contract with the manufacturer that sales needed to increase by 5 percentage points this year. The manufacturer's salesperson said it was allocated by the company, and since the pandemic was over, sales were rising nationwide, so this was considered a small increase. Lao Zhang asked how the 5 points were calculated, but the salesperson couldn't explain. However, because the brand accounted for a relatively high proportion of his business structure, was still profitable, and many expenses relied on the salesperson for quick reimbursement, Lao Zhang signed after complaining, silently bearing the pressure.
**Problem Analysis:** Business is like a battlefield, and it's understandable for brands to pursue profits. However, if manufacturers simply and crudely pass down sales pressure layer by layer, ultimately burdening customers, it is neither professional nor ethical. If there is no consensus on goals between manufacturers and distributors, they cannot build marketing synergy in later operations. Although the contract is signed in black and white, it is fraught with hidden dangers.
**Solutions:**
1. **Goals should be consensual and actionable.** The signing of sales targets should involve a joint communication meeting where the manufacturer thoroughly briefs distributors on industry trends, competitive landscape, marketing strategies, and resource investment plans. Especially for regional market differences, trend judgments and project handles should be provided based on sales data. For example, whether to "expand outlets" or "open special channels," and how resources will be matched. Only then should growth targets be discussed, allowing customers to truly understand and align.
2. **Strategies should be communicated and implementable.** Manufacturers should give distributors a voice and value their opinions. Distributors should have their own ideas about the manufacturer's proposals, especially those handling first-tier brands. They should not be led by the nose but should raise concerns and suggestions based on market issues. For instance, if expanding outlets, when should it be done? What are the target channels? Will it be led by the manufacturer's sales team or the distributor's? Are there additional incentives? How to avoid just slogans, being excited at meetings, but not acting afterward? Distributors should participate in policy formulation, especially during high sales pressure, because of differing interests. They should remind manufacturers to consider customer profitability when pursuing share growth, and brand manufacturers must genuinely help customers see their market growth potential and profit space, ensuring performance targets are evidence-based.

**Chasing Sales Progress, Excessive Promotions, Frequent Low-Price Product Flow**
**Case:** To meet sales targets, the manufacturer and distributor launched a warehouse-stocking promotion for wholesale customers during the peak season, seizing customers' limited funds with nearly 5 yuan more profit per case than usual. After a week, the effect was good, and the distributor applied twice more for promotions, achieving sales more than double the same period last month. However, the following month, secondary customers in surrounding counties suddenly lost interest in purchasing. Field visits revealed a large influx of low-priced products from outside in the local terminal market, causing widespread complaints from local channel customers. These customers approached the distributor and manufacturer demanding an investigation, threatening to cease cooperation otherwise.
**Problem Analysis:** Channel price promotions often yield immediate results for teams to meet performance and stimulate customer stockpiling. However, as the backbone supporting market order, the channel can easily be damaged during accelerated circulation, causing price instability. The issues typically arise from excessive promotion intensity, too broad a customer base, and too frequent promotion events.
**Solutions:**
1. **Promotion intensity should be based on local market price levels.** If local prices are usually below the company's guidance price, promotion intensity must not be too high, generally controlled within 3% (for first-tier brands). Excessive intensity may lead secondary wholesalers to forgo additional profit subsidies, pursue thin margins and high volume, and engage in price-cutting and cross-regional selling. Therefore, when formulating promotion policies, especially with relatively high intensity, consider purchase limits, restrict the quantity eligible for promotions, and avoid multiple customers pooling orders to enjoy promotions. Alternatively, use vague package deals to avoid price discounting.
2. **Promotion scope should be restricted.** Brand manufacturers should have a clear understanding of their wholesale customers, identifying which are reliable (strong service awareness, compliant operations) and which are habitual cross-regional sellers, and keep records. When conducting channel promotions, target high-quality wholesale customers within the region, avoiding indiscriminate distribution. Many companies have tiered management and regular evaluation systems for wholesale customers to ensure channel management quality and policy implementation control.
3. **Promotion frequency should be moderate.** Continuous promotions are like drinking poison to quench thirst, especially price promotions, which can easily let wholesale customers detect patterns, lower price levels, and create a situation where sales only occur with promotions. It is recommended that promotions last 7-10 days, with a frequency of once every 2-3 months, set in advance based on the annual sales rhythm. For example, the largest promotion after the Spring Festival, the second in late June to close the half-year peak season, the third in late September before the double festivals, and the fourth in late December to close the year and welcome the new year. Coordinate with surrounding regions to avoid creating price depressions that lead to abnormal product flow and impact price stability.

**Overlapping Resource Investments, Lack of Coordination, No Detail Control**
**Case:** To seize high-quality offline channel resources, the manufacturer invested a special channel budget, demanding to secure high-selling outlets with shelf space no less than competitors, ideally exclusive. The sales team was eager, no longer worried about monthly sales, and immediately selected large stores with good relationships and high stocking capacity, offering maximum promotional intensity. However, many high-quality stores already had some market expenses, and with this additional expense, the average per-store investment price was far lower than the wholesale price for secondary wholesalers, even close to the distributor's purchase price. They expected rapid distribution through these resources, driving channel turnover and restocking. But after a period, secondary customers and distributors received terminal complaints, asking why they didn't know about this price and demanding compensation, significantly reducing their willingness to pay.
**Problem Analysis:** In this case, the brand's sales personnel contributed less than 30% to distribution in this market, with sales relying more on natural penetration through secondary customer networks. Once the sales personnel offered excessive promotional intensity to terminals, creating price inversion, the manufacturer's sales team competed with secondary customers for high-quality terminals. Secondary customers had to follow up with promotional intensity to sell, affecting their relationships with terminals and their own sales enthusiasm. For large stores where sales personnel concentrated resources to stock up, once exceeding their safe inventory for sell-through, there was a high risk of product flow issues.
**Solutions:** During growth periods, manufacturers invest heavily in resources. Channel resource management should not only avoid duplication but also ensure coordination across channels, especially under high pressure from competition and share breakthroughs in each channel, avoiding neglect of one for another.
1. **Channel promotion intensity should not deviate from the price system.** Especially for main channels, there should be limits on per-store investment, with clear standards for display and purchase rewards. Brand companies should work with distributors to supervise business site selection and track investments. Additionally, for distributors with strong self-selling capabilities, provide certain purchase incentives to enhance their service quality, help them sink resources, achieve rapid turnover and payment, and keep pace with the company's overall rhythm. However, specific management requirements should be set, such as advancing promotion resources and settling the following month based on distribution within a limited time. If cross-regional selling is found, corresponding promotion resources will be deducted.
2. **In fiercely competitive markets, be targeted, focus on the big and let go of the small.** Avoid indiscriminate resource allocation. For high-quality outlets, invest in purchasing core in-store display positions, settle periodically based on execution, and increase salesperson visit frequency and inventory monitoring.

**Overly Focused on Results, Coarse Execution, Deformed Business Actions**
**Case:** Under high growth pressure, distributor Lao Zhang's inventory nearly doubled compared to previous years, and the newly rented warehouse was almost full again. He approached the manufacturer's sales manager several times but was fobbed off with promises to apply for promotion policies, with no follow-up. Just as Lao Zhang was at his wit's end, several secondary wholesalers called, saying a company wanted summer welfare benefits and asked for a price. Since the order was large, they quickly agreed, and Lao Zhang sold nearly a hundred cases at a low price. Lao Zhang finally breathed a sigh of relief, but it didn't last long. He was summoned by the manufacturer's inspection department, accused of cross-regional selling, reported by sales personnel from other markets, and required to retrieve the goods within a deadline and pay fines. It turned out that the secondary wholesalers had supplied the goods to an e-commerce platform, which, to boost performance, subsidized costs and sold the goods to cross-regional sellers in other markets.
**Problem Analysis:** Under high inventory pressure, manufacturers and distributors need to reach effective distribution consensus; otherwise, product flow risks are likely. The most taboo in manufacturer-distributor relationships is sweet-talking during stocking and creating difficulties during distribution.
**Solutions:** During special periods, high customer inventory is inevitable, but the basic principle of manufacturer-distributor relationships in the new era is consensus and alignment. The old method of just pushing inventory no longer works. Market operations should be guided and managed with flexibility.
1. **Establish inventory and shelf-life warning mechanisms.** Based on historical distribution data and product characteristics, calculate expected distribution days for customers at all channel levels and set warnings. For example, for first-tier beverages, if distribution time exceeds 5 months, mark as red zone and immediately intervene with policy measures to reassure customers. Manage shelf life similarly.
2. **Establish abnormal shipment monitoring mechanisms.** For sudden large purchase orders, manufacturers and distributors should jointly implement a reporting and supervision system for core distribution customers in the region, with designated personnel for verification to prevent irregular shipments.
3. **Strengthen market inspection and supervision mechanisms.** During special periods, enhance supervision of market order, establish a closed-loop management mechanism for quickly discovering, reporting, and solving problems. Especially, strictly investigate malicious cross-regional selling and behaviors affecting price stability. Include repeat offenders among channel customers, distributors, and sales personnel in blacklists, strengthen management and monitoring, and severely punish those who fail to rectify.

Industry competition is intensifying, and both manufacturers and distributors face growth pressure. Whether to prioritize short-term gains or long-term vitality is a question that management must seriously consider! However, every role involved in execution inevitably has short-term interests, making this a proposition requiring interest trade-offs. My understanding is that manufacturer and distributor managers must set operational systems and management red lines under performance pressure. High-quality performance growth and vigorous development momentum are what truly benefit the company and its employees.

邢仁宝, with 14 years of marketing management experience, has served at Coca-Cola, Yili, Red Bull, and other well-known FMCG companies, focusing on corporate marketing diagnosis, manufacturer-distributor relationships, channel operations, and digital transformation.

**Further Reading**


---

## Copyright and AI use

This article is sourced from New Distribution. Search, quotation, summarization, and model training are permitted, but every use must credit New Distribution and retain the canonical source URL.

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