Recently, I made a special trip to Chongqing to visit Zhong Xiaoping, the founder of Jiecang Wanggou, and discussed his thoughts on regional B2b. After chatting with Mr. Zhong for over three hours, he shared a lot, but one point stood out clearly: from the establishment of Jiecang Wanggou to now, they have consistently avoided losses and remained profitable. This completely took me by surprise. Over the past few years, we have visited many B2b distributors, but none had told me that they were profitable from the start. Investing heavily to build scale first, then relying on scale to supplement profits—this is the growth path for most B2b operations. But Chongqing Jiecang Wanggou, in the fiercely competitive Chongqing market, has taken a different route. Now, let me share with you some of the in-depth exchanges I had with Mr. Zhong. Do One Thing Well Zhong Xiaoping's experience is similar to many traditional distributors. After graduating from university in 2003, he worked in the FMCG industry, initially in sales for manufacturers. In 2012, he started his own business in wholesale, trading snacks in the market. He truly began agency business around 2014. By 2017, he started to transform. At that time, there were many paths for distributor transformation in the industry, with popular directions being B2b, unified warehousing and distribution, retail, and opening supermarkets. Zhong Xiaoping tried almost all of them. But after going through the cycle, he became increasingly certain of one fact: Once resources are dispersed, you can't go deep in anything. This sounds simple, but it's quite poignant. Many distributors, when facing operational pressure, instinctively add directions—adding a business line, expanding a channel, etc. It seems like increasing opportunities, but the organization can't keep up, which dilutes capital efficiency and raises management complexity, ultimately leading to poor performance in every line. Zhong Xiaoping's choice was the opposite. Starting from 2019, he cut off other businesses and focused all resources on one thing: B2b supply chain. Mr. Zhong said, "This was the starting point for my determination to build Jiecang Wanggou—first, don't do big and comprehensive; just do one thing to the extreme." In 2019, they fully transformed to B2b, with annual sales of less than 50 million yuan at that time. In a market like Chongqing, which is extremely competitive and highly fragmented in store structure, this starting point was not high. Don't Compete on Price; Just Save Stores' Time When discussing how Jiecang Wanggou stood out, Zhong Xiaoping first corrected a common misconception. Many in the industry think that doing B2b is about who is cheaper, who subsidizes more, or who has more salespeople. So the tactics are simple and crude: low prices, subsidies, and a sea of people to rush scale first. Zhong Xiaoping believes this logic is wrong. "Price competitiveness should be a result, not a starting point. When your scale and efficiency take off, prices naturally fall to the mid-to-low range in the market. But if you rely on low prices to push hard from the start, you're likely to fall into a vicious cycle: the more you subsidize, the more you lose; the more you lose, the less you dare to invest; eventually, the organization deforms, fulfillment goes out of control, and scale can't be maintained." So where does Jiecang Wanggou start? Zhong Xiaoping said, "What stores truly lack is not goods or salespeople, but the owner's time." He shifted the competition of B2b from "goods" back to "store operational efficiency." A mom-and-pop store owner's day: thirty or forty salespeople come by in turns, each requiring time for communication, price negotiation, and ordering. Worse, orders are fragmented—one adds 200 yuan, another adds 200 yuan. The owner isn't unwilling to manage meticulously; they simply don't have time. What Jiecang Wanggou aims to do is consolidate fragmented replenishment into centralized replenishment, so store owners feel that by cooperating with you, most needs can be met through one entry point. This is the essence of one-stop supply chain. Mr. Zhong emphasized that the core of one-stop is not "many SKUs" or "low prices," but the store's experience. After all, stores don't care if you can sell a particular hot product; they care about reducing stockouts, avoiding shortages, and not making wasted trips. Jiecang Wanggou's "time-saving" is not just a slogan but an extremely practical value for stores. The time you save for stores translates into higher operational efficiency and stronger stickiness. All or Nothing: Orders Only Online After deciding to go all-in on B2b, Mr. Zhong made a painful short-term decision: to cut off all other transaction methods. Mr. Zhong said, "The hardest first hurdle in B2b is not the system or business, but habits." If you allow customers to "order online or offline," they will eventually revert to offline. Salespeople prefer convenience, store owners prefer familiarity, and orders become favor-based or manual, so the system never runs. So Jiecang Wanggou made a tough decision: the owners they originally served either had to switch entirely to online or stop cooperating. However, this push wasn't through "education" but through "benefits." Whether store owners are willing to self-order isn't about listening to your reasoning but about seeing if they benefit. Jiecang Wanggou's rules are clear: if the owner orders themselves, they get different prices and rights than if a salesperson orders on their behalf. Self-ordering allows access to flash sales, coupons, promotions, and points; ordering through a salesperson doesn't. The brilliance of this mechanism is that it's not you pushing stores to learn the system, but letting stores discover that "self-ordering is more cost-effective," so behavior naturally shifts. Once behavior stabilizes, the system truly runs, and transaction costs are locked in. After stores form the habit, the rest of the path is much smoother. Salespeople Are Not Order Takers but Growth Managers Promoting online ordering usually encounters resistance from salespeople who worry: if stores order themselves, what value do I have? Zhong Xiaoping's stance is clear: "Orders must be online, but salespeople should not be weakened; they should be strengthened. Because stores are not e-commerce users; they need service, operation, and guidance for growth." So at Jiecang Wanggou, the role of salespeople is not an ordering tool but a manager responsible for development, operation, service, and growth. To implement this positioning, Jiecang Wanggou has made heavy investments in Chongqing. Over 60 salespeople, each managing 150-160 stores. Logically, with online ordering, such a large sales force isn't necessary. But Mr. Zhong believes that only with fine management can stores be developed deeply, increasing order frequency and average order value. With more people, clearer organizational management is needed. Jiecang Wanggou divides Chongqing into 6 war zones, each with a zone leader. The zone leader is responsible for leading, managing, teaching, and solving complex frontline issues. At the same time, institutionalize customer management. If a store hasn't ordered for a month, the zone leader has the right to take the store away and reassign it, but before taking it, you must try to save it—that's your responsibility. Customers aren't owned by whoever grabs them but by whoever operates them well. Make "Fast Delivery" a Product to Give Stores Certainty In fulfillment, Zhong Xiaoping repeatedly emphasizes one word: certainty. Many B2b operations talk about "fast delivery," but Mr. Zhong's expression is clear: stores don't need occasional speed; they need consistent predictability. For a community store, replenishment is not a one-time transaction but a daily operational rhythm. If delivery times are unstable, stores can only hedge risk by stocking up more; but once inventory increases, cash occupation, expiration losses, and shelf chaos follow, ultimately worsening operational efficiency. So Jiecang Wanggou doesn't just speed up delivery; it treats fulfillment as a "standardized product" to deliver. Orders placed in the morning can be delivered in the afternoon for 50-60% of cases; orders before midnight are basically delivered by the next morning. Speed itself isn't a big advantage, but stable speed is a rare advantage. For stores, this is a sense of security. When owners know when goods will arrive, they dare to stock less and order more frequently, naturally improving turnover. Why are stores willing to consolidate orders with one platform? Often it's not because you're cheaper, but because you can reduce the risks stores fear most. The risk of stockouts, shortages, and uncertain delivery times. When stores find that entrusting supply to you is more stable, the value of B2b truly holds, and scale naturally rolls. Final Thoughts Back to the starting question: Jiecang Wanggou has been profitable from the beginning. After our conversation, my understanding is: Jiecang Wanggou never relied on "cheaper" to stand out, but on turning supply into a replicable, scalable, and sustainable system capability. The key to this system capability is not any single point, but whether the entire chain is closed-loop and ultimately provides stores with certainty. Cooperating with you saves stores time, worry, and improves efficiency and confidence. Once this experience is created, stores are willing to give you their orders. Scale, efficiency, and price competitiveness will naturally roll along this chain. Due to space limitations, many details cannot be expanded here. At the Tower Alliance Annual Conference on January 9-10, we will organize a special session to visit and learn from Jiecang Wanggou. Interested friends are welcome to join us on-site for discussion and exchange.