In the past two years, the economic downturn and the impact of many B2B platforms have led many dealers to lament that business is difficult, prompting many to consider transformation. Focusing on existing stock, most dealers believe that unified warehousing and distribution city logistics is a relatively good model. Of course, many dealers with keen business acumen have already started using their own base traffic to get involved, as FMCG is a major part of city logistics. Through multi-dealer unified warehousing and distribution, they can reduce their own logistics costs while gaining more business benefits. Unfortunately, the concept is good, but many dealers' unified warehousing and distribution city logistics encounter many problems during business expansion, and business often stalls halfway. The reasons can be summarized into the following issues:

  1. Difficulty in warehousing: *** Human nature:** Many dealers in the same industry cannot bear to see competitors do better, and worry about competitors stealing their routes, etc. During cooperation, issues such as equity size and contribution levels become entangled. Of course, some dealers also worry about transaction volume exposure and being investigated by the industry and commerce bureau. *** Management:** Many dealers lack the ability to transform from vehicle sales to visit-based ordering. Many sales personnel are just delivery workers, without vehicles and unable to sell goods. Such trading companies find it difficult to join even if they want to, as they cannot manage their own business. *** Operations:** Many dealers lack professional warehousing and logistics operations talent, leading to inefficiency and persistently high service prices.
  2. Difficulty in delivery: *** Complex transaction scenarios:** Third-party logistics cannot handle multiple delivery scenarios such as supermarkets, restaurants, townships, special channels, etc. Additionally, new products require shelf restocking, promotion, returns and exchanges, customer complaints, etc. *** Unplanned orders:** Some temporary and urgent orders have special timing, requiring night delivery, etc. *** Products:** Low-temperature products, short-shelf-life products, and products requiring complex services such as returning boxes, caps, bottles, and stock transfers often require dedicated personnel and vehicles for personalized service. To be honest, these problems do exist objectively, and many cannot be solved by reducing rent and service prices. However, this does not mean that unified warehousing and distribution city logistics cannot succeed. The author firmly believes that dealer alliances for unified warehousing and distribution to become professional third-party city distribution logistics will definitely be a significant business opportunity in the next three years. Since problems are identified, solutions can be found. Recently, the author visited a large number of city distribution logistics companies, such as Fengwang, Weijie City Distribution, Yishang, Maideline, Wangcang, Xiaokuai Technology, Hailian Tianxia, etc. When discussing these issues with them, they provided many pertinent suggestions: Mr. Liang of Fengwang Logistics believes: City distribution companies must be third-party independent, with independent legal personality and independent operation teams. If dealers participate with equity, it is best to hold shares on their behalf, and absolutely never touch goods! Do not participate in transactions. When you touch goods and participate in transactions, your company's nature changes from a logistics company to a company competing with your clients. Once your stance changes, it is basically impossible to do fair and objective things. For example, if a JDB dealer does city distribution logistics, would a Wong Lo Kat dealer put goods in? Even if they do, when delivering to the same store, can JDB delivery personnel serve Wong Lo Kat fairly and objectively? Such cases of same-industry competition are numerous in the FMCG industry. Therefore, when the stance cannot be fair, it is basically impossible for others to enter the warehouse. Mr. Ling of Wangcang told the author: If dealers do city warehousing and distribution without specialized operations talent, they can entrust third-party operations institutions. There are many such software + operations companies in China. In terms of warehousing, it is best to have a business development team to specifically handle warehousing matters and attract same-industry companies to enter the warehouse. Mr. Liu of Yishang Logistics proposed: There are many ways to enter the warehouse. The most direct is through low warehouse rent and delivery fees, even offering one month of free storage subsidies for goods entering the warehouse. However, since many dealers' warehouse contracts are typically signed for two to three years, educating customers to enter the warehouse requires a long cycle. In operations, there is a fundamental difference between B2B and B2C. B2C has difficulties in warehousing and sorting, while B2B has difficulties in delivery. B2C users have infinitely long-tail demands, with a large number of non-standard products, small batches, and many SKUs, posing high challenges for warehousing and sorting. This problem does not exist in B2B, but B2B delivery formats are relatively complex, with multiple formats and scenarios. For example, beer and ham sausages, during service, involve returning bottles, caps, multiple formats, full coverage of catering, circulation, special channels, KA, etc. This makes it almost impossible to cover multiple industries in a short time in city distribution logistics. Therefore, when doing unified warehousing and distribution city logistics, it is recommended to prioritize standard products, high-traffic essential products, or focus on a single category first. After doing well in a single format, and since dealers have the inherent advantage of being familiar with their own industry and business scenarios, it is not too late to expand after doing well in their familiar industry. Third, sometimes, even if the above issues are addressed, warehousing is still difficult. In such cases, consider starting from customer scenarios, first controlling downstream stores, and then doing upstream products based on market demand. In a city, chain enterprises are the best business targets. City distributors can contact the largest local chain enterprises to solve their warehousing and distribution problems. At this time, goods owners will naturally put goods into the warehouse. Once operations start, improve service to build customer awareness. Weijie City Distribution is a successful case of specifically targeting chain enterprises' planned orders to achieve upstream goods warehousing. Fourth, many dealers lack the ability to transform from vehicle sales to visit-based ordering, which is a relatively big problem. In operations, it is recommended that logistics companies organize regular training through local chambers of commerce and provide corresponding sales management software to dealers to enhance their management and marketing capabilities, helping them quickly get through the adaptation period. Mr. Zhao, CEO of Xiaokuai Technology, told the author: Not only operations, but system software is also very important. Most WMS software is weak in TMS. They have warehousing and sorting capabilities, but lack professional systems and plans for order allocation and route planning, which inevitably leads to low efficiency in order allocation and delivery. Therefore, when dealers choose management systems, they should prioritize strong technical capabilities in OMS/WMS/TMS. If a single system cannot solve it, it is best to find compatible software to achieve informatization improvement in warehouse management. Views on the future of city distribution: Many people have not noticed why city distribution logistics has risen in the past two years. From a macro perspective, many companies originally built their own logistics. First, infrastructure was insufficient (there were no professional city distribution logistics companies in cities), and second, the cost of self-building was relatively low. But in the past two years, it is not only dealers who find business difficult; the pressure on all industries at every point is particularly high. Competition is fierce in every industry. Enterprise labor costs, warehousing, and logistics costs are all increasing, making self-built warehousing and logistics increasingly uneconomical. The more developed the economy, the higher commercial real estate prices, and the more obvious this cost increase trend. The essence of unified warehousing and distribution is cost savings and resource sharing. The founders of these technology companies the author communicated with all share a common view: In the next three to five years, after trunk logistics and B2C home delivery logistics, China's city distribution logistics market will see a surge. Moreover, city distribution logistics is not just a porter, but the foundation of commerce and a super traffic entrance offline. Whoever masters this entrance will become the overlord of local service industries. Unified warehousing and distribution by dealers will undoubtedly be the best carrier for localization. With their own business traffic as a base, they can ensure stable operations before the operational traffic grows. As the market matures, business expansion will become increasingly smooth. The 7th B-end e-commerce inspection organized by the author focuses on dealer transformation to city distribution logistics, visiting three companies: Suzhou Maideline, Shanghai Haiding, and Hangzhou Wangcang. Interested friends can join us on June 20 for the inspection. Activity process:

Suzhou · Shanghai · Hangzhou 19th: Check in at designated hotel in Suzhou; 20th: Visit Suzhou Maideline; 21st: Visit Shanghai Haiding; 22nd: Visit Hangzhou Wangcang; 23rd: Return or free arrangement for sightseeing; Welcome dealers with transformation intentions to join us to understand and inspect on site : Organization Form ************1. Company visit

  1. Actual market case visit
  2. On-site explanation
  3. One-on-one communication************ Participating dealers only need to pay a registration fee of 200 yuan Other expenses are self-paid Long press this QR code or click Read Original to register Long press the QR code to add WeChat for registration Group photos of previous inspections: Group photo of the 6th B-end e-commerce inspection, from top to bottom: Zhongke Shangruan, Shuhai Supply Chain, Yunmei Media, Yishang Logistics. Group photo of the 5th B-end e-commerce inspection, from top to bottom: Huiwangxing, Beiquan, Tongying Tianxia, Quanshihui, Zhongke Shangruan. Group photo of the 4th B-end e-commerce inspection, from top to bottom: Alibaba Retail Link, Qianmi Network. Group photo of the 3rd B-end e-commerce inspection, from top to bottom: Yunbao Shangmeng, Weijie City Distribution, Wanshang Yizhan. Group photo of the 2nd B-end e-commerce inspection, from top to bottom: Jinhuobao, Caiba, Yishang. Group photo of the 1st B-end e-commerce inspection, from top to bottom: Piduoduo, Beiquan, Yishang. Click Read Original to register -END-