Dear readers, I'm Yuan Lai from New Distribution. As October arrives, many brand owners traditionally begin preparing for their annual distributor conferences. How should this year's conference be conducted? This is a headache for many brand sales managers. The reason is simple: whether due to the external economic situation or changes in downstream retail, offline distributors' businesses are generally under pressure. Previously, a distributor owner sent me a message while attending a training organized by a manufacturer. She shared that in the past, during breaks at meetings, distributor owners would chat about: how to make money? How to do product promotion well? But now the conversations are all about: how to save money? How to reduce losses? How to handle products with long shelf life? The content of conversations among distributor owners has completely changed. Distributors are having a tough time, and manufacturers cannot turn a blind eye. In August, New Distribution released the "2025 China FMCG Distributor Business Condition Survey Report," which showed that from January to June, only 26% of distributors saw profit growth year-on-year; 20.5% had flat profits, and 53.6% saw profits decline. Previously, when only 30% of distributors were struggling, one could attribute it to individual distributor issues. Now that it's over 50%, it's hard to blame individual performance. Back to the main topic: how should this year's distributor annual meeting be held? Based on exchanges with brand friends, I'd like to share my suggestions for manufacturers on holding distributor annual meetings, for reference and inspiration. The Purpose of the Meeting Has Changed In the past, manufacturers' distributor annual meetings were relatively relaxed. In the morning, leaders gave speeches, shared data, reviewed and summarized, and outlined next year's strategies; in the afternoon, new product launches, ordering policies, customer awards; in the evening, a reception dinner. In the past, when brands were growing and distributors were growing, gathering once a year to strengthen ties was all well and good. Even if distributors had complaints, they could be appeased through brief exchanges with senior leaders at such meetings. But now that doesn't work. Downstream retail is undergoing rapid transformation. Community discount supermarkets, instant retail flash warehouses, direct supply from hypermarkets, and other changes are leaving distributors at a loss. Discount supermarkets completely bypass distributors; regional supermarket adjustments aim to eliminate small, poor-performing, and inefficient distributors; instant retail platforms won't cooperate with mainstream distributors that only represent a few brands. In the past, when the market was easier, following the manufacturer was enough. Whatever the manufacturer said, distributors believed. But now retail changes are too significant, and each region's retail formats are diversified. Distributors' revenue is stagnant, profits are declining, and they don't know where to focus their efforts. Given these circumstances, distributors need more than simple policy rebates and marketing strategies; they need guidance on business direction and future trends as intermediaries. Distributors have always regarded manufacturers as the "big brother" and held them in high esteem. Now is the time for manufacturers to empower and advise them. Distributors, as independent business entities, are deeply mired in operational difficulties. Manufacturers, as leaders, must provide distributors with more industry and retail information, as well as development suggestions. How to Hold the 2025 Annual Meeting? At this point, many friends might ask: should we change the format of the distributor annual meeting into a training session or a strategy seminar? No. It's not feasible to turn an annual meeting into a training session. I think we should find a middle ground between the traditional "eating and drinking meeting," "award ceremony," and "training session." I call it an "awareness meeting" or "information meeting." Simply put, it's about helping distributors understand the underlying logic of downstream retail changes, establish new business awareness, and proactively seek change with rationality. Provide cutting-edge information to inspire them to change proactively, rather than managing them or forcing them to change. Since it's an awareness and information meeting, what industry content should be provided? It can be divided into two dimensions: external changes and internal management. External changes: understand the underlying logic of retail transformation. Internal management: improve efficiency in personnel, data, and network management. Let's break it down further. For external industry, core topics for reference:

  1. Direction and strategies under regional supermarket adjustments
  2. Logic and opportunities in the instant retail boom
  3. Category growth potential in independent community supermarkets For internal management, core topics for reference:
  4. Channel structure optimization for gross margin improvement
  5. Digitalized personnel organization efficiency improvement
  6. Business opportunity exploration in special scenarios Manufacturers cannot help distributors with internal business planning or solve their operational difficulties, but they can tell distributors: what changes are happening in the external world? How to view these changes rationally and objectively? Don't just output strategies from the manufacturer's perspective to guide distributors to change. Instead, let distributor partners truly understand industry changes and acknowledge external challenges. Adjust based on their own operational strength and capabilities. Of course, if time permits and conditions allow, targeted special seminars can be organized. The Essence of the Annual Meeting The essence of the annual meeting is to build confidence among partners. In the past, confidence mainly came from the upstream manufacturer. The manufacturer's market share position, leading growth, policy support, etc., because distributors represent the brand, and if the manufacturer grows, distributors grow. Now, confidence from the manufacturer alone is not enough. Distributors also need confidence in their future as independent business units. This confidence, which the manufacturer can provide, comes from external industry changes and internal management advice. Confidence is not about shouting slogans like "work together for win-win" or "create brilliance together"... but about resonance, understanding, consensus, and the objective facts of the industry and the underlying logic behind those facts. Finally, since it's an annual meeting, slogans are still necessary. I'd like to give distributors a phrase: Don't lie flat, don't complain, understand retail, and dig for growth! At the Shanghai conference in August this year, New Distribution released two major industry reports: "China FMCG Production-Supply-Marketing Transformation White Paper (Industry Insights 2025)" and "2025 China FMCG Distributor Business Condition Survey Report." These two reports well articulate the underlying logic of changes happening in the retail channel and distributor side. I suggest brand friends incorporate their content into their distributor annual meetings. Friends who need these two reports are welcome to scan the QR code below to contact the author to obtain them.