"Local consumers have a special attachment to competing products and only buy them," a business manager said at a manufacturer's meeting. The leader's face darkened, and he retorted on the spot: "If that's the case, we might as well not do this market at all; no amount of effort would make sense." The reality is that consumer loyalty to brands is far lower than we imagine. The reason they only buy competitors' products and not yours is that your competitive strategy is flawed. From a strategic perspective, companies should avoid homogeneous competition, create new categories, and pursue differentiation. This is especially important for small and medium-sized enterprises. The logic is sound, but in a perfectly competitive FMCG market, differentiation is only temporary, while homogenization is inevitable. Once a differentiated product hits the market and receives positive feedback, other manufacturers will inevitably follow suit quickly, launching similar products to compete. Faced with this situation, consulting experts suggest: before competitors launch similar products, launch a saturation attack to quickly establish cognitive advantages in consumers' minds, giving your product a first-mover advantage. Even if your product has a first-mover advantage, it doesn't mean you can rest easy. You still face competition from similar products and consumer choices. What should manufacturers or distributors do in the face of homogeneous competition? Among similar products, whoever is closer to consumers, whoever continuously creates value for them, and whoever connects with them more tightly and efficiently will win their preference. Being Seen Better by Consumers Terminal visibility remains the foundation for consumer preference. Despite changes in the external environment, basic actions like product placement, display quantity, SKU specifications, and scenario matching are not less important—they are more important. 1. Good positions need to be "grabbed," and it's about who has more tenacity. A certain beer brand has grown rapidly in recent years, but regionally, it hasn't developed in many markets. A key reason is that it was blocked by competitors at the terminal. "After that beer brand entered restaurants, I organized salespeople to swap products at the terminal, replacing their products with ours. For stores that didn't allow the swap, we moved their products to corners or stacked them under ours, making them as invisible as possible. We did this for three months, and now you basically can't see the competitor's products in those stores," a distributor shared his experience of blocking Yanjing U8. From market competition results, if you actively block for three months, the manufacturer runs out of extra resources, the distributor loses morale, and the competitor can't develop in that market. If you can't hold out for three months and let it take root, it becomes very difficult to stop its growth afterward. 2. Terminal SKUs are no longer about "full product range," but about focusing on products to create visual impact. Focusing doesn't mean abandoning other products; it means focusing on suitable products in suitable terminals. Especially for distributors of large manufacturers, who want to pile all products into one terminal. A leading beverage distributor shared: "Previously, a store displayed seven or eight products, and there were near-expiry products every month. This year, we reduced SKUs to three, and now there are basically no near-expiry products at the terminal. Moreover, the sales of these three products exceed the total sales of the previous seven or eight." Nowadays, consumers have only one chance to interact with a brand. Whoever maximizes the capture of consumer attention will gain more sales opportunities. Having Effective "Sales Hooks" at the Terminal When consumers first use a product and it meets expectations, they are likely to choose it again next time, gradually forming habitual purchases. This is what people call "consumer attachment." It's a thinking mode for the brain to save energy; the brain's instinct is to repeat what it has done before. To break consumers' habitual purchases and switch them to your product, the core is to create extra value for target consumers and make them aware of it. "Creating extra value + conveying that value" is our "sales hook." For example, when doing activities at the terminal, it's better to have dynamic promotion; the effect will be better. Static promotion alone (activity promotional materials) is easily ignored or not carefully read. Even if consumers see it, if you don't mention it, they may be too shy to ask. Therefore, at the terminal, store staff and in-store promoters are very effective promotional media. They are closest to consumers. If they just remind target consumers about the activity, it often leads to immediate sales conversion. Last month, I visited a beer distributor who works in the nightlife scene. I got straight to the point: "This year, nightlife business is down, but your sales have grown. You must have developed new outlets." The distributor smiled: "The number of outlets hasn't increased; it's just that the share per store has improved, taking volume from competitors." "I took some profit out of my own pocket to continuously run consumer activities. The stores are also cooperative, requiring waitstaff to recommend our products to consumers. Consumers drink whichever brand, so we need to get them to drink ours first and get them used to it." In contrast, another nightlife distributor saw sales decline this year and complained: "More and more consumers are drinking domestic foreign-style spirits, so beer sales naturally decrease." When I asked further: "Why are more consumers drinking foreign-style spirits?" "Foreign-style spirits have package deals, and waitstaff get commissions, so they proactively recommend those packages. Over time, many consumers have developed a habit of drinking foreign-style spirits." It's clear that competition is no longer limited to similar products; you are also competing with substitute categories. For similar products, if competitors can sell but yours can't at the terminal, it's largely because your product lacks an "effective sales hook" at the terminal. Even if it attracts only 1% of consumers to buy, in the long run, due to consumption habits, they may even recommend it to friends and family, bringing additional sales. The cumulative consumer base will be immeasurable. More than 10 years ago, Yili milk had less than 10% share in Shanghai. When salespeople visited terminals, the most common response was, "Your products won't sell; we Shanghainese have drunk Guangming since childhood." But Yili, with "regular consumer activities, various vivid product promotions, and terminal shopping guide recommendations," maintained close connections with consumers for 10 years. Now in the Shanghai market, Yili's room-temperature milk share is on par with Guangming. Marketing is never a one-time effort. Building "sales hooks" requires continuous action and close communication with consumers; otherwise, consumers will gradually forget you. Continuously Iterate to Keep Sales Promotion Actions Efficient For homogeneous products sold in the same venues, when everyone is doing activities, the competition is about whose activities are more efficient, making every sales promotion hit the demand and drive growth. 1. Align with consumers' value perception A distributor of beverage A manufacturer said helplessly: "In the local market, our product coverage and display are better than the main competitor's, but consumers insist on finding the competitor's product. We hope the company can provide better methods to increase consumers' click-through rate for our product." Both products are backed by large manufacturers, with similar product strength and brand power locally. For consumers, why buy the competitor's product when the two are homogeneous? The main reason is sales promotion efficiency. The competitor launched "1 yuan exchange," and to counter, A manufacturer launched "scan code to win cash." From market performance, "1 yuan exchange" is more efficient. "1 yuan exchange" implies a consumer psychology: anchoring effect, giving consumers a comparable value perception. In other words, value is often perceived through comparison. "1 yuan" is an extremely low cost for consumers. Comparing 1 yuan to the value of a product, consumers feel it's a better deal. Scanning codes to win red packets has been overused by major manufacturers. The biggest feeling it gives consumers is: the advertised big red packets have nothing to do with me; I'll only win a few cents or 1 yuan. Under this "perception," it's not very attractive to consumers. According to industry insiders, the scan rate for code-scanning prizes is generally around 10%, while the redemption rate for "1 yuan exchange" is generally over 80%. Ironically, A manufacturer even calculated a detailed account for distributors: "Our scan-code red packet has such-and-such winning rate, and the per-unit discount is even slightly higher than the competitor's 1 yuan exchange." Consumers don't buy what's truly cost-effective; they buy what they feel is more cost-effective. In a convenience store system, Product A was listed at 12 yuan/can (while other stores normally sell at 10 yuan/can), and then a "second item half price" activity was launched (compared to the normal price, the actual discount is only 10% off), but sales grew rapidly. In contrast, a separate 10% discount on the normal price would have a much weaker effect. 2. Follow consumption trends Consumer needs and habits are changing, and marketing technology is developing. Sales promotion actions that were effective in the past may not be as effective now. In recent years, to cater to new consumption trends, nightlife terminals have launched beer packages on Douyin and Meituan. Many nightlife distributors still use traditional sales models: visiting stores, stocking up... "Business is getting worse; products don't sell in stores," distributors complain. In the past, without Douyin and Meituan, products could sell once they entered the store. Now, if distributors don't proactively create packages, even if products enter the store, they don't sell. Because young people book packages online before coming to the store. Additionally, the application of digital marketing tools can greatly improve activity efficiency. A distributor for a large manufacturer sighed: "Previously, to run an activity, salespeople had to communicate store by store, relying on a human-wave tactic. Now, the manufacturer empowers through digital marketing: set up the activity content in the backend, scan the QR code, and you can participate. The activity introduction is printed directly on the product packaging, and you don't even need to distribute promotional materials. The activity effect is greatly improved." The external environment is changing, the market is developing, and sales promotion actions must keep pace with the times to remain invincible in homogeneous competition. Final Thoughts The essence of homogeneous competition is not just product price competition, but a contest of depth of connection with consumers. There are no forever loyal consumers; only business logic that continuously fits and activates demand. Now, competition is increasingly fierce. Manufacturers and distributors need stronger tenacity, build bridges of communication with consumers through continuous marketing actions, and rapidly iterate to maintain the efficiency of marketing actions, truly embedding into consumers' daily scenarios and memories, turning products from "passively ignored" to "actively chosen," to achieve long-term stable growth. Homogeneous competition is an "endurance race." What truly determines victory is never slogans, but how manufacturers and distributors effectively collaborate and build the market together in the new environment. There is no standard answer to this question, only frontline tactics. At the 2026.3.16-18 Chengdu "CFC 6th China FMCG Distribution and Retail Conference," we will bring you:

  1. Find answers: On-site release of the "Next-Generation Intermediary White Paper - China FMCG Distribution Insights 2026," providing a roadmap for "redefining intermediaries": who improves matching efficiency, who becomes the growth infrastructure.
  2. Three-party collaboration: Brand x Distributor x Retailer collaborative reconstruction around the "three rights structure" of price rights, supply rights, and user rights, pushing manufacturer-distributor relations from "upstream-downstream game" to "demand loop community," forming executable collaborative tactics.
  3. Benchmark guidance: Deconstruct benchmark cases of "intermediaries" to see what the future intermediary looks like. Review organizational structure, product strategy, expense tactics, and growth paths, ready to use.
  4. Regional chain supermarket resource matching: 100+ regional chain supermarkets, 1600+ stores, covering 14 provinces and autonomous regions, precise matching. Rather than wandering in the fog with an old map, join 3000 pioneers in the spring of 2026 to open the practical chapter of next-generation intermediaries. We'll see you in Chengdu in March!