In the past two years, most distributors have experienced two common states: confusion and anxiety. This situation is prevalent from upstream manufacturers to many distributors, driven by the overall environment. But to survive, one cannot sit idly by. As a crucial link in commerce, what role should distributors play in the new environment where new marketing and new retail are emerging? How should they plan their future development? The core value of the distributor community lies in "localization," which is why many brand owners cannot bypass intermediaries. In the future, the "localization" advantage of distributors will be reflected in their ability to connect with local consumers and operate local traffic pools, making them irreplaceable. -01- Changes in Manufacturers, Retailers, and Consumers: Distributors Must See the Essence Why do negative emotions like anxiety and confusion arise today? Because upstream manufacturers and end consumers are changing to varying degrees. The orientation of upstream brand owners is shifting, and the cost of traditional distributor roles is rising, leading many companies to prefer returning to finding large distributors or high-level distributors in the channel. This is a trend among upstream manufacturers. The impact of manufacturer changes on distributors includes the following:
1. Increased industry concentration will also affect the commercial sector, making the survival of the fittest among distributors more brutal; 2. High-quality upstream brand resources are becoming increasingly scarce, making brand and product selection more difficult; 3. The level and intensity of competition in the front-line market have increased unprecedentedly, requiring higher comprehensive capabilities from merchants; 4. The success rate of new product launches and new market development is decreasing. Terminal retailers directly face customers and service targets. The retail format has also undergone a new round of changes, which is why distributors lack a sense of security: First, chain operations, specialization, and branding are growing stronger, challenging traditional distribution and distribution thinking. Relying on communities, their bargaining power imposes different requirements on distributors' service capabilities and market operation capabilities, which has become a directional trend; Second, "new retail" has become a hot topic, with online forces expanding offline, B2B and B2C e-commerce active, and new concepts attracting attention at the terminal; Third, traditional terminal businesses are diverging, competition for quality store resources is fierce, and market penetration is increasingly difficult. Additionally, the shift in bargaining power—whoever is closer to consumers has more say—means that distributors' experience and capabilities need to be refreshed. At the end of the chain, consumers are also changing. First, the consumption structure is changing: age distribution and the main consumer base are shifting. Originally, China's consumption structure was "large at both ends, small in the middle," but now it is gradually becoming olive-shaped. Second, consumption upgrading is accelerating consumption divergence, widening the gap in the process. Both vertical and horizontal upgrades are occurring, with quality and taste becoming prominent features. -02- Strengthening Connection Capabilities: The Breakthrough Point for Distributor Transformation Once, a popular view in the industry was: Distributors may disappear, but intermediaries will always exist. So, where is the future for distributors? If we talk about distribution, these two words can be replaced. In the entire marketing chain, its position will always exist, but its functions must keep pace with the times. From managing channels to warehousing and distribution, and then to consumer connection in the future, this is a direction that places higher demands on distributors. Business is about the future. How can one find their place in this industry? From managing channels to managing customers is the general trend. So, how should distributors manage customers? Establish a "C-end" awareness, with the concept that "the closer to consumers, the greater the bargaining power." In the future, as intermediaries, they must establish "buyer thinking," with a business approach from bottom to top, from the end to the front end: first study regional consumers, then organize business and upstream supply. This is the basic logic of the "C-end" in the buyer's era. From selling to buying, from inheritors of demand to providers of value, integrating supply and demand, and strengthening distributors' ability to connect with consumers. To strengthen connection capabilities, here are four possible directions for reference: First, build communities The fundamental is to move traffic onto platforms to lay a foundation for efficient conversion later. There are currently two methods: One is to build your own community, conducting deep interactive connections with "seed customers," strengthening online and offline interaction, converting and nurturing "loyal fans," and then achieving fission; The second is layer penetration and community expansion, by integrating with related communities to achieve value alignment, even cooperating with catering terminals to build groups. The core logic is to find the most influential and valuable customers in the market, connect them through community methods, interact after connection, and then operate to achieve community-based management. Second, do community operations In the future, marketing is where people are. People are in circles; behind stores, the radiation is to communities and people. The new approach for community promotion is "store + community," guiding and assisting offline terminals to carry out community group buying, relying on communities, and finding agents to conduct community group buying. Although such stores have limited space and capacity, their biggest advantage is being close to consumers, composed of regular customers, and their greatest value is the traffic behind them. Then, through communities, expand traffic to achieve the goal of managing the C-end. Community group buying can be entered through supplier involvement. Community e-commerce based on communities, terminals, agents, and communities is direct, effective, and has high conversion rates! Third, create experiences Many companies have explored and tried this. The distillery economy is also rising. Through immersion and full sensory experiences, consumers go from not knowing a brand to deeply understanding, recognizing, and purchasing it. Establish deep cognition through immersive and full-sensory experiences. Build a front-end experience platform for the brand, transforming specialty stores into a comprehensive "sales + experience + service" model, and making terminals scenario-based and experience-oriented. Through full-process, full-domain immersive experiences, consumers can understand products, feel the culture, and achieve deep connections. Fourth, create content This is a challenge for most distributors. The future is the era of content. How should distributors create content? First, have content operation awareness, learn from upstream manufacturers and leading brands in the industry; Second, manage your private domain traffic. For example, a personal WeChat Moments has a limit of 5,000 friends. Also, register your own official account, build your business brand into a market mini-IP, and continuously create new content to accumulate core customers and form private domain traffic. In the future, as intermediaries, they must establish "buyer thinking," with a business approach from bottom to top, from the end to the front end: first study regional consumers, then organize business and upstream supply. This is the basic logic of the C-end in the buyer's era. Source: Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei New Business Leaders Forum, speech by Yuan Jiming, Deputy General Manager of Zhida Tianxia Marketing Consulting Agency Tips will be paid 400-2000 yuan upon publication.