---
title: "Final Sprint in the Peak Season for Beverages: How to Win the Last Battle?"
description: "As temperatures cool from north to south starting in September, the beverage market enters the final phase of summer peak sales, leaving only one off-season before the annual close. Facing underwhelming performance reports, beverage brands and manufacturers are anxious about how to turn things around in September-October. This article offers strategic insights on deployment and execution, drawing on consumer behavior insights and past case studies."
author: "邢仁宝"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2024-09-21"
language: "en"
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original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/1WoaY7NOGnJYHf3SD6HcNA"
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---

# Final Sprint in the Peak Season for Beverages: How to Win the Last Battle?

> As temperatures cool from north to south starting in September, the beverage market enters the final phase of summer peak sales, leaving only one off-season before the annual close. Facing underwhelming performance reports, beverage brands and manufacturers are anxious about how to turn things around in September-October. This article offers strategic insights on deployment and execution, drawing on consumer behavior insights and past case studies.

Starting in September, temperatures across the country gradually cool from north to south, marking the final stage of the summer peak sales season for the beverage market. At the same time, there is only one more off-season left before brands and manufacturers close out their annual performance. Facing less-than-satisfactory performance reports, how to fight the last battle to turn things around in September-October has become the biggest anxiety for beverage brands and manufacturers.

Combining this year's sales situation and reviewing past experience and cases, the author shares some thoughts on how to deploy and execute this campaign, hoping to inspire manufacturer and distributor friends.

**Consumer Behavior Insights:**
**Frozen Drinks Continue to Capture Campuses; Holiday Opportunities Drive Incremental Growth**

**1. Heat Lingers and Recurs.**
After the dog days of summer, the "autumn tiger" in the north will still bring periodic high temperatures in September, while the south continues to maintain high temperatures. Opportunities for frozen beverage consumption remain abundant.

**2. Back-to-School Consumption.**
In September, primary schools, universities, and vocational colleges start their semesters one after another. Campuses become lively again, and sales at outlets inside and outside schools rise rapidly. Students are heavy consumers of beverages and cannot be ignored.

**3. National Day Travel and Entertainment.**
The Golden Week is long, and to avoid crowded travel, many people choose to leave early or return late, meaning the seven-day holiday actually extends to about ten days. First, major high-speed rail stations, long-distance bus stations, and highway service areas become key passenger hubs, then crowds flow into major tourist attractions nationwide. Those who couldn't reunite with family during the Mid-Autumn Festival due to the short holiday will also quickly pour into second- and third-tier cities, counties, and towns, bringing another wave of gift-giving and reunion consumption peaks.

In addition, hotels, popular scenic spots, specialty restaurants, supermarkets, clubs, cinemas, amusement parks, fitness centers, internet cafes, billiard halls, bathhouses, and hot springs become the most concentrated places for consumers during the holiday.

Based on these behavioral characteristics, **beverage manufacturers need to precisely target consumer groups, optimize product portfolios, strengthen online-offline integration, and enhance consumer experience to meet increasingly personalized needs, thereby better seizing the consumption opportunities of the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day market.**

**Key Strategic Deployment:**
**Match Consumption Scenarios and Integrate Resources Comprehensively**

**1. Pre-position Inventory in Distribution Channels, Emphasize Linkage and Strong Incentives.**
Distribution channels are the first link in product circulation and are crucial to achieving sales targets.

In terms of pace, brand manufacturers need to complete mobilization of core distribution customers by mid-August (before other products like alcohol), clarify promotion timing, intensity, and methods for each level of customers, and complete customer payment and pickup by the end of August to ensure products reach terminals in early September.

Promotion policies must be jointly formulated by manufacturers and distributors, with both parties investing resources and sharing responsibility for implementation. Policies should be tailored to current regional market task differences, setting tiered targets that are achievable with effort, and matching different per-case reward levels. It is recommended that these rewards be slightly higher than usual but not exceed the intensity of the "opening red" (New Year kickoff) promotion.

For customers with high potential but insufficient willingness, simultaneous fuzzy incentives such as gifts (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, travel) can be implemented, with attractiveness higher than mainstream competitors.

Additionally, for customers with storefronts, clear requirements for stacked displays and gift box displays should be made, especially for those in wholesale markets. Hanging banners and posting posters can create a strong sales atmosphere.

**2. Focus Channels on Scenarios, Emphasize Downstream Penetration and Atmosphere Creation.**
Channel strategies should be deployed with priorities and levels based on consumer behavior trajectories.

In regions where temperatures haven't cooled, high-sales outlets still need to maintain strong frozen displays. At the same time, complete the first round of distribution to core channels for the double festival in the first week of September, using stacked boxes, gift boxes, freezers, price tags, posters, and barriers, and utilize all remaining promotional materials.

In county and township downstream markets with strong folk customs, concentrate resources in early September to complete a round of market impact and replenishment, especially for whole-box gift box displays, seizing the main aisles of large BC supermarkets in townships to create a hot sales atmosphere.

For visual merchandising materials, if conditions allow, replace them with double festival-themed designs as much as possible. Unified theme visuals can make consumers feel the brand's strong penetration and enhance brand loyalty.

**3. Product and Materials First, Promote Whole-Box Bundles.**
To effectively achieve double festival sales targets, it is necessary to increase opportunities for whole-box sales. Stacked boxes, gift boxes, gift bags, and portable handles are relatively effective methods.

Especially in key gift box consumption markets such as Shandong, Anhui, Henan, and Hebei, gift box design, production, and delivery must be completed by mid-August to ensure visibility in major wholesale markets and distribution channels by the end of August.

Additionally, during the double festival, to cater to differentiated consumption scenarios, combining product packaging positioning and setting different product bundles can effectively increase sales opportunities. For example, "Family Gathering" bundles for different age groups at home, and "Happy Journey" hydration bundles for teenagers.

**4. Do Not Cross Price Red Lines; Set Reasonable Gift Box Prices.**
Intense competition inevitably leads to price wars. Manufacturers and distributors must agree on red-line prices for each channel and strictly enforce them.

At the same time, manufacturers should strengthen cargo flow monitoring during this period, especially adopting a zero-tolerance attitude toward malicious cargo flow violations, resolutely protecting regional market price systems, and safeguarding the interests of customers at all levels. Measures can include delaying partial rebate payments and increasing case coding identification for second- and third-tier channel customers.

In designing gift box prices, avoid self-indulgent aesthetics. Conduct preliminary research; different markets have different gift-giving consumption habits, with some at 60 yuan and others at 100 yuan. Additionally, some regions may have color taboos, all of which should be considered to truly match market demands.

**5. Innovate Promotions, Strengthen Selling Points and Advertising Awareness.**
Promotions should match different consumption scenarios as much as possible, be differentiated and flexible, and reflect the benefits of buying more and fun.

In terms of form, avoid direct price discounts; try to use gift bundling, multi-product bundles, etc. If price discounts are necessary in certain scenarios, ensure limited quantities and sales records.

In high-traffic closed channels such as campuses, factory areas, and markets, it is recommended to hire promoters to accelerate product sell-through through personal promotion.

For products with QR code promotions, case code promotions, or joint promotional activities, be sure to publicize them widely so that consumers see them the moment they look at the product, generating stronger purchase desire.

**6. Team Incentives Support, Set Benchmarks and Share Experience.**
Facing performance pressure, team incentives must keep pace.

Use performance dashboards for daily/weekly/monthly rankings, publicly commend leading teams and individuals, and provide additional rewards beyond performance bonuses. Beverage manufacturers can set various individual execution competitions.

For example, gift box sales awards, freezer execution awards, single-point distribution awards, double festival activity awards, etc., and let outstanding employees share successful cases to boost team morale.

**Key Marketing Ideas for Key Scenarios**

**1. Campus Channel.**
  * Focus on freezer and checkout counter cut-case displays, strive for maximum shelf space, clearly communicate prices and promotions, and invest heavily in display and purchase incentives;
  * Visit frequency should be at least once a week;
  * During military training or sports meets when crowds gather, consider conducting on-campus brand promotion activities to increase interaction with students and boost distribution.

**2. Gas Station Channel.**
Conduct "hundred-case stack" displays at gas stations, offer special promotions for whole-box purchases, pair with promotional posters that match product selling points and scenarios, and set commission rewards for gas station staff.

For service areas on popular tourist routes, create image stores and form a linked sales atmosphere with scenic spots.

**3. Scenic Area Channel.**
Coordinate with scenic area distributors in advance, discuss distribution targets and promotional intensity, and strive for maximum stocking volume.

Pay attention to freezer displays and outdoor cut-case displays at retail stores in scenic areas. For high-traffic stores, invest in brand umbrellas in exchange for maximum purchase volume.

**4. Entertainment and Leisure Channel.**
Focus on internet cafes, billiard halls, and chess and card rooms, which have higher sales growth. Sales personnel can invest resources to organize competitions with owners, enhancing customer relationships while maximizing all display positions in the store.

**5. Group Purchase Channel.**
During the double festival, there are also group purchase opportunities such as corporate benefits, National Day wedding banquets, and car club activities.

Actively seek leads through offline tobacco and liquor stores, wedding hotels, local famous liquor distributors or distribution customers, and 4S stores. Provide purchase incentives and intermediary fees to increase transaction opportunities.

For the final battle of the peak season in September-October, beverage manufacturers and teams want to break through and win. **They need to make pre-deployments at every link, refine execution and inspection standards, fully form regional market linkage and synergy, maximize brand sales momentum, and truly suppress competitors.**

Management teams should also **periodically organize core customers to visit the front line, boost morale, inspect and check, understand competitor dynamics, and promptly correct tactical approaches.**

In the era of stock competition, the real competition lies in more thoughtful planning, broader thinking, stronger execution, more efficient resources, and more timely reviews. Only then can one show courage in the face of challenges, find opportunities in difficulties, and open new chapters in changing circumstances.

Xing Renbao, with 14 years of marketing management experience, has served at Coca-Cola, Yili, Red Bull, and other well-known FMCG companies, focusing on corporate marketing diagnosis, manufacturer-distributor relationships, channel operations, and digital transformation.

**Recommended Reading**


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