---
title: "Five Steps for Distributors to Build a Base Market"
description: "Survival first, development second. This article outlines a strategy for distributors to create local advantages in limited spaces to win larger market shares and defend against competitors. It details the concept of a base market and provides five strategies for building one, including targeted, focused, speed-leading, outlet-driven, and process management approaches."
author: "师顺宽"
publisher: "New Distribution"
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published: "2018-09-30"
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# Five Steps for Distributors to Build a Base Market

> Survival first, development second. This article outlines a strategy for distributors to create local advantages in limited spaces to win larger market shares and defend against competitors. It details the concept of a base market and provides five strategies for building one, including targeted, focused, speed-leading, outlet-driven, and process management approaches.

Click 'Read Original' for details.
**Survival first, development second.** This is a market strategy aimed at using limited space to create local advantages, win a larger market share, effectively resist competitors' attacks, and preserve and strengthen oneself. It is a powerful tool for distributors to win in competition. Before developing a regional market, distributors must first arrange their forces, plan comprehensively, and systematically plan the regional market.
However, in actual surveys, we found that most distributors, when developing markets, have not yet established a base market—that is, a clear and stable regional market—before expanding into the overall market. Their market expansion lacks clear thinking and strategy, as well as specific and feasible measures and methods, showing strong randomness and blindness. This manifests in product sales in two tendencies:
**First, the "dragonfly skimming" style of "guerrilla warfare"**—selling wherever possible, selling as much as possible;
**Second, the "pepper sprinkling" style of "comprehensive attack"**—casting a wide net, sowing seeds everywhere, striving for "broad but thin harvest."
These practices may achieve a certain level of sales to some extent, but their drawbacks are obvious: first, without clear regional market goals, it is like a ship at sea without a clear course, making it difficult to achieve the distributor's various business indicators; second, without a stable market base, lacking strong market support, it is difficult to form competitive advantages, ultimately leading to a "Li Zicheng-style" ending.
This is a short-sighted or overly ambitious irrational marketing behavior, extremely harmful to the overall development of the distributor.
**What is a distributor's base market?**
The so-called base market refers to the market where a distributor can gain and utilize competitive advantages. The base market is defined entirely from the perspective of competitive differentiation, and the essence of thinking is to determine profit optimization based on the degree of competition. Different from the ordinary "model market," the base market is a market where the distributor builds its own competitive advantages through professional market research and analysis. **This market is the core support for the distributor's growth and expansion, providing a continuous stream of resources for the distributor to compete in markets beyond the base.**
For distributors, base markets can be divided into two types:
**First, regional base market**: refers to a market where the distributor ranks first in market share, influence, and profit in a certain region;
**Second, channel base market**: refers to a market where the distributor has absolute influence and share in a certain channel. Regardless of the type, all base markets share a common feature: within a certain period, they are the channels where the distributor has the highest profit, largest market share, and greatest influence.
**The role of the base market for distributors**
**1. Base as a fulcrum:** It is the support for material supply in other markets and the oxygen supply for strong spiritual motivation;
**2. Base as a talent pool:** It is a training ground, a marketing training academy, and a talent export base;
**3. Base as a test field:** It is a place for practicing new methods and explorations, and the birthplace of successful operating models;
**4. Base as a banner:** It not only solves survival problems but also creates tremendous influence; attracts and integrates more advantageous resources; attracts more sales personnel to join.
**Five Strategies for Building a Base Market**
The following five strategies can be referenced for building a base market.
**01 Targeted Strategy**
No matter how difficult the market, there is always room for action. In simple terms, it is "find opportunity markets within market opportunities, find opportunity channels within channel opportunities, find opportunity consumers within consumer opportunities."
For most distributors, due to limited human, material, and financial resources, they must combine the company's actual situation when establishing a base market. If conditions are not sufficient for comprehensive expansion of the local market, it is recommended to segment the market, determine narrower target areas, channels, and consumers, and establish the base market in a targeted manner. This not only saves resources but also achieves twice the result with half the effort, and can create local competitive advantages, accumulating resources and confidence to build a comprehensive base market.
For example, a certain trading company, with limited personnel, funds, and other conditions, was unable to expand the market across the entire county. After detailed market research, it finally selected several townships to establish its base market (appropriate products distributed to appropriate terminals; appropriate policies given to appropriate terminals; appropriate promotional materials posted at appropriate terminals); different visit cycles and service standards were formulated for different stores. After one year of operation, the prototype of the township base market emerged, with sales in each township reaching over 600,000 yuan.
**02 Focus Strategy**
For distributors with limited resources, only by focusing limited human, material, and financial resources on local markets, channels, and products can they achieve the desired results.
**1. Market focus.** Market focus means that distributors, based on their actual situation, shrink the market scope as much as possible until they can form an absolute advantage. It is best to use townships as the market unit; if strength is insufficient to form an advantage in townships, villages can also be the target.
**2. Channel focus.** Channel focus means that if distributors cannot cover all channels such as hotels, group buying, and supermarkets, they can choose a suitable channel to operate until it becomes their base. Then, using the product's absolute advantage in this channel, they can radiate to other channels.
**3. Product focus.** Product focus means that distributors should "break through with a single product," using one product to create an image and become the "fist" product in the market. Then, leveraging the absolute advantage of the single product, they can radiate it to other channels to achieve channel resonance. "Single product breakthrough" does not mean selling only one product, but concentrating resources to promote one leading product. If too many products are launched at once, it may disperse limited resources and result in none being able to break through.
**4. Resource focus.** Resource focus means that distributors, based on their resource size, concentrate resources on a specific region, channel, and product, "exchanging resources for time" and "exchanging resources for market" to create market explosive power. The most taboo in base market construction is the "oil-adding tactic" and "sesame salt tactic," which fail to create market explosive power due to unfocused and insufficient policies. If 100 store signs are scattered across thousands of terminal outlets in a county, they will not have much influence; if 100 store signs are concentrated in two townships, they will create market explosive power in the short term.
**5. Personnel focus.** Personnel focus means that distributors concentrate limited sales personnel on a specific region, channel, or product, engaging in a war of numbers and annihilation. For example, during the new product distribution stage, if personnel are dispersed, each salesperson can only visit their terminal stores once every ten days; if personnel are concentrated into several groups and use a concentrated human-wave tactic to develop a small area, the results will be significantly improved.
**6. Consumer focus.** Consumer focus means that distributors concentrate financial and energy resources to find consumer leaders in each urban area and township, let them recognize, approve, and recommend their products. Through the consumption of consumer leaders, they establish the reputation of their products and create consumption trends.
For example, when a distributor's wedding wine was launched in the county, they gathered the heads of red and white council in each township market and village for a tasting session. The company also provided these heads with a certain amount of public relations wine. For every wedding or funeral event they arranged using this wine, the company gave them a commission. As a result, the wedding wine quickly became popular in the market, enhancing brand awareness and influence, and also driving sales of other company products.
**03 Speed Leadership Strategy**
After determining the market segment, based on the targeted and focused principles, it is essential to win with speed. Development strategies, promotional strategies, and sell-through strategies must be quickly formulated, because speed leadership allows you to take the lead before competitors have time to react; it creates an atmosphere among terminals and consumers that they must catch up with the new opportunity; it instantly awakens the memory of terminals and consumers; and it quickly occupies the minds of terminals and consumers.
**04 Outlet Sell-Through Strategy**
The outlet sell-through principle is to solve the problem of terminals "only stocking, not selling." It involves strengthening deep maintenance, enhancing customer relationships, and making promotional materials more vivid, working with terminals to figure out how to sell goods quickly and create a sales atmosphere. In base market construction, the biggest fear is only doing distribution and promotions without solving terminal sell-through. In that case, the day the product is placed on the shelf is the day it becomes unsellable. It is normal for products to not sell after distribution; solving sell-through is to make this normal phenomenon abnormal. The purpose of solving sell-through is to enhance terminal confidence, selling products they think are unsellable and unbranded, helping them build confidence. As long as three rounds of outlet restocking are achieved, the market will form a virtuous cycle.
For terminal outlets with slow sell-through, the most capable salespeople should be assigned to ensure these outlets always maintain maximum display space, best promotional layout, and highest quality customer service. This reduces competitors' display space—the less visible competitors' displays, the greater your opportunity—and also serves as advertising through maximum promotional and display efforts, stimulating impulse purchases. Additionally, free tastings can be conducted outside these stores or during peak sales hours inside, helping terminal stores sell goods, giving store owners confidence, and thus proactively helping you promote products until a virtuous cycle is achieved.
**05 Process Management Strategy**
Base market construction is a process. A good process inevitably produces good results. The finer and more comprehensive the control over the process, the more links are controlled, the greater the grasp on results, and the greater the chance of successful base market construction. So, what should be controlled during the construction of a base market? Distributors, terminal networks, prices, promotions, costs, market information, and so on.
All of the above needs to be controlled by sales personnel. Therefore, it is necessary to establish and improve various management systems, assessment systems, and reward and punishment systems, clarify job requirements, work content (specific to actions), and work processes, and strengthen the completeness of the four links: "plan, execute, check, and feedback." In particular, an objective and effective inspection system should be established to track implementation in real time and on site, ensuring execution is in place.
Source: "Sugar, Tobacco, and Wine Weekly"
**October 23-24, during the Autumn Sugar and Wine Fair, New Distribution will host the "2018 FMCG City Distribution and Logistics Conference."** We will invite industry experts, FMCG warehousing and distribution specialists, and distributors who have transformed into unified warehousing and distribution platforms to discuss and answer questions about the future development trends of FMCG city distribution and logistics, as well as practical cases of distributor transformation to unified warehousing and distribution, under the theme "New Distribution, New City Distribution." We hope to bring you different inspiration and thinking!
**Conference Time**
**October 23-24, 2018**
**Conference Venue**
**Hunan · Changsha Gaoqiao International Commodity Exhibition and Trade Center**
**Conference Content**
**October 23, Day 1, Sub-venue:**
"2018 Changsha Regional King Development Alliance Conference"
8:00-17:00 Focus on regional big merchants' resource sharing, leading the new S2B2C business era
**October 23, Day 1 Evening 18:30-21:00**
Private board closed-door exchange dinner (VIP)
**October 24, Day 2 Morning, Main Venue:**
**"2018 China FMCG City Distribution and Logistics Conference"**
9:00-9:20 Ren Xiaodong, Secretary-General of FMCG Association and Partner of New Distribution: Launch and address of China FMCG City Distribution Alliance project
9:30-9:50 Zhao Bo, Founder of New Distribution: Same-city logistics: the most effective transformation and upgrade path for distributors
9:55-10:15 Wang Qi, CEO of Weijie City Distribution: "Follow the Rhythm of Commercial Flow Changes, Focus on Platform Construction"
10:20-10:40 Chen Siting, CEO of Wanchaobang: "New City Distribution is a Key Link in Supply-Side Reform"
10:45-11:05 Xu Yonggang, CEO of Maidelin: "Differences Between Traditional Warehousing and Distribution and Digital Warehousing and Distribution"
11:10-11:30 Mu Wei, CTO of Zhoupu Software: "Technology-Driven Efficiency Improvement in Unified Warehousing and Distribution"
11:35-12:05 Roundtable Forum: City Distribution, What Exactly Should We Earn From? (Yishang Logistics, Gongwu Logistics, Kaidongyuan, Yun Cang Pei, Chengpu Logistics)
**October 24, Day 2 Afternoon, Main Venue:**
14:00-14:20 Sheng Yan, Yijia Logistics
14:25-14:45 Wang Jianjiang, CEO of Hailian Tianxia
14:50-15:10 He Yan, Fengwang
15:15-15:35 Zhong Shuo, CEO of Wangcang
15:40-16:00 Rong Jun, CEO of Jiangsu Huashang City Distribution
16:05-16:25 Lu Lixin, Gongwu Logistics
16:30-16:50 Roundtable Forum: If Distributor Peers Don't Enter the Warehouse, How to Break Through?
Distributor transformation to warehousing and distribution representatives: Yunbang Logistics, Jingmen Pengdun Meiyitian, San Sheng Lian Gou, Jiangsu Huashang City Distribution, Jingwei Logistics
**List of Participating Companies**
In no particular order
Hunan Zonglan Diandan Network Technology Co., Ltd.
Jingbang (Wuhan) International Freight Forwarding Co., Ltd.
Mengniu Dairy
Qinghai Hanxiang E-commerce Co., Ltd.
Unilever Service (Hefei) Co., Ltd. Shanghai Branch
Huicong
Hunan Xuan'ang Food Co., Ltd.
Guangzhou Tongdaoren Information Technology Co., Ltd.
Qingdao 888 Trading Co., Ltd.
Uni-President Enterprises (China) Investment Co., Ltd.
Hunan Province Zhongxiang Gongpei Logistics Co., Ltd.
Shenglong Ingredients
COSCO Shipping Logistics Warehousing and Distribution Co., Ltd.
Guangxi Yongpai Wine Industry Co., Ltd.
Shangqiu Kangrong Trading Co., Ltd.
Jinan Dingzhong Trade Co., Ltd.
Liaoning Bimai Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd.
Kunming Xiongjia Trading Co., Ltd.
Shaanxi Houheng Trading Co., Ltd.
Guangzhou Dingwo Enterprise Information Consulting Co., Ltd.
Shaodong Jiajiale Commercial Firm
Boda Trading
Industrial Bank Changsha Branch
Wuhan Muchen Convenience Store Chain Co., Ltd.
Fujian Fuxing Yuncang Logistics Co., Ltd.
Guizhou Yilimi E-commerce Co., Ltd.
Jiangxi Xiao Laoer E-commerce Co., Ltd.
Jinshan Koufu
Shanxi Taihang Yuanjing Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd.
Shanxi Dezhun Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd.
Shaoyang Tongdeli Trading (Xiangbang Logistics)
Huanfu
Tongda Express City Distribution
Beijing Xinjingxiang Food Co., Ltd.
Wuhan Huizhong Tianhong Wine Industry Co., Ltd.
Changsha Paide Biotechnology Co., Ltd.
Chao'an Tuqiang
Guizhou Yihe Bopin Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd.
Jiangxi Kang'en Industrial Development Co., Ltd.
Xiangtan County Yisuhe Town Yuhua Paper Store
Luoyang Yuanlang Trading Co., Ltd.
Tongchuan Yaozhou District Huayuan Supermarket Co., Ltd.
Hunan Yongfu Jiujiu Trading Co., Ltd.
Zhejiang Chengchengtong Logistics Co., Ltd.
Chongqing Kaiguo Materials Trading Co., Ltd.
Beijing Xianmaixianmai Data Technology Co., Ltd.
Hanchuan Qixing Trading Co., Ltd.
Tongxin Jiuzhi Trading Co., Ltd.
Guizhou Meiguo Guoguo Network Technology Co., Ltd.
......
**Distributor Transformation Representatives (Proposed)**
In no particular order
Rong Jun, Chairman of Jiangsu Huashang City Distribution Network Co., Ltd.
Wang Bo, Chairman of Hubei Yijiaren Logistics Co., Ltd.
Jiang Shuming, General Manager of Sichuan Chengdu Xingrenxing Trading Co., Ltd.
Liu Jichen, Chairman of Shandong Yunbang Warehousing and Logistics Co., Ltd.
Tu Mingyu, Chairman of Chongqing Lingyu Consumer Goods Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd.
Yang Su, Chairman of Guangzhou Zhongshan Wanrong Marketing Co., Ltd.
Yuan Xia, Chairman of Sichuan Bajie Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd.
Li Qiangyun, Co-founder of Hubei Pengdun Meiyitian Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd.
Zhang Jianyong, Chairman of Henan Xuchang Jiulegou E-commerce Co., Ltd.
Ma Haichao, Founder of Hebei Changyi Logistics Co., Ltd.
Meng Yucun, General Manager of Hebei (Chengde) Wulian Yuncang Co., Ltd.
Zhang Xun, Chairman of Xinjiang Urumqi Su'an Jinchi Logistics Co., Ltd.
Zhang Hailing, Chairman of Jilin Sansheng Lianguo
Qiang Huitao, Founder of Hebei Dunjie Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd.
Liao Lei, General Manager of Hunan Damei Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd.
......
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