--- title: "FMCG Distributors, Have You Considered a Cross-Industry Venture?" description: "Amid the buzz of B2B platforms and major moves by Alibaba and JD.com, FMCG distributors may feel their market share eroding. This article suggests a cross-industry opportunity: pet supplies distribution. It presents four key data points on the pet market's growth, distributor landscape, pet ownership rates, and spending potential, then explains why distributors are well-suited for this venture and what preparations are needed." author: "袁德健" publisher: "New Distribution" email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com" telephone: "+8615854817671" published: "2017-07-06" language: "en" canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/fmcg-distributors-have-you-considered-a-cross-industry-venture-6b186167/" markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/fmcg-distributors-have-you-considered-a-cross-industry-venture-6b186167.md" original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Y9S1KkhicsNUV8jD2CAejg" translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E5%BF%AB%E6%B6%88%E5%93%81%E7%BB%8F%E9%94%80%E5%95%86-%E6%9C%89%E6%B2%A1%E6%9C%89%E6%83%B3%E8%BF%87%E6%9D%A5%E4%B8%80%E5%9C%BA%E8%B7%A8%E7%95%8C%E7%BB%8F%E8%90%A5-6b186167.md" attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/fmcg-distributors-have-you-considered-a-cross-industry-venture-6b186167/" usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt" --- # FMCG Distributors, Have You Considered a Cross-Industry Venture? > Amid the buzz of B2B platforms and major moves by Alibaba and JD.com, FMCG distributors may feel their market share eroding. This article suggests a cross-industry opportunity: pet supplies distribution. It presents four key data points on the pet market's growth, distributor landscape, pet ownership rates, and spending potential, then explains why distributors are well-suited for this venture and what preparations are needed. Have you been hearing too much about B2B lately, seeing one platform after another secure funding or turn profitable, and witnessing Alibaba and JD.com making big moves? Amidst this storm, you might still feel at a loss, struggling to make progress as your own turf is gradually carved up. Have you considered a cross-industry venture? Among the people around you, there must be dog or cat owners. Have you ever thought about distributing pet supplies? Yes, that's right—cross-industry pet supplies distribution. Before diving into that, let me provide you with four sets of data to give you an overall understanding: 1. From 2010 to 2014, China's pet industry grew at an average annual rate of 50.7%. From 2012 to 2020, it is predicted that the market size of China's pet industry will maintain a high-speed development with an average growth rate of 32%. By 2020, it is expected to exceed 200 billion RMB. 2. The wholesaler/distributor group shows clear polarization: 50% are small distributors/wholesalers in the 1-5 million RMB range, mainly entrepreneurial teams of 2-5 people, with limited capital and shallow business experience. 3. The pet ownership rate in American households is 62%, while in Japan it is 45%. In China's first-tier cities, the pet ownership rate is still less than 15%, indicating significant room for growth in pet numbers. 4. The average monthly cost of keeping a pet is close to 500 RMB. Of course, with consumption upgrades and increased pet ownership awareness, the future consumption potential is even greater. Currently, the pet economy accounts for only 0.4% of China's GDP, while the average in developed countries is generally 3%-4%. The above provides objective data support for the pet market. Now, let's discuss why pet cross-industry is something you can do and what preparations you need to make. Why can you do pet cross-industry? **1) Business awareness:** A pet store network in a second-tier city has about 500 stores. Visiting and developing these 500 stores is surely a "forte" for distributors. From the eight-step visit process to store-opening scripts, these are familiar from years of interaction and training with manufacturers. In terms of business awareness, FMCG distributors are on a different level compared to pet distributors. **2) Resource allocation:** Vehicles, personnel, and warehousing need no elaboration. You've already managed business coverage and delivery frequency for thousands of stores. For 500 stores, it might just be a routine task. Additionally, the capital pressure for inventory is not as heavy as traditional FMCG, which often requires millions in upfront investment. **3) Brand agency:** Looking at the upstream supply chain, apart from a few foreign Fortune 500 pet food companies that have established channel distribution, many localized pet product brands are still in the stage of recruiting, replacing, and supporting distributors. Most retail channels are not yet touched. From the downstream retail and consumption perspective, competitive profit margins and quality assurance are attractive to retail stores. For consumers, category awareness is just being established, and brand awareness is still vague. **4) Gross margin space:** Since the branding of the pet supplies economy is in its infancy, many pet product categories have high gross margins, such as pet care products, pet snacks, and pet-related pharmaceuticals and health products. According to information from pet distributors, the gross margin for pet pharmaceuticals and health products is around 40%. Even for high-frequency pet food, the gross margin is over 20%, not to mention additional rebate incentives from brand owners. What preparations do you need for pet cross-industry? **1) Product knowledge:** Although pet supplies can be classified as FMCG, the target consumers are different, so you need to spend time researching and understanding the products and varieties. With professional product knowledge, your sales team can communicate smoothly with pet store owners and facilitate in-store transactions. **2) Product selection and screening:** This is an extension of the above professional product knowledge. You need to understand the products, but you also need to know how to select. Consider product quality assurance, brand packaging design, company scale and strength, etc. You need the judgment to determine which products and brands can win over terminals and consumers. Of course, there are other preparations to make, such as who is more suitable to do this, how to acquire professional knowledge, and what the purchasing needs of pet stores are. If you want to try, you still need to invest time and effort! Of course, pet cross-industry is not limited to pet distribution. You might also think about upstream production, downstream pet store chains, and related peripheral derivatives. Think slowly... -END- --- ## Copyright and AI use This article is sourced from New Distribution. Search, quotation, summarization, and model training are permitted, but every use must credit New Distribution and retain the canonical source URL. Contact: zhaobo258@gmail.com · +86 158 5481 7671