---
title: "From \"3+3\" Deep Distribution to New Retail: Tsingtao Beer's Channel Innovation Battle!"
description: "In 2013, Tsingtao Beer's market share in Xuzhou was 33% and declining. To reverse the trend and reclaim its base market share, Shi Yonggang, then deputy general manager of Tsingtao Beer Suntory (Shanghai) Sales, was appointed concurrently as general manager of Jiangsu Tsingtao Beer Company, focusing on Xuzhou, Suqian, Yangzhou, Lianyungang, and other areas. Shi told New Distribution, \"In the county-level rural market, facing competitors with intensive distribution, Tsingtao Beer was at a complete disadvantage. We took a series of measures: first, set up distributors at the township level to ship directly from Tsingtao Beer headquarters; second, under the existing personnel system, implement a 3+3 visit system from county to township to ensure direct control of key terminals; third, comprehensively transform distributors from passive to active, leveraging their strength.\""
author: "袁来"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2018-12-26"
language: "en"
canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/from-3-3-deep-distribution-to-new-retail-tsingtao-beer-s-channel-innovat-183f2155/"
markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/from-3-3-deep-distribution-to-new-retail-tsingtao-beer-s-channel-innovat-183f2155.md"
original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/CARHr3xfIq9QT8WPwyXvmg"
translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E4%BB%8E-3-3-%E6%B7%B1%E5%BA%A6%E5%88%86%E9%94%80%E5%88%B0%E6%96%B0%E9%9B%B6%E5%94%AE-%E9%9D%92%E5%B2%9B%E5%95%A4%E9%85%92%E7%9A%84%E6%B8%A0%E9%81%93%E5%88%9B%E6%96%B0%E4%B9%8B%E6%88%98-183f2155.md"
attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/from-3-3-deep-distribution-to-new-retail-tsingtao-beer-s-channel-innovat-183f2155/"
usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt"
---

# From "3+3" Deep Distribution to New Retail: Tsingtao Beer's Channel Innovation Battle!

> In 2013, Tsingtao Beer's market share in Xuzhou was 33% and declining. To reverse the trend and reclaim its base market share, Shi Yonggang, then deputy general manager of Tsingtao Beer Suntory (Shanghai) Sales, was appointed concurrently as general manager of Jiangsu Tsingtao Beer Company, focusing on Xuzhou, Suqian, Yangzhou, Lianyungang, and other areas. Shi told New Distribution, "In the county-level rural market, facing competitors with intensive distribution, Tsingtao Beer was at a complete disadvantage. We took a series of measures: first, set up distributors at the township level to ship directly from Tsingtao Beer headquarters; second, under the existing personnel system, implement a 3+3 visit system from county to township to ensure direct control of key terminals; third, comprehensively transform distributors from passive to active, leveraging their strength."

In 2013, Tsingtao Beer's market share in Xuzhou was 33% and declining. To reverse the trend and reclaim its base market share, Shi Yonggang, then deputy general manager of Tsingtao Beer Suntory (Shanghai) Sales, was appointed concurrently as general manager of Jiangsu Tsingtao Beer Company, focusing on Xuzhou, Suqian, Yangzhou, Lianyungang, and other areas.
Shi told New Distribution, "In the county-level rural market, facing competitors with intensive distribution, Tsingtao Beer was at a complete disadvantage. We took a series of measures: first, set up distributors at the township level to ship directly from Tsingtao Beer headquarters; second, under the existing personnel system, implement a 3+3 visit system from county to township to ensure direct control of key terminals; third, comprehensively transform distributors from passive to active, leveraging their strength."
Even doing all this was not enough. To defeat competitors' high-density market coverage, it was necessary to seize "time nodes." The so-called time nodes meant grasping four cycles a year: before Spring Festival, end of March, wheat harvest season (June), and rice harvest season (September). According to Shi, to counter competitors, Tsingtao's frontline sales team would focus on sales at these four nodes, using ordering meetings to "take the small shops' money in advance" and stock the goods in the backyards of stores.
According to past research by New Distribution, under the guidance of headquarters strategy and resource allocation, after three years of hard work in the Xuzhou market, Tsingtao Beer managed to push its market share from 33% to 53%, and raised the mainstream product price from 2-yuan Shanshui Beer to 5-yuan per can Laoshan large can. Simultaneously, it established Yangzhou and Suqian factory circle markets as Tsingtao Beer base markets with over 50% share. It integrated the Lianyungang market, achieving a 70% share.
Subsequently, in 2017, Shi Yonggang was transferred to Tsingtao Beer Innovation Business Division, responsible for e-commerce new retail business. In Shi's view, in recent years, with the rapid development and application of internet technology, coupled with consumption upgrading, consumer demand has shown diversified and quality-oriented characteristics. Additionally, new retail forms represented by B2B, community group buying, unmanned retail, and social e-commerce are "rising up." **Channel fragmentation is already an indisputable fact. If we continue to use the deep distribution approach that wins by "tonnage," it clearly cannot meet current needs.**
Against this backdrop, for Tsingtao Beer, a leader in the beer sector, new retail is a trend that must be boldly tried and actively embraced.
01 **"Decade Friendship" Tmall 11.11 Customized Edition**
During the 11.11 period, Tsingtao Beer launched the "Decade Friendship" Tmall 11.11 tenth anniversary customized product. On the event day, Tsingtao Beer saw a 60% year-on-year increase, surpassing the previous day's total sales in just 10 hours, setting a new historical high. "Decade Friendship" became a viral product hotly discussed online and offline. According to Shi, after online validation, the next step is for "Decade Friendship" to enter offline channels and become a regular item in traditional offline sales.
Reviewing the growth path of the "Decade Friendship" product offers important reference for traditional FMCG companies in developing new products.
**1) Product features + hot events = social product**
Tsingtao Beer combined the "11.11" hot event, explored beer consumption characteristics and scenarios, and the tenth anniversary carnival scene, identified common features, and extracted keywords. It further interpreted these common features to express emotions and personalities consistent with beer consumption, facilitating the formation of a social product.
> Decade Friendship - Good things are not afraid of being late: "A drink for old friends who are night owls, no matter how late, it's not too late";
>
> Decade Friendship - Good things are not afraid of being late: "The longest appointment is the next drink with you";
>
> Decade Friendship - Good things are not afraid of being late: "Most want to say long time no see, most afraid of good wine not seen."
**2) Online communication + offline experience = cognition/relationship/transaction**
"Even good wine fears deep alleys." Even with a good, social product, without the boost of communication, it is hard to ignite. To this end, Tsingtao Beer designed a multi-dimensional communication matrix. Online communication mainly used iQiyi "splash screen" ads + KOL Weibo/WeChat co-created content to drive traffic; offline experience mainly used tasting in 10-city KA stores + pop-up stores.
According to Shi, Tsingtao Beer conducted tasting experiences and giveaways (buy Tsingtao product, get "Decade Friendship") in 100 large-scale KA stores across 10 key cities including Shanghai, Suzhou, Jinan, Beijing, Dalian, Hangzhou, Changsha, Changchun, and Shenzhen, while guiding consumers to scan QR codes to follow and continuously drive traffic online.
**3) Online influencer + offline channels = regular product**
Leveraging the 11.11 hot event, Tsingtao Beer created a "small closed loop" of marketing from communication to sales, achieving incremental product sales while completing new product exposure. After online validation succeeds, the traffic-carrying "Decade Friendship" is brought into offline regular channels to reach a broader consumer base for secondary large-scale sales and harvest profits.
According to traditional FMCG marketing methods, the usual approach is to have a finished product, use centralized TV media "loudspeaker" communication to establish consumer awareness, use frontline sales staff for comprehensive offline merchant recruitment, and push distribution through ground promotion. Now Tsingtao Beer breaks the traditional path, **using online as the communication point, sales point, and testing point, creating a small closed loop of online marketing, verifying product sales feasibility, and then introducing it offline. In the process, it also solves the communication awareness problem.**
02 **New Retail Exploration of Quality Draft Beer Series**
Most people know the new retail trend is coming and need to "get on board" quickly. But how to get on board has always been elusive. Shi Yonggang believes that while trends should be seized, before boarding, one must think clearly about what the ultimate target consumer wants. Return to the essence of the product and what consumers care about. No matter how good the weapon, it is useless if you don't know how to use it.
**To board the new retail train, first think clearly about what consumers' demands and concerns are for the category.**
△ Ranking of factors consumers consider when choosing beer
With consumption upgrading, consumers' demand for beer is mainly reflected in "freshness," i.e., freshly produced high-quality beer. In the past, such beer only appeared at "Qingdao Beer Festivals" or in Tsingtao Beer Company's museum. Due to shelf life and temperature restrictions, coupled with the past "long-chain" distribution system, good beer could not reach consumers in the first place.
The new retail trend has brought diversified retail scenarios and the emergence of related innovative service facilities. **Brands can leverage innovative scenarios, service facilities, and data intelligence to greatly shorten the establishment of cognition, relationships, and transactions with consumers, making "short-chain" distribution possible.**
It is understood that in early 2018, Tsingtao Beer, together with Haier Wine Cellar and Jinan Quantong Company, launched an unmanned retail project in the Jinan market. Through a "trinity" approach of online micro-mall, offline unmanned vending machines, and consumer experience, they built a closed sales loop for quality draft beer.
**Step 1, pilot exploration:** In April, Tsingtao Beer piloted with Haier Smart Wine Cellar, initially deploying in large barbecue terminals in Jinan urban area, and later expanding sales points to hotel front desks and some KA stores, using free tasting to cultivate consumer awareness and complete consumer experience. Consumers can purchase through WeChat mall, QR codes, etc., with local couriers or terminal staff completing delivery. According to Shi, taking a barbecue restaurant as an example, in June, daily sales reached 60 cans.
**Step 2, expansion:** After completing the initial pilot and verifying feasibility, Tsingtao Beer began "enclosure" expansion, focusing mainly on building the supply chain system. Tsingtao Beer, together with local suppliers, opened 10 City Living Room bars in Jinan urban area. Each City Living Room provides operation and maintenance for 50 unmanned vending machines distributed around it. The City Living Room is not only the operation center and distribution center for the vending machines, but also a consumer experience center.
It is understood that as of August, Tsingtao Beer had deployed nearly 300 unmanned vending machines in the Jinan market, with machine activity reaching 25%, selling about 1,000 cans of 1L draft beer per month, with sales revenue of nearly 30,000 yuan.
In addition to unmanned retail exploration, Tsingtao Beer also actively tries "WeChat business-style" sales of draft beer series, through all-staff marketing, KOL communication, and other forms, using backend supply chain platforms, paired with SF Express rapid response delivery systems, to achieve next-day delivery. Shi told New Distribution that consumers of Tsingtao draft beer are not just drinking beer, but also the fresh taste produced yesterday, and when they receive the product, they see the dew drops on the outer wall. This is not only a high-quality experience, but also a joy.
03 **New Retail vs. Traditional Distribution: Each Performs Its Own Duties**
**With consumption upgrading and the popularization of internet technology, China's consumer market has transformed from the past single-demand wave consumption into a phenomenon of three consumption waves superimposed simultaneously.** The past single mass consumption is gradually differentiating into niche and personalized consumption. The past mass consumption was a product of the industrial era, with deep distribution as a typical business model, emphasizing a human-wave tactic to seize sales points as "seamlessly" as possible.
But when the market becomes saturated, ROI continues to decline, and for frontline sales teams, the number of SKUs per person reaches its limit (15-20 SKUs), making it impossible to bear the distribution of products for multi-dimensional consumer demands. At this point, the deep distribution model is no longer the optimal solution for enterprises.
Niche and personalized consumption demands differ from mass demand. Consumers no longer have a single rigid demand for products. **Consumers increasingly emphasize "freshness, temperature, speed," and pursue the extended experience of the product's own attributes. Therefore, for enterprises, it is not only necessary to maintain the mass market, but also to actively explore and layout niche and personalized markets, always paying attention to changes in "scenario, context, and background."**
In New Distribution's view, maintain the past deep distribution system, use mass-market regular products to satisfy the mass market, and solve the enterprise's capacity issues. At the same time, actively explore multiple scenarios and diverse products (freshness, temperature, speed), through the application of internet technology and related intelligent facilities to satisfy niche and personalized markets, continuously serving diverse consumers at different stages of consumption upgrading.
-END-
Good article! Don't forget to click "Like"


---

## 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