In the past two years, everyone should have felt that the industry is changing too fast. Previously, the distribution business was relatively simple, with changes occurring only every few years; having vehicles, personnel, and capital generally meant you could make money. Now, the industry changes so rapidly that it's not an exaggeration to describe it as 'changing with each passing day.' With the support of the internet, various online platforms have sprung up like mushrooms. The way stores stock up is no longer limited to traditional methods like phone calls and salesperson visits; more stores, influenced by the internet, are gradually getting used to ordering online and enjoying one-stop shopping experiences. Relying solely on traditional distribution models is no longer enough to support distributors' better development. In the future, to grow bigger and stronger, distributors must seize the online trend, empower themselves with digitalization, and drive business growth. Recently, New Distribution interviewed Ms. Ye Chunling, General Manager of Xuzhou Kuizhiling Trading Joint Warehouse, in Jiangsu. As a post-80s, she has been in the industry for over a decade, starting as a delivery person and now operating as a distributor for brands like Zhongwo, Yuanqi Senlin, C'estbon, and Master Kong, covering over 3,000 retail points. Amidst continuous customer loss, Ms. Ye, a traditional distributor completely unfamiliar with online operations, was 'forced' to explore online channels. She joined JD New通路's Joint Warehouse, and in less than five months, her customer count increased from over 1,000 to nearly 3,000, with sales up 30%. How did she achieve this?
-01- The Post-80s Distributor's Choice: Either Fall or Follow the Trend! As the saying goes, 'Women are not inferior to men,' which fits Ms. Ye perfectly. Having struggled outside since childhood, before starting her own business, Ye worked as a delivery person for an ice cream distributor. When that distributor quit, Ye began her own venture, initially doing small wholesale of beverages at the train station—one person, one vehicle, delivering goods herself every day. With her hardworking spirit, Ye's wholesale business gradually grew, and she became a distributor for several leading local brands. Ye told New Distribution that as a traditional distributor with over a decade of experience, she instinctively resisted online platforms, fearing these new things would disrupt her existing business. But what Ye didn't expect was that in just a few years, the development of the internet would bring such significant changes to the retail industry. Digitalization and platformization accelerated information transmission, and the logistics efficiency of platforms far surpassed the past. More worrying was that small stores were gradually getting used to online ordering—convenient, fast, and with one-stop supply—all pain points of traditional distribution. 'Previously, if our products were 50 cents more expensive than the platform, small stores could accept it because the platform's delivery took 2-3 days, while we could deliver within a day. Also, having done this for over a decade, many small stores were used to buying from us.' Now, with platforms improving delivery efficiency and having ground staff for service, and lower prices, why would customers pay 50 cents more to buy from distributors? Customer relationships aren't even worth 50 cents. What impressed Ye the most was that a warehouse near the train station used to have daily sales of around 50,000 yuan, but later dropped to less than 20,000 yuan—a significant decline. In fact, it wasn't just her; many peers were also experiencing declining business and falling one after another. She considered quitting, but Ye had an emotional attachment to this business she'd run for over a decade and didn't want to give up. Since she didn't want to be eliminated by the trend, she had to seize it. Ye began actively learning about online platform models. During this period, several platforms approached her to discuss cooperation, but most came to nothing. 'These platforms only wanted me to do delivery, and the assigned areas had warehouses too far away, which was completely unhelpful to my business.' It wasn't until last October that Xiao Liang, the customer manager responsible for JD New通路 in the Xuzhou area, approached Ye to discuss cooperation. After several visits, Ye decided to cooperate with New通路's Joint Warehouse. Ye told New Distribution that there were two reasons for cooperating with New通路's Joint Warehouse: First, she recognized the New通路 platform and saw profit potential in its Joint Warehouse model. Crucially, New通路 implements a 'one district, one distributor' policy, which maximizes protection of distributor interests. Second, she trusted New通路's employees; before cooperation, customer manager Xiao Liang visited almost daily, answering all her questions in detail. 事实证明，叶春玲的决定是对的。加入新通路联合仓五个月以来，实现了客户和生意的双增长。
-02- Through Platform Empowerment, Business Changes Rapidly! Ye told New Distribution, 'If I had continued with the original distribution model, there might be no immediate impact, but as the internet advances further, the survival space would shrink, and it would be only a matter of time before I couldn't continue.' 'Joining JD New通路's Joint Warehouse was a particularly right decision for me. Although it's only been five months, the business is changing little by little every day, moving in a positive direction.' From traditional distribution to a combination of online and offline, with New通路's empowerment, Ye's Joint Warehouse has achieved leapfrog growth both internally and externally. 'After products were listed on JD's Zhangguibao, New通路 used the platform's built-in traffic to let more stores know about my brands, invisibly increasing sales opportunities. Moreover, when New通路 employees visit stores in their coverage areas, they also proactively help attract traffic to Joint Warehouse distributors, allowing the Joint Warehouse to cover more stores.' In just five months, the coverage of Kuizhiling Trading Joint Warehouse grew from over 1,000 to 3,000 retail points, with new customers added daily. Besides expanding new customers, what made Ye trust New通路 even more was the employees' maintenance of retail points, which she described with one word: 'diligent.' Ye told New Distribution that New通路 employees often deliver goods to customers at 8 or 9 PM, and even her own employees aren't as diligent as New通路's. The increase in retail points directly led to an increase in orders; delivery staff alone grew from 5 to 9, and overall sales increased by nearly 30%. At the same time, the significant sales increase gave her more say with brands; many manufacturers began proactively providing resource support, such as giving away promotional items, creating a virtuous cycle in the entire operation, and gradually scaling up the business. Moreover, New通路's customer managers often guide Joint Warehouse operations, helping distributors expand beyond beverages to categories like grain and oil, snacks, and beer through the JD Fenxiaobao app. Previously, brands mostly required high minimum order quantities, which Ye dared not try. Now, through Fenxiaobao, she can order small quantities for trial sales, minimizing losses from unsold stock. If the Joint Warehouse is short on stock, it can also be replenished from JD's warehouses. Ye told New Distribution that inventory backlog is now rare; through trial sales, the goods purchased are mostly bestsellers, and the warehouse's SKU count has increased from over 700 to nearly 2,000. The increase in categories and brands meets the one-stop supply needs of stores, making them dependent on the Joint Warehouse and loyal customers. Of course, what made Ye feel New通路's sincerity most was the platform's support for Joint Warehouses: JD Zhangguibao prioritizes displaying Joint Warehouse products, channeling resources to Joint Warehouse distributors as much as possible. For example, if there's Master Kong's iced tea, Zhangguibao places the Joint Warehouse's iced tea first for priority display. Moreover, Joint Warehouses can independently set promotional policies on the Zhangguibao platform, such as discount coupons and display coupons. At the same time, New通路 also subsidizes some promotional activities to help Joint Warehouses attract customer orders. Although she hasn't been with New通路's Joint Warehouse for long, Ye has a very intuitive feeling: New通路 truly treats us as partners. The growth in business scale and various aspects proves this.
-03- Future Development Will Only Get Better! In today's internet-dominated era, the retail landscape has fundamentally changed; distributors have shifted from being manufacturer-oriented to being store-demand-oriented. Traditional distribution and sales thinking are gradually unable to adapt to the new business environment, requiring distributors to iterate their existing business methods and adapt to trends. Ye told New Distribution that New通路's Joint Warehouse brought not only business scale growth but, more importantly, a change in her mindset—recognition of trends and changes in business methods. In the past, as a traditional distributor, my understanding of business was relatively rigid, and I was more resistant to new things. But now, I'm more willing to learn and try new models with reverence. The empowerment of JD New通路 has shown me that the future of business development is not limited to this. Ye said she has some other thoughts about future business development. First, integrate internet thinking; not only do business with stores but also directly with consumers. Ye is trying community group buying, having developed 12 group leaders and planning to expand further. At the same time, she plans to cooperate further with New通路 to try JD convenience stores. By integrating B2B and B2C, she aims to grow the business scale. Second, expand scale and business areas, opening new New通路 Joint Warehouses in other places. With New通路's local coverage, expanding into new areas will be much easier; in this regard, New通路 is also willing to open customer resources to Joint Warehouse distributors. Third, connect her own salespeople with JD's salespeople to serve retail points together on a per-store basis. Currently, there is duplication of service between her own salespeople and JD's; after connecting, duplication can be effectively avoided, greatly improving operational efficiency. Ye told New Distribution that these plans are for the future and are built on deeper cooperation with New通路. She hopes that through further empowerment from New通路, both parties can grow the business bigger and stronger together in the future.
Final Thoughts: With the internet's development to this day, it's a consensus that online is the trend. Since the trend cannot be stopped, following it is not a bad idea. After all, behind the trend lies dividends; what distributors need to do is seize the opportunity to create more possibilities for their business. Tips will be paid 400-2000 yuan once adopted.