Wedding Supply Store Perspective As the phenomenon of wedding supply stores buying and selling in large quantities becomes increasingly apparent, many distributors struggling with the circulation market are turning their attention to wedding supply stores. Gross Margins Exceeding 40% Entice Wholesalers to Transition to Wedding Supply Stores "I only really got involved with wedding supply stores in recent years. Before that, I was doing candy wholesale in the wholesale market. When I calculated carefully, the annual cost of maintaining a large truck and a driver was over 150,000 yuan, plus employee wages, warehouse rent, and so on. After working hard year after year, the remaining profit was getting smaller and smaller. So I transitioned to a wedding supply store. After two years of effort, my Funian Wedding Supply Store is now on the right track," said Hou Leiyong, General Manager of Rizhao Funian Candy Wedding Supply Store. Guo Lanmin, General Manager of Jinan Haojia Xishi Wedding Supply Store, said in an interview: "Businessmen are profit-driven. With rising costs, the traditional wholesale model can no longer meet distributors' demand for profit. Compared to other sales channels, the wedding supply store channel has impressive product turnover. Generally, a single product in a wedding supply store can sell over 20,000 yuan per month, and that's just one item. So this wedding supply store model, with its high sales volume, high profit returns, and high brand effect, can help distributors solve these problems. Besides wedding candy, wedding supply stores also sell custom packaging, wedding cigarettes, wedding wine, and other wedding-related items. Prices are lower than supermarkets but higher than the circulation market, with gross margins up to 40% or more, which is 3-4 times higher than traditional candy sales channels. This is the fundamental reason why most distributors transition to wedding supply stores." Rise of Post-90s Light Consumer Group Accelerates Distributors' Transition to Wedding Supply Stores According to statistics from the national civil affairs department, there are currently 249 million single men and women over 18 in China, most of whom are post-80s and post-90s young people. As post-90s are at the age of marriage, they advocate personalized, fashionable, and unique consumption concepts. Besides wedding candy and wedding supplies, the professional and customized services provided by wedding supply stores just meet their needs. Spending thousands of yuan on wedding candy is now common for them. Qi Yongwang, General Manager of Bazhou Yongwang Candy Wedding Supply Store, said: "Marriage is a very grand event in one's life. Even those who are usually frugal will be generous when getting married. I am very optimistic about the wedding supply store model. In September 2014, I attended the first China Candy Snack Exhibition in Ningbo. During the exhibition, I met many southern wedding supply store owners and gained insights from exchanges with them. After learning, my first wedding supply store opened in Bazhou in 2015, located near my candy wholesale store. It has been open for over a year. Although business fluctuates due to consumption levels and habits, I have no intention of giving up and am always seeking a development model of my own." Rise of Internet Wedding Supply Stores May Be Another Path for Distributor Transition "In northern regions, such as Beijing, Tianjin, and some provincial capitals, store rents and labor costs are generally high. If you rashly open a physical wedding supply store, costs will definitely be high. Once there are no customers, it is easy to fail. So many distributors think carefully. Many young people like online shopping now, so I opened a Taobao store in 2013 and have been doing wedding candy wholesale. Recently, I've been thinking whether I can sell the packaging and services provided by wedding supply stores on Taobao as well. This way, we don't need to stock up in advance. We just put photos of various gift boxes online, decorate the page with personality, and ship when consumers order. It saves costs and expands channels," said Yang Zhiqiang, General Manager of Liaocheng Xikelai Candy Business Department. Recently, I tried searching for "wedding supply store" on Taobao, and hundreds of online stores appeared, such as Xiaoniangzi Wedding Supply Store, Liangyuan Wedding Supply Store, Die'er Wedding Supply Store... Clicking into any one, there were dazzling product images, and sales were impressive. With the growing enthusiasm for online shopping, opening an online wedding supply store may become an important path for northern distributors to transition, and then open physical stores when the time is ripe. Half-Wholesale, Half-Wedding Supply Store Model is Popular According to data released by Longpinxi China Market Research Center, there are currently over 8,000 wedding supply stores above a certain scale in northern China, of which about 83% were transformed from distributors. These successful distributors have not abandoned their original business. Besides continuing to supply second-tier wholesalers and distributors, they also participate in market competition as terminal retailers. Yan Zhiqiang believes that transitioning to a wedding supply store also requires a transition period. In the northern market environment, the wedding supply store is in the development stage. Distributors transitioning to wedding supply stores do not necessarily have to give up their original wholesale business. Once they let go, it requires strong financial strength and courage, and the result is extreme: either success or failure. The half-wholesale, half-wedding supply store model reduces the candy display area in the same store, freeing up one-third of the space to display packaging and various wedding supplies. This way, there is no need to invest too much cost. After a period of market testing, the display area can be increased according to individual circumstances. My investigation found that, except for a few well-performing wedding supply stores with dedicated stores, most distributors in northern regions operate with the half-wholesale, half-wedding supply store model. "Nowadays, many distributors change their store names to 'XXX Wedding Supply Store' and just stock some wedding candy boxes, wedding cigarettes, and wedding wine, calling it a wedding supply store. This is not a true wedding supply store. A real wedding supply store provides professional services to consumers. Although the half-wholesale, half-wedding supply store model is very suitable for the current development of northern wedding supply stores, professional services cannot be ignored. I once went to Wuhan specifically to learn about opening a wedding supply store. I found that southern wedding supply stores are truly professional. The store decoration and product display are certainly important, but the key is staff training and services provided. From the moment consumers step into the wedding supply store, a dedicated sales manager connects with them, introducing products and even popularizing wedding-related knowledge. The wedding supply store provides professional product matching suggestions based on the needs of the newlyweds. In terms of gift box selection, the wedding supply store also gives professional advice based on the color tone of the wedding venue decoration and the couple's gifts. These are things that northern wedding supply stores currently find difficult to achieve," said Cui Zhibin. Su Jinyao: Northern Wedding Supply Stores Will Develop Rapidly in 3-5 Years As the helmsman of Qingdao Jinyao Wedding Supply Store, Su Jinyao has many identities: wedding supply store owner, candy agent, and business owner. Industry insiders habitually call him Lao Su. He has been involved in the candy industry since 1987, nearly 30 years. "From 1996 to 2000, I focused on the supermarket channel. After 2000, through market research on the Qingdao candy market, I began to build my own brand—Jinyao Wedding Supply Store. In the early years, I thought that to expand the market, expansion was a good way to occupy the market. But through years of operation, I found that although this could promote sales to a certain extent, there were still loopholes in store management and personnel management. Through continuous summary and reflection, I realized that to truly grow, we cannot blindly expand and build stores. Instead, we need to concentrate financial, material, and human resources to wholeheartedly do branding and service, and spread the reputation of Jinyao Wedding Supply Store," said Su Jinyao. Lao Su said in an interview: "Wedding supply stores are undergoing a development process from south to north. With consumption upgrades, northern wedding supply stores will usher in rapid development in the next 3-5 years. Although the development of northern wedding supply stores seems somewhat lagging, everyone is ultimately taking active action. Whether it's online wedding supply stores or the half-wedding supply store, half-wholesale model, I think the foothold for growth must be in service. So my Jinyao Wedding Supply Store has recently been striving in directions such as customized, VIP-style professional services and one-stop shopping experiences. Because doing wedding supply stores is doing service." Over time, most distributors have begun to transition from wholesalers to wedding supply stores. Among them, some wedding supply stores with good development momentum have started from selling candy for brands, to providing packaging solutions, to serving customers. The reputation of wedding supply stores is getting better and better, and their fame is growing, eventually forming unique wedding supply store brands. The emergence of a series of favorable factors will inevitably accelerate the arrival of a true spring for northern wedding supply stores. Source: China Candy In response to the needs of distributor friends, the third phase of the B-end E-commerce Inspection Class of this public platform will inspect Wanshang Yizhan, Yunbao Shangmeng, and Weijie City Distribution from July 9-12. Distributor friends interested in transitioning can come and inspect with us: Organization Form

  1. Company visit
  2. Actual market case visit
  3. On-site explanation
  4. One-on-one communication Participating distributor friends only need to pay a registration fee of 200 yuan. Time: July 9-12, 2016. Location: Changsha, Xiamen. Interested distributor friends can register by scanning the QR code below. When adding friends, please reply "Phase 3 Registration". Previous Inspection Enterprise Cases: Yishang Logistics Model Inspection (Second Phase B-end E-commerce Inspection Group Yishang Logistics) Caiba Model Inspection Jinhuobao Model Inspection Beiquan Model On-site Inspection Piduoduo Model On-site Inspection -END- The best FMCG distributor learning platform in China Focuses on providing professional, practical, and applicable tutorials for enterprises and distributors Committed to helping Chinese FMCG distributors grow rapidly The most professional and practical knowledge base in the FMCG industry Reply with the red number below to get the corresponding content Reply with number 1 to view the complete knowledge base | 001 Excellent Article Selection | 002 Distributor Market Operation | 003 Terminal Visit Management | 004 Sales Supervisor Skills | 005 Sales Improvement Techniques | 006 Channel Expansion | 007 Managing Distributors | 008 Distributor Development | 009 Distributor Internal Operations Management | 010 Team Management | 011 Efficient Distribution Techniques | 012 Sales Manager's Skills | 013 KA Operation Methods and Strategies | 014 First Lesson for New Sales | 015 Internet, Brand | 016 Distributor B2B Transformation | [Long press QR code to follow]