---
title: "How Jinmailang Uses \"Water\" to Capture Terminal Traffic!"
description: "Jinmailang's \"water not landing\" strategy uses low-priced bottled water to build brand awareness and create a private traffic pool, enabling efficient terminal distribution and driving sales for other products. The approach optimizes costs by eliminating intermediate links, with a focus on price management and profit integration."
author: "海游"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2019-12-01"
categories: "Distribution & Channels, Management & Methods"
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---

# How Jinmailang Uses "Water" to Capture Terminal Traffic!

> Jinmailang's "water not landing" strategy uses low-priced bottled water to build brand awareness and create a private traffic pool, enabling efficient terminal distribution and driving sales for other products. The approach optimizes costs by eliminating intermediate links, with a focus on price management and profit integration.

A while ago, I shared some thoughts on Jinmailang's "Four-in-One" strategy, and there were many questions about its ability to drive sales through rapid network expansion. Teacher Liu Chunxiong's view is: **high coverage of target market terminals.** **This cannot be blindly imitated.** Jinmailang has sufficient brand awareness and its prices are affordable for the masses, so it can pursue high coverage. However, coverage has diminishing marginal utility, and small workers are unwilling to continue beyond a certain point.
My view is: Jinmailang operates in a national market with significant north-south differences. In the southern market, Jinmailang is also struggling. Taking beverages as an example, **south of the Yangtze River, Jinmailang's brand awareness is very low; one province like Hunan sells less than one region in Henan.** According to Jinmailang's definition, this is a weak market. There are two conventional strategies for weak markets:
**1. First, standardize the distribution network. Use network density to create momentum, let quantitative change lead to qualitative change, and then consider sales momentum. Many difficult problems will resolve themselves.**
**2. First, create sales momentum in local outlets, drive consumer pull, replicate the experience, and then expand.**
But in reality, the Four-in-One is like a train: it runs fast once moving, but it's hard and slow to start. Sales momentum issues should be addressed while running. In fact, subsequent market growth proved that strategy 1 was correct.
Teacher Shi Wei has a viewpoint: **"Integration of cognition, transaction, and relationship"** is the basic method for enterprise marketing activities and process design, and also a work guide for frontline marketing personnel.
From top to bottom, from macro to micro, enterprises will form numerous cycles of cognition, transaction, and relationship. Cognition is transaction, transaction is relationship. Cognition is the first step, which can be understood as brand power—the brand's experience and concept instilled in channel partners and consumers.
So recently, I've been thinking: did the success of the Four-in-One miss something? Or is the Four-in-One's constant emphasis on **"no vehicle, no network; no network, no sales"** based on the fundamental "cognition" of the consumer brand?
Suddenly, I remembered a picture that went viral on social media, about Jinmailang's softened water.
The purpose of Jinmailang's softened water is definitely not just profit; it's to build multi-dimensional brand "cognition," paving the way for other products, for the network, and for sales momentum. Today, I'll share some of my preliminary thoughts on Jinmailang's "water not landing" strategy.
**-01-**
**Why does Jinmailang use water to build market "cognition"?**
**The domestic bottled water demand will continue to rise steadily.** It is estimated that by 2020, China's bottled water retail sales will reach around 100 billion yuan. It can be said that bottled water is a representative beverage. Whether from the perspective of sales volume, market capacity, or price, health, and universal acceptance, bottled water is a "hard currency" product. Therefore, using bottled water to build consumer "cognition" is a unique choice.
**-02-**
**What is the core idea behind Jinmailang's "water not landing"?**
**What is the core idea behind "water not landing"?** Let me give an example: Suppose you plan to travel from Beijing to Taiwan. There are two options:
> Option 1: Beijing - Hong Kong (transfer) - Taipei Airport. Ticket price: 2600 yuan + 1100 = 3700 yuan. Time: 3.5 hours + 2.3 hours = 5.8 hours (excluding transfer waiting time).
>
> Option 2: After direct flights are launched, from Capital Airport to Taipei Airport directly. Beijing - Taipei. Ticket price: 1800 yuan. Time: 3.5 hours. Direct flights significantly reduce cost and time.
Use this example to analogize the water sales process.
The traditional supply chain model is: 1. Water shipped from factory - 2. Distributor warehouse - 3. Secondary loading and delivery - 4. Terminal outlets (or possibly to wholesalers and then to terminals).
Let's roughly estimate the costs incurred: In step 2, total costs are 0.6 yuan per case, including: a. Unloading cost 0.2 yuan/case, b. Warehouse rental cost equivalent to 0.3 yuan/case, c. Warehouse management salaries, utilities, and other soft losses equivalent to 0.1 yuan/case.
In step 3, total costs are 1.4 yuan per case, including: a. Salesperson base salary plus commission equivalent to 1 yuan/case; b. Vehicle fuel and wear costs equivalent to 0.4 yuan/case.
The "water not landing" supply chain model is: 1. Water shipped from factory - 2. Terminal outlets.
By eliminating intermediate links, products go directly from factory to terminal stores, requiring only the cost of order-taking personnel. Thus, costs drop from 2 yuan/case to about 0.5 yuan/case, a reduction of about 1.5 yuan/case. For 1-yuan water, this undoubtedly creates huge competitiveness, penetrating every corner of the channel and achieving consumer brand cognition.
As Jinmailang Chairman Fan Xianguo said: **"Water" loses competitiveness once it lands; from factory to terminal, the markup should not exceed 1 yuan.** "Markup not exceeding 1 yuan" reflects our transportation efficiency, distributor concessions, and terminal benefits. Terminal benefits and price determine water's competitiveness. Therefore, keeping the markup from factory to terminal within 1 yuan should be a management tool for selling water and a standard to ensure no waste in the intermediate process. Price advantage determines market advantage.
**-03-**
**What are the key factors for the success of Jinmailang's "water not landing"?**
**1. The price advantage of 1-yuan water determines market advantage; the core of "water not landing" is price management.**
Factors affecting the price of a case of water include:
  * a. For self-pickup customers, transportation costs from factory to terminal store; fully utilize the price advantage of return trips in the logistics system to achieve long-term cooperation and reduce freight;
  * b. Profit sharing among sales units: regulations stipulate distributor profit 0.2 yuan/case, small worker order-taking commission 0.2 yuan/case, and terminal stores that unload themselves can add another 0.2 yuan/case on top of existing profits. Two major assessments ensure the price system: 1. Distributors who do not follow the price system will be subject to supply suspension and item-by-item handling. 2. Sales personnel who do not follow the price system will be demoted.
**2. Reasonable integration of profits; simplify the combination of distributor, freight, small worker, and unloading to maximize efficiency.**
In the execution of "water not landing," there are three necessary costs: **freight from factory to terminal, unloading fees, and order-taking commission.**
If these three costs are used separately, each is relatively low and cannot motivate personnel. The most effective and reasonable way is to combine the three fees into one.
That is: first, fix the distributor commission at 0.2 yuan/case, then let the small worker bring their own vehicle (the distributor provides the vehicle, the small worker bears fuel costs; the company has two price systems: self-pickup price and delivered price, where the delivered price is based on logistics company standards) to complete the entire process of picking up goods, taking orders, and unloading. This turns the vehicle into a mobile factory, visiting water points and directly distributing to terminals—the "water not landing" model. Of course, self-pickup is suitable for areas within 100 kilometers of the factory. In practice, a small worker can sell 1,000 cases of water per day, earning about 600 yuan, while the distributor earns about 200 yuan.
**3. Reasonable matching of transport vehicles and distance from factory to improve efficiency.**
There are roughly five models:
a. Short-distance (within 100 km of factory) model: 1. Distributors and small bosses within 100 km. 2. Use 4.2m or 6.8m vehicles. 3. Directly pull full loads from the factory daily and unload to second-tier distributors or terminals.
b. Medium-distance (100-200 km ring area) model: 1. Distributors and small bosses within 100-200 km. 2. Mainly use 6.8m vehicles. 3. Directly pull full loads from the factory daily and unload to second-tier distributors or terminals.
c. Medium-distance + relay (100-200 km, with relay at 200 km, used before peak season) model: 1. Transport 1,200 cases from factory using 6.8m vehicle. 2. Keep 60% on the vehicle for direct terminal distribution. 3. Distribute 40% to local 4.2m vehicles to continue direct terminal distribution.
d. Long-distance (beyond 200 km) model: 1. Distributors beyond 200 km. 2. Use vehicles over 6.8m. 3. Unload full truckloads, or share a truck among 2-3 households.
e. Long-distance + relay (relay beyond 200 km) model: 1. Divide the large truck's load among 3-4 vehicles, bypassing distributor warehouses, and directly distribute to terminals, operating "water not landing." 2. Fully utilize information-based communication to pull orders in advance.
**4. Intelligent management of vehicle configuration and operations.**
Vehicle configuration requirements: a. Number of vehicles = daily average sales / 1200 cases / 700 cases. b. Dedicated vehicles for water, set up special "water not landing" vehicles. c. Distributor warehouses are not allowed to hold water inventory. d. All dedicated vehicles must be equipped with GPS, and small workers must use terminal management systems.
In summary: All water-selling vehicles must be dedicated and not carry non-water products. Each transport process must have supervision, evidence, and assessment to improve vehicle utilization.
**5. Setting effective incentive plans for distributors and their small workers.**
The ultimate goal of "water not landing" is: integration of production and sales. Sales volume affects production costs and selling prices. Based on the principle of full production and full sales, each sales branch adopts reasonable plans tailored to each account, completing 20,000 cases per 100,000 population in two stages.
Stage 1: For populations under 100,000, target 10,000 cases; sales branches adopt reasonable plans to motivate distributors and market personnel. Stage 2: For populations over 100,000, target 10,000 to 20,000 cases; sales branches adopt reasonable plans to motivate distributors and market personnel. Ultimately, this standard is incorporated into the performance assessment of sales teams and distributors.
Incentive recommendations for distributor small workers: 1. Recommend water outlet incentive policies. 2. Recommend multi-point unloading incentive policies. 3. For "water not landing" commissions, recommend a 50/50 split between distributor and small boss (driver). 4. For unloading fee of 0.2 yuan, use the slide board unloading method, allowing the small boss to keep it all or get 0.1 yuan.
**6. Building terminal water outlets and route planning and optimization.**
Requirements for building terminal water outlets: a. Separate water outlets from non-water outlets. b. Basic rule: In the north, one store (water store) per natural village, with at least 100 cases of water each time. c. Each vehicle serves 100 water outlets.
Route planning and optimization requirements: Only reasonable route planning can reduce transportation costs. Develop reasonable visit routes based on distance from factory and second-tier order cycles. Avoid rushing to rescue; visiting according to routes saves transportation costs and improves vehicle utilization.
**-04-**
**What is the core logic behind "water not landing"?**
**The essence of all business is traffic!** In the era of shops, sellers would sell at a loss to attract foot traffic. In the information age, companies bombard customers with various marketing methods, just to gain a sliver of profit from the traffic dividend.
Internet dividends are even more elusive—they gather quickly but vanish in an instant. The increasing cost of acquiring traffic means that blindly chasing traffic is no longer sustainable.
**The marketing strategy of combining brand and performance has become a consensus, but the implementation path is a pain point.** So, for brands like Jinmailang, what is the nature of traffic? How is it realized? The answer is simple: fast-moving products themselves are the best carriers of traffic. Jinmailang Beverages has long been paying attention to and building its own private traffic pool (these are its own traffic, reusable at any time, efficiently reaching terminal outlets; at the time, it wasn't called that, but simply referred to as acquiring more effective outlets and bringing in more product categories).
Jinmailang's private traffic pool is built through water that is better quality, lower price, and higher profit, cultivating customers, building relationships and trust, and conducting deep-level operational maintenance, increasing the commonality between outlets and water and the brand. It also determines the effectiveness of word-of-mouth and sharing (fission) among store owners. Under sufficient brand trust, it quickly brings more sales outlets for Jinmailang's other products, efficiently achieving the integration of brand and performance.
**The ultimate goal of "water not landing": Use water as a medium, ride the water to navigate, and when water arrives, the channel is formed.**
**Final thoughts:** Many people worry that Jinmailang's aggressive tracking and assessment of outlet numbers might lead to insufficient brand power, slow sales, large-scale returns, and the awkward situation of more distribution leading to more returns.
The answer is definitely no. Using "water not landing" to build the brand also achieves sales conversion, channel conversion, and product conversion, greatly improving distributor operational efficiency, while also earning more profit from non-water products.
**If the Four-in-One is compared to a train, then "water not landing" is the railway track.** Especially in weak markets, doing "water not landing" well and building a private traffic pool is like laying tracks in the market. Only with tracks can the Four-in-One operate efficiently, sales momentum issues will cease to exist, and ultimately, win-win for both manufacturer and distributor can be achieved.
**Extended Reading:**
> ## [**"First-tier brands have thin profits, second-tier brands have weak terminals, third-tier brands die fast!" How should distributors choose products correctly?**
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> ## **Defensive War for Strong Brands | Nongfu Spring's Distributor Reform**
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## Citation metadata

- Publisher: New Distribution
- Author: 海游
- Published: 2019-12-01
- Canonical: https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/how-jinmailang-uses-water-to-capture-terminal-traffic-e40b3b91/
- Original source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/LtKmOaP7kyTf9qAwZM_C1w

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