---
title: "How Should Distributors Select Products? \"Potential\" Equals \"Opportunity\""
description: "More than half a month has passed since the 100th Sugar and Wine Fair in Chengdu in 2019. After a week of hard work in Chengdu, did many distributors find the products they wanted? Do they expect to determine the whole year's sales and profits through newly introduced products? Today, let's share what the core competitiveness of distributors is. In fact, as a distributor, in the current complex and ever-changing channels, and in an era where products are being replaced faster, I have three core points for planning the profitability of your business..."
author: "赵正强"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2019-04-11"
language: "en"
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# How Should Distributors Select Products? "Potential" Equals "Opportunity"

> More than half a month has passed since the 100th Sugar and Wine Fair in Chengdu in 2019. After a week of hard work in Chengdu, did many distributors find the products they wanted? Do they expect to determine the whole year's sales and profits through newly introduced products? Today, let's share what the core competitiveness of distributors is. In fact, as a distributor, in the current complex and ever-changing channels, and in an era where products are being replaced faster, I have three core points for planning the profitability of your business...

More than half a month has passed since the 100th Sugar and Wine Fair in Chengdu in 2019. After a week of hard work in Chengdu, did many distributors find the products they wanted? Do they expect to determine the whole year's sales and profits through newly introduced products?
Today, let's share what the core competitiveness of distributors is.
In fact, as a distributor, in the current complex and ever-changing channels, and in an era where products are being replaced faster, I have three core points for planning the profitability of your business:
**1. Distributors must find new products that align with consumption trends.**
Whether it's rapid breakthroughs online or steady sales offline, high-quality products are indispensable. Only by selling products that meet consumer needs can you remain invincible. When selecting products, we need to pay attention to several points:
**First, we must pay attention to the development trend of the category.** Because every category has the opportunity to develop rapidly. If you can stand at this windfall and grasp the market's rhythm, you can sell your products quickly and profit quickly. The sour and spicy noodle category that started in March 2018 won high acceptance from channel merchants and quickly gained consumer acceptance, boosting its market share.
**Second, pay attention to the manufacturer.** High-quality products do not mean every manufacturer can achieve them. For a product, especially for small and micro enterprises, stable quality for one day is achievable, and with effort, stable quality for a week is possible. However, maintaining consistent quality for a month, a quarter, a year, or even longer is very difficult. **Because the stability of raw materials, equipment, and employee stability and quality in small and micro enterprises can lead to insufficient product quality stability.**
**Most importantly, qualified products can be sold, but products with characteristics can be sold well.** Take a pack of instant noodles; all are qualified and meet all indicators. Why do some not sell well? Because they lack their own characteristics. When the market is oversupplied, products without characteristics are destined to sell poorly! Therefore, choose enterprises that can guarantee stable quality. Only with quality and characteristics can you have the opportunity to do well in the market.
**Finally, when selecting products, distributors must choose manufacturers and product operation personnel with business philosophy.** Every product has opportunities, but not every enterprise can operate it well. Only teams with service capabilities and a sense of responsibility can have the opportunity to do well with high-quality products.
**2. Distributors must guide and serve downstream channel merchants.**
In the current market environment with frequent online and offline interactions, distributors often feel lost in business operations and development due to rapid changes in information and business methods. When distributors introduce a new product, they should segment downstream channels and develop channels by category.
Each product will have different sales results in different channels. A bottle of water sells for 2 yuan in a small shop, 5 yuan in a hotel, and 10 yuan in a KTV or nightclub. Consumers' acceptance of prices for the same product varies in different consumption scenarios. In such complex channel operations, **each channel merchant operates many product categories, has different profit requirements, and cannot deeply analyze consumer purchasing power. Therefore, training, guidance, and service for channel merchants will be a key task for distributors.**
In the current era of product marketing innovation, channel merchants need more guidance and service training. Because the current ground channels in China face the pain point of slow sales, and the operation methods and product selling point extraction will require distributors to increase their workload in this area. Including the distributor's sales staff, when promoting a new product, they should know themselves, the competitors, and the environment. They should be clear about their product's selling points, price, and profit. They should be familiar with competitors' prices, sales conditions, and other information. They should also be well-versed in the customer situation in the entire region or area, including the main sales channels and consumer groups. Therefore, this work will be an additional task for distributors.
**3. Improve the speed and efficiency of product circulation in channels.**
Especially in the FMCG industry, all products emphasize speed. Products must move quickly in channels; customer delivery must be fast; and in cooperation with manufacturers, the shipping speed and overall product operation speed must be fast. 100,000 yuan circulating 5 times a month can generate 500,000 yuan in efficiency and benefits. **Therefore, improving the speed and efficiency of product circulation in channels is the best method.**
From the summary of dealing with online and offline customers: online, the speed of handling near-expiry or obsolete products is very fast. If the purchase price is 10 yuan, to quickly dispose of it, they might sell it for 2 or 3 yuan, immediately freeing up warehouse space and funds to invest in new product operations. Offline distributors, on the other hand, often reduce the price gradually from 8 yuan to 7 yuan to 6 yuan to 5 yuan for the same product with a purchase price of 10 yuan.
This approach seems to avoid significant losses, but selling at 6 yuan after a 10 yuan purchase price **actually wastes the most in two aspects: one is time; the other is energy and resources.** It also slows down the speed of product circulation in channels, thereby reducing the efficiency of product sales in channels. Therefore, excellent distributors will try every means to improve the speed and efficiency of product flow.
In summary, in business operations, the most important thing for distributors is to position themselves correctly. At this time, there are three cycles:
**The first cycle is the entrepreneurial stage. During this period, distributors must ensure survival and keep their business alive.** In one sentence: do everything to survive. Don't touch the legal high-voltage line; don't engage in illegal or non-compliant product operations. On the other hand, adhere to our professional ethics and defend our bottom line. Don't engage in operations that violate morality and conscience. Go all out to focus on survival.
During this period, brand building is secondary. The most important thing is to calculate profit returns. Regardless of the channel or product, as long as it is profitable, do it. Even if it means cross-regional sales or channel conflicts, first get through this entrepreneurial survival period.
**The second cycle is the development stage. After the entrepreneurial period, distributors have accumulated certain customer relationships, channel resources, and upstream manufacturer resources.** At this time, you need to do some things and not do others, focusing wholeheartedly on development. For example, in product selection, choose products that match your business and have long-term trends. At this time, stop representing high-imitation or counterfeit products, and definitely avoid fake goods. To complete your own development, you cannot let the label of selling high-imitation or low-end goods stick to you. Use this period to improve product structure, streamline team building, stabilize market channels, and make your business healthier.
**The third cycle is the mature and stable period.** At this time, you need to focus on what you must do and what you must not do to determine the outcome. Having passed the development period, your business is stable, your capital is abundant, and you have regional influence and appeal in the market. **During this period, distributors need to make a two-to-three-year market plan.**
Through the analysis of these three aspects, distributors should clearly identify whether they are in the entrepreneurial stage, development stage, or mature and stable stage. Different periods require different decisions, selecting products suitable for current operations, and choosing suitable partners to achieve healthy and sustainable development and profitability.
Source: Fast Moving Consumer Goods Elite Club
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