Recently, news of Uni-President signing a strategic cooperation agreement with JD New Channel has drawn attention in the FMCG sector. On January 17, JD New Channel and Uni-President agreed to deepen cooperation in joint warehousing and distribution, data sharing, and brand marketing to better meet the increasingly diverse market demands of the borderless retail era. Since the second half of 2018, more brands have embraced B2B. As a typical representative of the 'deep distribution' model, Uni-President's full embrace of B2B marks another milestone for the industry. For the FMCG industry, past confusion stemmed from not seeing the direction, and during the exploratory phase of B2B development, the value of platforms was unclear. But with the advancement of internet technology, as platforms matured, the value of cooperation and collaboration between brands and platforms became evident through continuous iteration and validation. In the content of this cooperation between Uni-President and JD New Channel, several points deserve our attention: 1. Joint Warehousing and Distribution: At the signing, both parties focused on cooperation in joint warehousing and distribution. In the future, Uni-President will bring its distributors, selecting quality channels and warehousing resources, to join the JD New Channel platform. 2. Data Sharing: Leveraging deep understanding and technical application of big data, JD New Channel will help Uni-President improve operational efficiency. Through the Huiyan Big Data System and the Xingzhe Sales Promotion Platform, it will address issues of information asymmetry and lack of interaction between brands and retail terminals. 3. Brand Marketing: Both parties will integrate Uni-President's major brand and IP resources, leveraging JD New Channel's capabilities in creating hit products and launching new products, to expand Uni-President's brand influence at terminal stores and consumer endpoints. The above are the key contents of the cooperation between Uni-President and JD New Channel. Interpreting these three aspects may bring new thinking to brand cooperation with B2B platforms. In the view of New Distribution, the channel digital transformation driven by B2B platforms has arrived, whether you like it or not. When channel digital transformation is a certainty, brands should focus on how to cooperate with B2B and where the key foothold lies. 01 Joint Warehousing and Distribution In March 2018, during the Chengdu Spring Sugar and Wine Fair, JD New Channel announced a new warehousing and distribution solution, building a 'joint warehousing and distribution' system with brands and channel distributors as a supplement to JD's existing B-end exclusive logistics. Less than a year later, according to insiders, JD New Channel has 2,000 joint warehouses, covering 400 cities across 30 provinces. In the view of New Distribution, whether in terms of time or the number of joint warehouses, the joint warehousing and distribution system has basically passed the polishing and iteration stage. It has become one of the most important 'products' of JD New Channel, and this cooperation with Uni-President at the joint warehouse level is a strong validation. What is the value of 'joint warehousing and distribution'? For the platform, regional joint warehouses handle high-frequency, frontline, seasonal, and high-turnover products, while self-operated warehouses handle long-tail, low-frequency, slow-moving, and seasonal products. The combination of regional joint warehouses and JD's self-operated central warehouses achieves the best balance between warehousing costs and turnover efficiency. For regional distributors, leveraging the platform's massive product resources, they can open more stores, improve warehousing and distribution management capabilities and operational efficiency, transforming traditional distributors into 'internet-based' distributors. Of course, the most critical point is that for brands, joint warehouses completely integrate online and offline, leveraging the platform's informatization and data capabilities to empower brands' offline distribution systems. In the past, brands hoped to obtain distribution data from distributors and small stores but were plagued by fragmented and inaccurate information, leading to products becoming 'untraceable' once they reached distributors' warehouses. Even if brands have inventory data from distributors, it is difficult to accurately obtain sales data, and data can only reflect a specific product or period. Isolated inventory and sales data have minimal value for brands' overall business decisions. In the view of New Distribution, truly effective data breaks information silos, forming a complete chain. Through effective collaboration among brands, distributors, and platforms, with warehousing and distribution as the carrier, platforms digitize warehousing and, through powerful data aggregation and organization capabilities, provide brands with a complete distribution data map. Based on the full-chain data map, it can guide not only current operations but also future operations. Mr. Zhao Bo, founder of New Distribution, once said: 'In the future, one pallet of goods is the prerequisite and infrastructure for digitalization of the FMCG industry channel. ' The joint warehousing and distribution system is the prototype of 'one pallet of goods.' Where the goods are is not important; what matters is how to distribute products to small stores and consumers with higher efficiency and lower cost. That is the key. 02 Data Sharing If joint warehousing and distribution is the 'appetizer' of the cooperation between Uni-President and JD New Channel, then 'data sharing' is the 'main course'—turning offline product warehousing and handling into visible, real-time data, allowing brands to find leverage for market expansion and maximize their market value. Regional differences lead to differences in brand market policies, resulting in inconsistent competitiveness across regions. Whether for second- or third-tier brands or top-tier companies like Uni-President, offline market coverage cannot be 100%, leaving many blank channels and sales points to develop. By utilizing the data platform provided by JD New Channel, brands can cover some sales points and increase volume in blank markets. At the same time, compared to traditional channels, B2B data empowerment enables full-chain visualization and transparency, providing possibilities for precision marketing. Brands can cross-match sales points with B2B platforms, precisely stock stores that do not carry full product lines, and optimize existing inventory. Of course, the value of data sharing for brands is not only in improving market coverage and product item counts at outlets but also in data on sales, gross profit, turnover rates across chains and regions. As data accumulates and settles, and can be compared horizontally and vertically, its value becomes apparent. For example, whether this month sells better than last month, which market sells well, which product items, which links, which terminals sell well, and even what types of consumers buy more—all this data can be captured. When brands fully grasp it, they can diagnose sales and adjust strategies in a timely manner. Behind data sharing is win-win: brands increase market share, while platforms optimize chains, improve efficiency, and reduce costs. In sharing, brands grow and understand the market better; platforms grow and understand service better. 03 Brand Marketing When JD New Channel and brands complete joint warehousing and distribution and data sharing, the platform's 'productivity' will truly be released for brands. The era of 'big single products' is over, and traditional consumers are gradually disappearing. With consumption upgrading and the internet flattening information asymmetry, consumers are no longer satisfied with just 'promotions.' Users are segmenting; each person's consumption pursuit is not just material satisfaction. Consumers are shifting from mass, basic needs to personalized and emotional needs. Highly fragmented demand poses more severe challenges to brands. JD New Channel can combine its accumulated store consumption data with JD Group's consumer big data to provide brands with consumption trend analysis across more categories. Based on this, brands can develop more personalized products according to their positioning and brand tone. In fact, compared to traditional channels, B2B uses labeled management of terminal stores to precisely distribute personalized, niche, and IP-based products with their own traffic, enabling brands to accurately cover personalized consumer groups. Not only niche products, but most products increasingly need precise store consumption data for distribution. Frankly, more and more brands are actively embracing B2B platforms. Through this cooperation between Uni-President and JD New Channel, it is evident that platforms can set different cooperation forms for companies with different categories, brands, and distribution models. For example, using distribution models as a classification standard, for deep, medium, and light distribution brands, JD New Channel's self-operated plus joint warehouse digital platform can well meet the different business needs of various brands. Summarizing the cooperation between Uni-President and JD New Channel, it is clear that the key foothold for brand cooperation with B2B platforms is data. Looking at JD New Channel's series of digital system layouts for brands, intermediate channel distributors, and retail terminals in the past two years, including the Huiyan Big Data System, Xingzhe Sales Promotion Platform, Field Service Management System, Store Labeling System, Smart Store Management System, and JD Convenience Go Mini Program, JD New Channel is continuously accumulating full-chain data, preparing for the upgrade from digitalization to data-driven operations, and this data capability is becoming a powerful tool for industry production. Against the backdrop where full-chain, full-network data innovation is an inevitable trend, JD New Channel seems to have found a path to lead brands, channel distributors, and retail small stores into the new consumption era. -END-