Recently, I visited a beer distributor with over 20 years of experience in the industry and listened to his development story.

"In the second year of representing Brand A, the manufacturer launched a new high-end product. Because I knew the market well, I believed this product could succeed locally. So, I took the lead myself, negotiating with stores, arranging distribution, setting up displays, and even designing a catchy slogan—'This beer is brewed in a factory in a certain county, where the water quality is renowned, so the beer quality is naturally good.' Gradually, the new product gained consumer acceptance, and it was this product that helped me grow," Old Zeng recounted his days fighting alongside his team on the frontline, feeling a sense of achievement.

This client began representing Brand A in 2006. In the first 10 years, business flourished. With his aggressive approach on the frontline, he grew Brand A from zero market share to the number one position in the local market.

However, in 2015, after hiring professional managers, he stopped going to the market. Over the past 10 years, performance has stagnated, and market share has declined.

Back then, when competing for share against rivals, even though they faced blockades, he always found solutions. Later, when he stopped visiting the market, he felt uncertain about anything new. He would verbally instruct his business managers to try things, but if no results appeared in a short time, he gave up. So, his product structure remains the same as 10 years ago.

The regional general manager of Brand A said, "Old Zeng has indeed made a lot of money, but he has lost his original drive. He's been sleeping on one product all these years."

With economic development, what was once a high-end product has become mid-range, while competitors have entered the market from the high-end segment, taking away some market share.

"Watching competitors surge in the high-end segment is just like when I broke through from the high-end myself," Old Zeng sighed.

Many distributors, after growing big, seem to forget where they came from. They no longer visit the market, relying instead on data from reports and employee feedback—"This product is too expensive, it doesn't sell well," "The taste is bad, consumers don't accept it"—which gradually erodes their courage and determination to respond to change.

Market changes are so rapid that facing new problems and environments, many distributors feel anxious and even seek random solutions. In fact, all answers lie on the frontline. As Kazuo Inamori said, "There is a god on the frontline."

Go to the frontline to see opportunities

This year, at the company's Q1 customer meeting, a distributor excitedly shared, "This year, I started going to the market with frontline salespeople. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would never have imagined that beer sales at roadside food stalls are better than at stores we paid to get into."

If you don't go to the market yourself, how can you know where the opportunities are?

Back then, Mr. Zong of Wahaha spent over 200 days a year in the market, even going abroad to study beverage markets in developed countries. He indeed discovered many market opportunities, driving Wahaha's rapid growth. The birth of Nutrition Express came from noticing the popularity of Xiaoyangren Mianlian; Future Cola was launched after seeing the potential of the cola market; Wahaha Eight-Treasure Porridge was inspired by the growth trend of Yinlu Eight-Treasure Porridge...

Later, some products exited the market, mainly due to management and marketing issues, which is another topic not discussed here.

For distributors, sitting in the office analyzing data all day is not very meaningful. Some market opportunities cannot be discovered through data alone.

From data, Product A is growing well, Product B is growing slowly, so you assume Product A is the direction. Perhaps you invested most resources in A, while B grew naturally without any investment.

If you haven't put effort or resources into B, judging future trends solely from existing sales data is unreasonable.

Guazi Used Cars, before entering the used car industry, learned that the mainstream models were B2B, B2C, and C2B e-commerce, but Guazi ultimately chose the marginalized C2C model.

Later, in a review, consultant Deng Delong said, "From data, we should have chosen the best-growing B2B or B2C model, but after thorough market research, we resolutely chose the C2C model that was least favored at the time. It's not that C2C is bad, but few companies were doing it, so growth data looked poor."

Market opportunities come from deep insight into the frontline, not simply from experience or surface appearances.

Go to the frontline to find solutions to problems

When market problems arise, instead of racking your brains in the office, go to the market, talk to frontline salespeople, chat with store owners, listen to consumers—maybe the answer will emerge.

A leading fertilizer company launched a concentrated liquid fertilizer that could be diluted 5000 times to meet the needs of several acres of crops. However, a fertilizer middleman bought large barrels of liquid fertilizer (unfilled) from the factory, then diluted and bottled it with his own equipment, selling at half the retail price of the company's product, with much higher sales volume.

The factory leadership was puzzled: "Our product quality is better, and the cost-performance is higher, so why can't we outsell a middleman who buys from our factory?"

The company sent people to visit users and found that farmers were accustomed to diluting one barrel of liquid fertilizer with 2000 times water. The middleman's product exactly matched farmers' habits and was much cheaper (consumers don't calculate cost-effectiveness like company staff; they focus on whether the price is higher or lower than similar products).

There were also complaints from growers that the company's product was bad and burned their crops. It turned out that growers still diluted only 2000 times water, making the concentration too high and burning the seedlings.

This product was clearly developed by lab researchers without considering user habits or price acceptance. The result was self-entertainment and thankless effort.

The answer to the problem comes from the market. "Sitting in the office doing research" only masks the lack of understanding of the problem's essence.

A beer distributor, to attract young consumers, launched a beer package in a small pub, but sales were poor.

Everyone speculated: "The package discount is too small," "Consumers are used to a competitor's product"...

Later, during store visits, they learned that the beer package didn't match consumer habits. Most customers were two or three young people, typically ordering a package of 6 bottles, and if not enough, another 6. But the distributor, based on KTV package experience, launched a package with 24 bottles. After changing the package, sales increased significantly.

To truly understand consumer needs, you must fully consider their purchase and usage scenarios to better satisfy them.

Unearth effective market development strategies

From the market, to the market. Truly effective market strategies often come from the frontline.

Feihe's classic slogan, "More suitable for Chinese babies' constitution," came directly from the frontline.

The consulting firm surveyed excellent frontline salespeople, asking how they persuaded consumers when recommending formula. The most common feedback was, "Feihe is a domestic brand, more suitable for Chinese babies, and won't cause heatiness."

Thus, the slogan "More suitable for Chinese babies' constitution" was born.

Effective market actions from different companies, even different industries, can be adopted.

A leading dairy company launched a lactic acid bacteria drink, initially sold in whole boxes. In 2017, a distributor in Hengyang, while visiting the market, noticed that many local small brands were selling in packs of three.

He asked a store owner about sales: "Lactic acid drinks are mainly bought by parents for kids. Kids often prefer the multi-pack because they can carry it, while whole boxes are too heavy for kids, and parents rarely take them proactively," the owner replied.

Although the company sold whole boxes nationwide, based on thorough market understanding, this distributor bought a shrink-wrap machine, unpacked boxes in the warehouse, and sold three-packs at terminals. He also ran a promotion of 9.9 yuan for three bottles, which didn't disrupt pricing and met consumer purchase needs.

That year, the client's sales surged and was included in a national case study. The following year, the company also launched multi-pack products.

Extract effective market actions from the frontline, refine and standardize them, then replicate and promote them across more terminals to achieve scale and overall business growth.

Similarly, another dairy brand, during data analysis, found that in one supermarket, *Dian milk was still growing well despite a large sales base, significantly higher than other terminals of similar size. So, leadership arranged for staff to visit the terminal to understand why.

Entering the supermarket, they saw a patch of green in the middle of the milk display. The company standard was to put handle bags on *Dian milk at the top layer for easy carrying. But the store's salesperson put handle bags on every other layer (called "alternate-layer bagging"). This way, the product wasn't completely covered, and it maximized consumer attention.

The milk section is full of various products; whoever captures more consumer attention gets more sales opportunities. Later, "alternate-layer bagging" was promoted nationwide, helping *Dian milk grow rapidly across the country.

Many people's first reaction is that *Dian milk's sales growth is due to brand sponsorship and high communication volume. Indeed, not all growth comes from this change, but even if 1% of the increase is due to "alternate-layer bagging" capturing consumer attention, it's a very effective market strategy, especially since it didn't increase company costs.

A store sells well because it does something right, but that something might be done unconsciously by the store, salesperson, or frontline staff. We need to visit in person to understand the real reason, refine and standardize unconscious actions into conscious behaviors, to achieve better and more stable growth.

Final Thoughts

In the past, with enough market dividends, distributors could succeed by deep channel cultivation and aggressive distribution. Today, consumption drivers and supply-demand logic have changed; relying on experience and inertia no longer works.

Ren Zhengfei said, "Let those who hear the gunfire make decisions."

The frontline holds rich treasures. Being grounded in the frontline is key to discovering market opportunities, efficiently solving market problems, and driving long-term market development. The wisdom and methods in the market need to be diligently mined, discarding the dross and keeping the essence, to win a place in fierce competition.

If you don't return to the frontline and rebuild your perception of consumers, many former "industry veterans" will be eliminated by the new cycle.

The core of this transformation is not just product and channel updates, but a systematic reconstruction of "market insight—organizational capability—supply system." Whoever can first connect supply and demand dynamically will have the chance to break through in the brutally competitive new cycle.

From August 19-21, the 7th China FMCG Conference will gather 2500+ industry peers in Shanghai, releasing two major reports: "2025 China FMCG Distributor Operating Status Report" and "China FMCG Production-Supply-Marketing Transformation White Paper (Industry Insight 2025)", with over ten forums/closed-door meetings to delve into the essence of transformation. Instead of worrying, join us.

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