---
title: "New Distribution Exclusive Release: 2018-2019 FMCG Retail Small Store B2B Competitiveness Report"
description: "The 5th FMCG + Internet Conference, hosted by New Distribution, was grandly held on March 16 at Chengdu Longemont Hotel, attracting thousands of industry professionals including distributors, manufacturers, and internet companies from across the country. The main forum began at 9:00 AM, and the following is the speech delivered by Zhao Bo, founder of New Distribution, organized for readers. The report, based on data from 4,487 stores across 41 cities and 22 provinces from August to December 2018, reveals key insights into the B2B landscape for small retail stores."
author: "赵波"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2019-03-16"
language: "en"
canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/new-distribution-exclusive-release-2018-2019-fmcg-retail-small-store-b2b-d26bf037/"
markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/new-distribution-exclusive-release-2018-2019-fmcg-retail-small-store-b2b-d26bf037.md"
original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/qNiChCUlPxvWuEZivJyZJQ"
translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E6%96%B0%E7%BB%8F%E9%94%80%E7%8B%AC%E5%AE%B6%E5%8F%91%E5%B8%83-2018-2019%E5%B9%B4%E5%BF%AB%E6%B6%88%E9%9B%B6%E5%94%AE%E5%B0%8F%E5%BA%97-b2b%E7%AB%9E%E4%BA%89%E5%8A%9B%E6%8A%A5%E5%91%8A-d26bf037.md"
attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/new-distribution-exclusive-release-2018-2019-fmcg-retail-small-store-b2b-d26bf037/"
usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt"
---

# New Distribution Exclusive Release: 2018-2019 FMCG Retail Small Store B2B Competitiveness Report

> The 5th FMCG + Internet Conference, hosted by New Distribution, was grandly held on March 16 at Chengdu Longemont Hotel, attracting thousands of industry professionals including distributors, manufacturers, and internet companies from across the country. The main forum began at 9:00 AM, and the following is the speech delivered by Zhao Bo, founder of New Distribution, organized for readers. The report, based on data from 4,487 stores across 41 cities and 22 provinces from August to December 2018, reveals key insights into the B2B landscape for small retail stores.

The **5th FMCG + Internet Conference**, hosted by New Distribution, was grandly held on March 16 at Chengdu Longemont Hotel! This grand event attracted thousands of industry professionals, including distributors, manufacturers, and internet companies, who gathered from all over the country. The venue was packed, and the scene was unprecedented.

At 9:00 AM on March 16, the main forum officially began. The following is the speech delivered by **Zhao Bo, founder of New Distribution, organized by New Distribution for readers.**

Today, I will share the **"2018 FMCG Retail Small Store B2B Competitiveness Report," which is based on data from 4,487 stores across 41 cities and 22 provinces, collected over 4 months from August to December 2018.** The 41 cities surveyed are among the top in China in terms of GDP. Although these 40-plus cities may not fully represent the entire country, we believe that through these economically developed cities, we can discover how the group with the highest acceptance of B2B views it.

The report shows: First, the age of small store owners is becoming younger, with 46% under 35 years old. Additionally, the average monthly sales per store is 140,000 yuan, with net profit of 18,000 yuan.

Second, among the 4,487 stores, 74% are using FMCG B2B platforms for purchasing, an increase of 7% compared to 2018 data. The penetration rate of FMCG B2B is higher in the eastern coastal regions.

Third, small retail stores use an average of 2.6 B2B platforms, with the highest number in second-tier cities at approximately 3.5. In terms of usage frequency, Alibaba, JD.com, Yijiupi, RT-Mart e-Lufa, and Zhongshang Huimin are among the top.

Fourth, store owners are increasingly ordering from B2B platforms, with an average of 5.4 orders per month. What does this 5.4 times mean? Those in FMCG know that frontline sales personnel typically visit small stores once a week. During our visits, we found that B2B platform ground promotion also follows this pattern, roughly once a week. The data showing 5.4 orders per month indicates that small stores are gradually no longer solely influenced by salespeople but are willing to place orders independently. Especially in first-tier cities, **the frequency of small stores ordering from B2B has reached 6.4 times per month, meaning that B2B platforms are indeed enabling more small stores to place orders independently during periods without visits.**

Fifth, in terms of order weight, the proportion of orders placed on B2B platforms is generally within 10%, averaging around 7.7%. Beverages, instant drinks, and dairy products are currently the main categories ordered from B2B. Of course, for small stores, price remains the core concern, and the lower the city tier, the more store owners focus on price.

Sixth, convenient ordering is the most valued B2B platform service for small stores. Daily ordering methods mainly include two types: one is searching on the B2B platform page, and the other is B2B sales personnel visiting to introduce products. For example, B2B ground promotion staff will tell store owners about promotions or ask what they want to order, and then store owners actively search for it. This shows that in the past few decades, sales personnel have been competing with competitors for shelf space. In the near future, we are likely to compete with competitors for search entries on B2B platforms. For instance, searching for "instant noodles" might mean that Master Kong and Uni-President will "fight tooth and nail" over the pop-up window.

Seventh, in terms of delivery time, B2B platform delivery times are indeed getting shorter, with 84% of platforms able to complete delivery on the same day. This efficiency is absolutely unmatched by distributors. According to the survey data, across 41 cities, 123 B2B platforms were counted, with an average of 11 per city. The higher the city tier, the more platforms. In Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, Shanghai has 20, Shenzhen 18, and Guangzhou and Beijing each 15. Interestingly, cities like Hangzhou, Changsha, Xi'an, and Fuzhou have many B2B platforms, indicating that the B2B competition is still fierce.

Of the 123 B2B platforms counted, 75% are single-city platforms, with only 5 platforms covering more than 30 cities, and 6 platforms covering 1 to 30 cities. The most extensive is JD New Channel, covering approximately 41 cities. New Distribution believes that in the past, brand owners prioritized cooperation with large platforms like JD and Alibaba. In the next step, we think that single-city regional B2B platforms may become key considerations for brand owners.

Now, the three-tier landscape in China has basically taken shape. Strictly speaking, it should be four tiers: **First, national; second, regional; third, local; fourth, local, including a large number of distributors transforming into local B2B platforms.**

These are the most influential B2B platforms in each region, with some differences in rankings. For the full report, please click the "Read Original" link below.

In terms of survey conclusions and insights, New Distribution believes that compared to last year, B2B platform service capabilities have improved, and B2B platforms have also begun to integrate, with the strong getting stronger. Competition between service platforms and mainstream platforms within regions is becoming increasingly fierce, meaning that local small B2B platforms not only face severe survival issues but also competitive pressure from giant platforms. From the trend of small retail stores, procurement channels have gradually become more formalized, and low prices and fast delivery are the main demands for ordering channels. Additionally, **the number of commonly used B2B platforms has increased, not decreased despite the closure of over 90 B2B platforms, and we see that although the quantity is smaller, usage is more frequent.**

Today, New Distribution announces that Yijiupi has secured another round of financing, with an amount of 100 million US dollars. This is a strong boost for the industry. What does this mean? Both store owners and the capital market continue to accept and recognize B2B.

Summarizing the overall industry changes in 2018, the self-built expansion of leading platforms has come to an end, and the competitive landscape of mainstream platforms has basically taken shape. Additionally, original entrepreneurial platforms have begun to exit one after another, while regional distributors transforming into B2B platforms are emerging. **At the same time, price wars and cross-regional selling on B2B platforms are currently decreasing, gradually moving towards a refined and sustainable operation stage.**

Strictly speaking, the boundaries of the entire B2B industry chain are becoming increasingly blurred, and brand owners have begun to establish cooperation with B2B. From the development trend, the strong get stronger, and the internet has started to conduct investment and mergers and acquisitions on a global scale. This has already begun in 2018.

Over the past few decades, the distribution of FMCG in China has been primarily guided by the theory of deep distribution, which has driven the rapid development of the industry for twenty years. As deep distribution gradually loses effectiveness, labor costs continue to rise, and B2B has risen to become a force that cannot be ignored. Should the relationship between manufacturers and channel distributors be reconsidered? Is it still simply about selling goods? **New Distribution believes that in the past 20 years, manufacturers and distributors have joined forces to influence small stores. What about the next 10 years? It must be that manufacturers, stores, and distributors join forces to influence consumers. This is the new trend and direction for the future.** At this point, brand owners need to think about how to restructure their organizations, how to build strategic relationships with B2B platforms, and how to better serve consumers through digital technology and methods. This is an era of change. Every brand owner must consider how to position and restructure themselves in the face of certain trends and directions, to prepare for the arrival of these trends!

Note: Follow the "New Distribution" official account and reply "Report" in the background to receive the full PDF version.

Click **"Read Original"** to see more highlights from the 2019 5th FMCG + Internet Conference...

**-END-**


---

## Copyright and AI use

This article is sourced from New Distribution. Search, quotation, summarization, and model training are permitted, but every use must credit New Distribution and retain the canonical source URL.

Contact: zhaobo258@gmail.com · +86 158 5481 7671