---
title: "New Product Launch: Second Restocking Is Hard, Third Even Harder—Six Marketing Strategies to Make It Easy"
description: "This article offers six marketing strategies to help FMCG distributors overcome the common challenge of retailers refusing to reorder new products after the initial launch. Using real cases, it demonstrates tactics such as bundling new with old products, signing long-term agreements, leveraging key distributors, running sequential promotions, deploying in-store staff, and building strong relationships to ensure repeat orders."
author: "New Distribution"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
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published: "2014-06-27"
language: "en"
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# New Product Launch: Second Restocking Is Hard, Third Even Harder—Six Marketing Strategies to Make It Easy

> This article offers six marketing strategies to help FMCG distributors overcome the common challenge of retailers refusing to reorder new products after the initial launch. Using real cases, it demonstrates tactics such as bundling new with old products, signing long-term agreements, leveraging key distributors, running sequential promotions, deploying in-store staff, and building strong relationships to ensure repeat orders.

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**Strategy 1: Bundle New with Old, Combine Forces**
**Case:** After a food company completed the promotion of a new product, sales points refused to take a second delivery, citing poor sales, and the new product promotion stalled. After careful analysis, the product itself was not the problem; the issue was that the company had limited supply of several best-selling original products during the new product promotion, causing sales points to be reluctant to introduce the new product. To address this, we adopted a strategy of bundling new and old products in joint promotions, grouping new and old products in a certain ratio and offering promotional gifts based on the number of groups ordered. Sales points, eager to get the best-selling old products to drive store traffic, cleared their existing new product inventory and then reordered the new product, achieving successful promotion.
**Summary:** Market demand is always changing, so updating products to keep pace with the market is essential for a company's longevity. Leveraging the market influence of mature products to push the channel to accept new products is the only way for new products to overcome rejection at the channel and terminal levels, and to hope for repeat orders at the terminal.

**Strategy 2: Promise a “Lifetime,” Get the “Certificate”**
**Case:** Y Ice Cream Company had long been dominant in H Province, with sales ranking first in the industry. But within six months, a later entrant quickly surpassed its sales and threatened to take over the market position. This later company did not launch aggressive market campaigns, yet its distribution rate and market share were very high. Y Company launched a defensive promotion with considerable investment, but no one participated, and few took delivery. It turned out that the newcomer had signed one-year sales agreements with sales points, offering substantial rewards for exclusive sales, which not only poached Y's large secondary distributors but also cut off the terminal roots.
**Summary:** Strive to build long-term business relationships with sales points, and bundling interests to a certain extent will enhance their enthusiasm for selling products. If the product has strong pull, sales point loyalty will be established. By creating contractual sales, you can tailor promotions and reward policies to different levels and characteristics of sales points, strengthening competitive targeting while maximizing protection of their interests, giving them a full sense of security and belonging. Promising a “lifetime” and getting the “certificate” provides a “guarantee” for terminal repeat orders from the channel and terminal levels.

**Strategy 3: Show the “Profit,” Use a Lever**
**Case:** A instant noodle company faced a dilemma after completing a round of distribution to secondary distributors in the S market: after the first order, new product sell-through was slow, so most secondary distributors refused to reorder, and sales stalled. After careful analysis, the salesperson identified a few large secondary distributors willing to reorder, and with a combination of profit incentives and emotional appeal, offered substantial rewards for them to take vehicles to distribute to retail stores and direct consumption points. Leveraging the network of these large secondary distributors, after three consecutive rounds of operation, the product quickly penetrated to consumers, and consumer pull drove retail stores to stock up, which in turn pushed secondary distributors to reorder. The problem of refusal to reorder was solved, and the market quickly opened up.
**Summary:** Marketing is the process of delivering the right product through the right channels to consumers for consumption. The biggest challenge lies in the right channels—whether marketers can find suitable methods and strategies, identify a strong “lever” and accurate “fulcrum” to sustain this process through channels and terminals. How can marketing be so clear? Only from the source of repeat orders.

**Strategy 4: A Serial “Drama,” Three Episodes Ensure Repeat Orders**
**Case:** While serving an ice cream company, we developed a special network around schools. Due to closed management in most schools, school wholesale departments operated as closed-door sellers, giving them relatively high bargaining power. Either we couldn't get in, or once we did, they would hold the product without selling, waiting to negotiate terms. To address this, we analyzed and developed a “serial development plan”: the first episode was a “prize redemption on consignment” system, placing products at sales points with a storage fee of 0.1 yuan per piece, printing discount cards for students, who could redeem a product worth 1 yuan per piece with the card plus 0.1 yuan. The stored products were quickly snapped up; the second episode involved buy-and-give promotions, such as buy one get two, buy one get one, buy two get one, depending on the product, and empty bag exchange activities, where 3-6 empty bags could be exchanged for a designated product. The product quickly gained student recognition and acceptance, forcing sales points to reorder; the third episode was to strike while the iron was hot, signing sales agreements with the strongest sales points and designating them as authorized dealers, firmly locking them in.
**Summary:** In the early stages of new product promotion, consumers inevitably go through a process from “unfamiliar” to “familiar” and then to “liking.” At this time, you cannot rely solely on the product's own “charm” to “tempt” consumers; you must be adept at creating a serial “drama” for consumers and terminals, so that repeat orders can continue.

**Strategy 5: Deploy Staff to Stations, Teach by Example**
**Case:** A milk powder company launched a new formula milk powder, a strategic product for the year. The initial launch failed because sales points were unwilling to reorder due to difficulty in selling. The product faced two major marketing challenges: first, how to make consumers understand and recognize the product's functions; second, the product's high price, and how to get sellers to identify with it and build confidence in recommending and introducing it. Due to limited resources, media advertising was out of the question. To ensure successful promotion, they conducted closed-door intensive training for all marketing personnel on product knowledge and promotion techniques, then adopted a model of full-team stationing for training and promotional sales. Two key requirements were implemented: first, stationed staff had to conduct special intensive training for in-store sales personnel, with supervision and spot checks by higher-level managers; second, each stationed person had to personally introduce and recommend the product with the store owner or employees every day, and record daily sales achievement rates in writing and submit them, with special rewards and penalties after the activity. As a result, the product quickly saw continuous reorders and even supply shortages.
**Summary:** To achieve healthy repeat orders at the terminal, companies must train relevant personnel in product knowledge and recommendation skills; use publicity and promotions to educate target consumers about the product and guide consumption; cultivate the sales environment and atmosphere at sales points; strengthen communication and training with sales point personnel; and develop “one-on-one” publicity and promotional activities for target consumer groups.

**Strategy 6: First Time Strangers, Second Time Acquaintances, Third Time Business Done Without Discussion**
**Case:** After a food company completed market development and distribution in A market, they sent salesperson Xiao Chen to operate. Since the product had no special selling points or advantages over similar products, the market remained quiet after the first round of distribution. After a follow-up visit, the regional manager gave Xiao Chen no promotional support or sales advice, only requiring him to visit every sales point daily, but with the condition that on their next joint visit, at all sales points, the owners and employees should be able to call Xiao Chen by name and receive him warmly. Xiao Chen worked hard to meet the manager's requirements, visiting sales points daily, building relationships with owners and employees, and wholeheartedly establishing customer relationships. To his surprise, when he met the manager's requirements, sales points had already reordered many times. The problem of no repeat orders was solved effortlessly. “The more impression a salesperson makes in the minds of distributors, the more sales your product will have.” In practice, some salespeople view distribution as a simple transaction, or even a one-off deal, unloading goods and leaving. However, when launching new products or starting new markets, a salesperson may be a stranger to sales points, but if they cannot get their face known and accepted by key channel players, multiple repeat orders will be hard to achieve.
**Summary:** Strengthen customer relationships at sales points; sell yourself to sales points, and they will recommend your product to consumers. First time strangers, second time acquaintances, third time business done without discussion. This applies to the relationship between salespeople and sales points, and similarly between new products and consumers. Only by putting in the effort of “three times” or more will repeat orders come to you.

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