Click the image for more details Author | Liu Chunxiong Source | Teacher Liu's Forum (ID: liuchunxiong1964) An industry giant's CEO said that distribution is no longer a problem, but products just don't sell through. This is not an isolated phenomenon; it is a common one. The reason is that most companies still follow traditional deep distribution practices: distribution plus sell-through. Distribution is not difficult; as long as you want to distribute, you can always get it out there. After all, store owners have no pressure; if it doesn't sell, they can just return it. So distribution is not a challenge now. Some even say that the better the customer relationship, the harder it is to achieve sell-through. Think about it, it makes sense. Because with good customer relationships, distribution happens almost without negotiation. Without negotiation, store owners don't pay much attention, and ultimately sell-through suffers. Since distribution is not the problem, what is? 01 Let me tell a little story from the past. 19 years ago, when serving a company, the problem we encountered was the difficulty of selling new products. It was just the opposite of now. In the summer of 1998, when both the Yangtze River and the Songhua River flooded, we were worried about selling new products. Because the new products were priced high, they didn't sell. At that time, nationwide campaigns were launched to donate money and goods to disaster areas. Some companies donated their slow-moving products to the disaster areas, but we donated our best products. Since it was a donation, it was free for people to use. Distributors also donated goods in the same way. Unexpectedly, after the flood, the products miraculously sold well. Looking back, it was precisely because we donated the best products and let consumers use them for free that we achieved a magical cognitive effect. Consumers tasted such good products and then went to retail stores to buy them. If someone buys, someone will sell. In China, marketing is about buying and selling. 02 The problem we face now seems opposite to that of 19 years ago, but the underlying logic is actually the same. What is the underlying logic? It is that during product upgrades, because the cognition problem is not solved, sell-through is difficult. In the past, sales were difficult, and the pressure was on the store owners. They dared not stock up because sell-through was difficult. Now distribution is easy, and the pressure is on manufacturers and distributors; store owners have no pressure. Whether it sells through or not, store owners don't care. Some might say that in the past, "distribution plus promotion" always worked for sell-through, so why doesn't it work now? I think this is a unique phenomenon during product upgrades. Cognition during product upgrades is much harder and more complex than cognition for regular products. 03 Let me give another example. A new distributor, who had only been in the business for two years and naturally hadn't gotten big brands, was doing better than other distributors, with sales growing continuously. He had three different approaches. First, he selected products online. Channels are both pathways and barriers. When new products enter channels, they face "layer-by-layer rejection" from the channel; good products may be rejected before they even meet consumers. E-commerce is B2C, so new products meet consumers directly, and whether they are good products has already been verified by consumers. Second, he only served relatively high-end stores. High-end stores and high-end consumers form a symbiotic relationship. Since upgraded new products are niche consumption, they can only be distributed to key stores. Third, tasting. A more fashionable term is experience. As long as someone doubts the new product, immediately let them taste it, whether it's the store owner or a consumer. Good products are not afraid of tasting. 04 As long as it's an upgraded product, it's niche. China rarely has true niche products; being niche is just a way to conquer the mass market. Starting from niche, the goal is the mass market. Some niche products are just "mass market" failures that are retroactively called niche; these are "fake niche." Since it's niche, talking about distribution rate is wrong. The premise of distribution rate is mass market. For product upgrades, high distribution rate means distributing products to the wrong stores. For example, a 5-yuan drinking water, when the mainstream is only 1-2 yuan, if fully distributed, the result is naturally large-scale returns. A 5-yuan drinking water is several levels higher than the current mainstream. Contrary to assessing distribution rate, product upgrades must assess precise distribution, placing products in appropriate stores. Only appropriate is correct. 05 The last issue is product cognition. In the past, promotion was enough, and product cognition was not a big problem because similar products had little cognitive difference. Now that products are upgraded, cognition is a big problem. Of course, cognition is not just about tasting. Recently, while serving a new category, Xiaoshile Hawthorn Refreshment, we just made an attempt at cognition. Tasting alone is not enough; there must be experience. Experience first, then spread. Store owners cannot just accept distribution; they must also make first recommendations, making the owner the "chief salesperson" for the new product. Once this system is fully applied, new product sell-through will no longer be a problem, and brand communication will not be difficult either. In short, this is a new marketing system. Just as deep distribution was fresh more than 10 years ago, this system is also fresh. New Distribution's "7th B-end E-commerce Study Tour" is now recruiting! Activity process:
June 19-23, Suzhou · Shanghai · Hangzhou 19th: Check in at designated hotel in Suzhou; 20th: Visit Suzhou Medline; 21st: Visit Shanghai Hd; 22nd: Visit Hangzhou Wangcang; 23rd: Return or free arrangement for sightseeing; Distributor friends interested in transformation are welcome to join us to learn and conduct on-site inspections: Organization format ************1. Company visit
- Actual market case visit
- On-site explanation
- One-on-one communication************ Participating distributor friends only need to pay a registration fee of 200 yuan Other expenses are self-covered Long press this QR code or click "Read the original text" to register. Long press the QR code to add WeChat for registration Group photos from previous inspections: 6th B-end e-commerce inspection group photo, from top to bottom: Zhongke Shangruan, Shuhai Supply Chain, Yunmei Co., Ltd., Yishang Logistics. 5th B-end e-commerce inspection group photo, from top to bottom: Huiwangxing, Beiquan, Tongying Tianxia, Quanshihui, Zhongke Shangruan. 4th B-end e-commerce inspection group photo, from top to bottom: Alibaba Retail Link, Qianmi Network. 3rd B-end e-commerce inspection group photo, from top to bottom: Yunbao Shangmeng, Weijie City Distribution, Wanshang Yizhan. 2nd B-end e-commerce inspection group photo, from top to bottom: Jinhuobao, Caiba, Yishang. 1st B-end e-commerce inspection group photo, from top to bottom: Piduoduo, Beiquan, Yishang. Click "Read the original text" to register -END-