For most companies, producing seasonal products often brings challenges such as short sales cycles and difficult production operations, especially for categories like candy and jelly. How to extend the sales cycle to reduce the impact of seasonal cycles on the company? Each company has its own methods, but to truly achieve leapfrog development, transformation in the following three aspects should be considered. Here are nine different operational approaches for your reference.
Product Transforming from seasonal products to 'big leisure' products The most direct way to solve the seasonal sales problem is to supplement products suitable for corresponding seasons based on product characteristics. Products can be complementary in category or packaging, and companies can choose based on their actual situation.
- In terms of category complementarity, candy and jelly can be combined according to seasons Those who have sold candy know that candy distributors generally start stocking in September and basically stop worrying about candy sales after clearing inventory by March of the following year; while jelly distributors generally start stocking in February and stop dealing with jelly after clearing inventory by September. Looking at the seasonality of these two product categories, combining them is a good choice.
Hsu Fu Chi was the first candy company to combine candy and jelly in sales. Initially, it was just an attempt by General Manager Xu Cheng, but unexpectedly, it brought gratifying sales in the first year and also increased distributors' enthusiasm for selling Hsu Fu Chi jelly during the candy off-season, greatly driving a trend in the industry. Candy companies such as Jin Sihou, Yake, and Ma Dajie all added the jelly category, while jelly companies like Xizhiliang, Qinqin, and Crayon Shin-chan also successively tried selling candy.
- In terms of bulk sales advantages, it can be combined with leisure foods such as bakery and dried tofu Candy and jelly companies have formed advantages in bulk counters in hypermarkets, and products like bakery and dried tofu are favored by consumers in recent years. Therefore, entering the bakery and dried tofu industry is also a good choice for candy and jelly companies. Hsu Fu Chi's pastries and Jin Sihou's dried tofu are both significant breakthroughs for the two companies.
Hsu Fu Chi initially entered the bakery sector with products like Sachima, French biscuits, pineapple cakes, and small pancakes that sold well nationwide, allowing Hsu Fu Chi to hold the top position in the domestic market for candy and bakery products for a considerable period. Jin Sihou, on the other hand, suddenly entered the soy products industry in 2009 and successfully made Chan Zui Hou dried tofu the number one in the dried tofu industry. Currently, Yake, Ma Dajie, Jinguan, and Crayon Shin-chan have also followed suit in bakery or dried tofu, which is a positive attempt at category extension for candy and jelly companies.
- In terms of category innovation, create new categories based on candy and jelly themselves Creating new categories means categories that did not exist before. For candy and jelly companies, categories are essentially candy, chocolate, and jelly. On one hand, products should lean toward leisure; on the other hand, products must appear as new categories. Thus, brown sugar + preserved plum became brown sugar preserved plum; oats + chocolate gave birth to Maikezi; jelly + popsicle became bang bang ice; jelly + ice cream gave birth to xixi jelly. These are all innovations creating new categories, which have made some companies successful and created sales legends, allowing candy companies like Jinguan and Ma Dajie to grow against the trend despite the overall decline in the candy industry.
The above three aspects boil down to one point: candy and jelly companies with strong seasonality should lean toward 'big leisure' food companies. This is a consensus among some senior domestic food marketing experts and is also the transformation tone that most candy and jelly companies have set for themselves. Companies like Hsu Fu Chi, Jin Sihou, Yake, Ma Dajie, and Xizhiliang have been relatively successful in transformation, with off-season and peak-season sales no longer being very obvious, as there are suitable products to sell in any season.
Channel Transforming from a single traditional channel to 'diversified' channels The richness of channels determines the sales characteristics of products, especially for single channels. Therefore, when selecting channel partners, companies can analyze the consumer groups of the channels to achieve resource complementarity.
- From a single traditional channel to a dual-channel operation of traditional + terminal In the candy industry, Hsu Fu Chi should be the earliest manufacturer to operate dual channels. Because Hsu Fu Chi's growth accompanied the development of KA hypermarkets and supermarkets in China, while other manufacturers were looking for distributors to operate products, Hsu Fu Chi divided its sales into two departments: large supermarkets, secondary supermarkets, and agents, with two managers responsible for operations. After quickly cultivating a team, it also made large supermarkets direct-operated. It can be said that it stayed ahead of market changes step by step. Therefore, the performance returns speak for themselves: Hsu Fu Chi has ranked first in national candy sales for many years.
After Hsu Fu Chi, companies such as Jin Sihou, Yake, Ma Dajie, Xizhiliang, and Crayon Shin-chan also successively established KA departments for professional operations, which is an important supplement in channel construction and has brought gratifying performance to various companies.
Increase the construction of wedding candy store channels Due to Chinese customs and habits, the consumption of wedding candy is still very strong in provinces such as Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei, and Shandong, and competition among candy companies in these provinces has become intense. With the rise of wedding candy stores in recent years, Jin Sihou, Yake, and Hsu Fu Chi have successively joined in, not only investing heavily in building wedding candy specialty stores but also vigorously developing various wedding candies suitable for local needs. Several candy companies in Fujian rely entirely on wedding candy stores in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas for support, so the construction of wedding candy store channels should not be underestimated.
The construction of special channels is a further deepening of one's own performance So-called special channels refer to sales channels in campus stores, restaurants, internet cafes, KTVs, cinemas, and special units such as the military and prisons. These channels are outside our main channels, but their sales volume cannot be ignored. Especially candy, chocolate, jelly, plus other leisure foods expanded by the company itself, these products have become hot sellers in these special channels, and due to the special nature of these channels, it is easy for some manufacturers' products to form exclusive sales. Therefore, no company can afford to ignore these special channels with low investment and high output.
Team Transforming from an all-around team to a 'professional' team Companies producing seasonal products are mostly small and medium-sized enterprises, with team settings mainly focused on all-around talents, lacking necessary channel professional talents, resulting in companies being willing but unable to deepen channel construction. Therefore, transforming from an all-around team to a professional team is an important foundation for companies to change the sales of seasonal products.
From extensive management to refined management When companies mainly relied on traditional circulation channels, team management was extensive. How the team developed customers, how to operate and manage distributors, and various management aspects of business trips were not detailed. Business owners cared more about how many customers were opened, how much money was paid, and how much performance was completed. When companies transform from a single channel to multi-channel or even omni-channel operations, team management must be systematized. The company's marketing operation processes and team operation processes must be more scientific and refined.
From 'multi-skilled' to 'professional' Before transformation, candy and jelly companies did not have very detailed departmental divisions, and personnel division was simple, so it was common for one position to have multiple skills and one person to hold multiple positions. Due to extensive management, it was relatively worry-free and convenient for companies. When companies face breakthroughs and transformation, they must emphasize one position for one duty and one person for one position. Only by being more professional in any position can companies achieve faster efficiency and better benefits.
Previously, a director of a branch office had to be able to develop customers, operate customers, and manage customers; also understand planning and promotion; and also understand expense verification. Such a branch office director is 'multi-skilled' but not 'professional', and can only serve as a fierce general for expanding business, not necessarily suitable for managing a team. During transformation, companies must cultivate branch office directors into regional leaders who can lead a professional team with clear division of labor, including sales personnel, market supervisors, finance, and internal affairs, and contribute to the company's continued brilliance with professional standards.
- From individual fighting alone to team combat In the early stages of candy and jelly companies, personnel management was extensive, with one person responsible for several provinces, and the whole country having only a few or a dozen sales personnel. This was basically the same team management model for private enterprises in the early stages of market development. As the market continues to change, the company's channel expansion is also changing. To innovate, break through, and transform, companies must divide the national market by region and build regional marketing teams for each region. The establishment of a regional marketing team not only provides more thorough personnel services and increases numbers, but also forms an internal team competition mechanism at all levels. Team tension gradually forms a joint force, ultimately leading to explosive growth in company performance.
In general, the discussion on innovation, breakthrough, and transformation for companies producing seasonal products like candy and jelly will continue. What is mentioned above is just a direction, and the specific steps still need to be considered and implemented by each company according to its own characteristics. No matter how it operates, an old saying: don't forget the original intention. That is, we are still candy and jelly companies. No matter how we transform, we must never give up the categories we are very professional in, such as candy and jelly. After all, they have made our companies and are deeply integrated into the blood of the company.
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