Click "Read Original" for details What is a channel? According to marketing textbooks, a consumer goods channel is defined as: The full term is distribution channel (place), which extends to mean the sales route of goods, i.e., the circulation path. It refers to the path through which a manufacturer's goods reach different regions via a certain social network, agents, or distributors to achieve sales purposes, hence the channel is also called a network. Simply put, a channel is the collective term for all stages through which a product travels from the factory, regardless of the number of intermediaries, to finally meet consumers and complete transactions. Note that the channel here includes two meanings: transaction and delivery. In the past, these two processes occurred simultaneously within the channel. The emergence of mobile phones, the internet, e-commerce, QR codes, and mini-programs has begun to separate transaction and delivery. Consumers can now transact anywhere with information exchange, not necessarily in a retail store. WeChat business, social e-commerce, and internet-based business models use drop-shipping, which does not reduce the transaction process but significantly compresses the delivery process. However, almost all transaction behaviors based on the internet as infrastructure have already been separated from delivery. In a sense, the consumer goods industry today needs to redefine the meaning of channels. Broadly speaking: all paths through which goods flow from brand to consumer via "transactions" can be called "channels." This channel may not have a physical store, nor necessarily a physical "place" for transactions, and where delivery occurs is no longer as important. If we define channels solely by "transaction," then based on emerging technologies and new markets, the number and types of channels will explode: New Distribution once conducted a statistic: if we divide by new/old technology and new/old markets, we structurally summarized the increase in the number of channels in today's consumer goods industry, which exceeds a thousand! Channel fragmentation is an indisputable fact! The channel model we were once good at was built on China's large-scale market, where consumer demand was relatively homogeneous, and enterprises only needed to develop one product. Mass production, then distribution through a relatively single model. This model is called the "HBG (How Brands Grow)" model in the daily chemical industry. Under this model, the sales team, if compared to an army, is more like an infantry composed of a single type of soldier on a super-large scale. But this model has obvious defects in today's market environment:

1. Long profit chain: goods from factory to distributor to sub-distributor to wholesaler cannot withstand the destructive price impact of short transaction chains;

2. Numerous personnel, difficult management, distribution model must be relatively single, like infantry, emphasizing execution, and lacking adaptability to market changes;

3. Overemphasizing the importance of channels while neglecting consumer demands;

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4. The deep distribution model has a single function and cannot support parallel distribution across numerous innovative retail scenarios. In today's retail market environment, there is almost no pure online or offline shopping; nearly 2/3 of consumers shop across channels. The combination of online and offline shopping has also become the mainstream mode of consumer routine consumption. Therefore, omnichannel distribution is one of the core skills that every enterprise, and even every city manager, must master. What is omnichannel distribution? It means covering all scenarios where consumers can be reached and transact, whether offline or online, within any time and space radius! Although "wherever consumers are, our goods are there" is our ideal state, with thousands of channels, it is impossible to achieve 100% coverage. This requires us to selectively allocate resources and energy to channels based on our category characteristics and consumer behavior. Ms. Zhu Yijing, Vice President of Greater China at Mondelez, shared a viewpoint at the New Distribution Conference: "Although channels are diverse, the shopping mindset in different channels is different. You will find that the offline hypermarket still has the strongest stock-up mindset. Even though online is an infinite shelf with tens of thousands of SKUs, when consumers take out their phones, if they want to view 100 items, their hands might get tired. A screen can only show 4-5 items at a time, but a hypermarket shelf can hold 20-25 items. Consumers can view about 60-70 items per minute. Although it is convenient to take out a phone online, viewing 100 items is quite tiring. Therefore, many stock-up mindsets remain in hypermarkets. Online/offline supermarkets are more for replenishment, buying what is needed. Offline supermarkets have the advantage of proximity compared to hypermarkets; online supermarkets are within easy reach. The replenishment mindset relies more on active search." Therefore, although omnichannel distribution is the ideal model, full-channel coverage is not economical. Combining consumer behavior with category characteristics to find channels with the highest transaction probability for effective coverage is the most efficient approach. Moreover, online, with big data support, we not only need to achieve coverage but also enable consumers to quickly find products and achieve precise reach. Offline, we also need to leverage new technology for more efficient management and precise distribution. As a city manager, the ultimate goal is to integrate and connect online and offline channels, fully integrating products, teams, and channels to achieve integrated marketing. Any enterprise's marketing resources are limited. When exploring new business, we should not only look at product specials but also pay attention to key details such as new product launch capability, promotional ROI, user conversion data, etc. There are too many operational details to elaborate in this preface. However, Mr. Xu Xiang's practical insights, distilled from years of hands-on experience, are of significant reference value for every frontline city manager. This is an era where the unknown is greater than the known, an era where thinking is greater than action, and an era where practice precedes theory. City managers are the operators of the frontline market, the first to hear the cannon fire. In an era of market changes, we cannot rely solely on clear and accurate guidance from headquarters. We must proactively upgrade our cognition, skills, tools, and organizational capabilities to become the most "ing" trendsetters of this era and win every battle. This article is the preface written by Zhao Bo, founder of New Distribution, for Mr. Xu Xiang's upcoming book: "Omnichannel Management for FMCG Regional/City Managers." The book is expected to be officially released at the end of the year. Please stay tuned! Are you "watching" me?