Post-80s Distributor Seizes Online Opportunity, Sales Grow Over 20-Fold in a Year and a Half!

During a recent market research trip in Jiangsu, I came across a new term: "new distributor." Seeing this term inevitably reminds one of its counterpart, the "old distributor." The difference between the two may seem like a matter of age, but in reality, it's more about differences in mindset and action. "New distributors" are a product of the internet era and the digitalization trend of terminal stores, where traditional distributors break free from conventional thinking. In the face of market changes, new distributors actively embrace them, while traditional distributors, due to rigid thinking, tend to "defend their turf." During my research in Jiangsu, New Distribution interviewed a post-80s new distributor, Dai Mingxin, general manager of Nanjing Aiheng Trading. Starting as an environmental engineering graduate, he fumbled his way into distribution, now representing brands like Genki Forest, Red Bull, Lay's, and Oishi, with over 1,000 SKUs and covering more than 2,000 retail outlets. While peers around him were falling, Nanjing Aiheng seized the opportunity of online platforms, partnering with JD New通路 Joint Warehouse. In just over a year, monthly sales jumped from over 100,000 yuan to over 3 million yuan, a growth of more than 20 times. How did he do it?

-01- Traditional distribution is too tiring; we need a breakthrough! As a post-80s, Dai has the unique traits of his generation: mature, steady, but not rigid in thinking, and also optimistic and cheerful. At our first meeting, the only thing that convinced me he was the distributor we were interviewing was the JD New通路 Joint Warehouse work uniform he wore. Dai told New Distribution that he studied in Beijing, majoring in environmental engineering, and no one in his family had been in distribution. After graduation, his parents asked him to come back and start a small business, so becoming a distributor was purely accidental. Compared to traditional distributors, the post-80s Dai has a broader mindset and is more sensitive to external changes. Dai told New Distribution that since 2018, he has clearly felt a shift in how terminal stores place orders, with many old customers also using mobile phones to order online. Online platforms existed before, but their impact on offline was minimal; store owners preferred buying from distributors because of better service and efficiency. Now, however, online platforms have matured, with more efficient logistics. For example, JD New通路 can basically achieve 24-hour delivery, even 12-hour delivery. Secondly, prices on platforms are transparent and not much different from offline, so stores don't need to calculate complex promotions; they order as needed, and dates are clearly marked, so there's no worry about inventory pressure. Most importantly, in the past, stores had to find different distributors for different products. It was common to have sales reps from ten different brands visit in a day, and with various order forms and accounts, mistakes were easy. Now, platforms can meet most of a store's product needs with one-stop supply, and account settlement and financial data are clear on the platform. In comparison, the gap in product assortment between distributors and platforms is huge; a single product has no impact on a store's overall planning, can't create dependency, and gives distributors no say in the store. Of course, the shift in store demand is only part of why Dai embraced online platforms. On the other hand, there's pressure from manufacturers. Dai said that after over a decade as a distributor, the biggest feeling is exhaustion. Every year, manufacturers set various sales targets and large minimum order quantities, leading to endless stock pressure. One order can last months, and the warehouse can't turn over. For example, some brands require a minimum shipment of 3,000 cases from out of town, enough for three to four months. This not only occupies warehouse space but also leads to stale dates, which stores reject, creating a vicious cycle. Based on insights into store demand and his own development needs, Dai began proactively engaging with online platforms. As for why he chose JD New通路 Joint Warehouse, besides shared values, it was more about the business breakthrough New通路 could bring. Especially in product placement, after joining the Joint Warehouse, the efficiency and frequency of product placement increased, and warehouse turnover accelerated. In Dai's view, whether distributor or wholesaler, the essence is earning money from moving goods; the higher the moving efficiency, the more you earn. After joining JD New通路 Joint Warehouse, not only did moving efficiency increase greatly, but the variety of products entering stores also expanded, giving him more say in stores, and naturally, the business scale grew.

-02- Online: either don't do it, or do it well! The rapid development of online platforms is essentially eroding offline market share step by step. For traditional distributors, in the competition for existing market, to protect their "cake" or even get a bigger slice, relying solely on traditional distribution methods is very difficult. Unless they are already local giants who can squeeze out other distributors through scale distribution. Dai told New Distribution that since he knew platform-based business was the trend, rather than waiting to be eliminated, it's better to take the initiative, become part of the platform, and scale the business through it. Before joining a platform, Dai had some concerns because he had dealt with platforms before, but most only used distributors for delivery, and the delivery areas were far from the warehouse, making costs high. Moreover, they couldn't guarantee exclusive territory; often, there were multiple competitors in one area, making it impossible to grow. After careful comparison, Dai chose to join JD New通路 Joint Warehouse. Dai told New Distribution that after joining, his business underwent a qualitative change. In terms of products, almost all products were listed on JD掌柜宝, achieving product digitalization. Stores in the area could place orders in real-time via the JD掌柜宝 App. The platform's built-in traffic attracted more and more customers from surrounding areas to order, and Dai's customer base grew from 600-700 to over 2,000, an increase of nearly three times. In terms of categories, 分销宝 connects the needs of brands and distributors, digitizing the fulfillment process of offline orders. Through the online system, it enables control over region and price across the entire supply chain from brand to small store, and adds differentiated products for distributors, wholesalers, and other channel partners to increase sales and profits. Distributors can use 分销宝 to add differentiated products and introduce new categories, not limited to beverages, such as Haidilao condiments or internet-famous brands like Zihaiguo. By combining multiple categories and brands like snacks, beverages, and condiments, they provide one-stop supply to stores, meeting their need for product variety, cultivating ordering habits, and creating dependency on the distributor. In terms of traffic, New通路 drives traffic for distributors both online and offline. Offline, New通路 customer managers proactively help distributors attract customers when visiting stores, bringing their covered stores to the distributor. Online, distributors can increase exposure and expand customers through live streaming or promotional activities. Especially live-stream selling: a two-hour session can attract nearly a thousand viewers and generate over 100,000 yuan in sales, boosting both sales and brand awareness. During the 11.11 shopping festival, New通路 will collaborate with brands and joint warehouses to create 1,111 live-stream events, forming the "largest-scale" live-stream matrix with 掌柜宝 platform, giving joint warehouse distributors maximum exposure. It turned out that Dai's choice to join JD New通路 Joint Warehouse was correct. Through these measures, in just over a year, Dai's outlet count grew from less than 1,000 to over 2,000, and his business volume leaped from monthly sales of over 100,000 yuan to over 3 million yuan.

-03- The business is far from over; there's more room for imagination! The stage from 0 to 1 is over; how to go from 1 to 10 and beyond, with the empowerment of JD New通路, there's more room for imagination. After joining the Joint Warehouse, not only did company performance and operational efficiency improve, but more importantly, more and more brands proactively approached for cooperation, such as Genki Forest and Beibingyang. Not only that, Dai told New Distribution that he believes the business will grow even more. Since joining, customers have been increasing monthly, and with the platform advantages of New通路, Aiheng Trading still has significant room for growth. Regarding future development, Dai mentioned, In the future, through further empowerment from New通路, we will optimize every step from buying to selling goods. Currently, product and order digitalization are basically complete. The biggest issue is warehouse digitalization, especially in picking efficiency. In the future, we will continuously optimize warehouse, picking, and delivery, achieving full-channel integration of online and offline orders, improving the efficiency of goods from inbound to outbound. This efficiency improvement will lead to higher customer satisfaction and thus sales growth. This is about changing his own dimension. From the store's perspective, he always adheres to the saying, "He who wins the terminals wins the world." This saying never goes out of style. Dai told New Distribution that in his view, the distributor's service target is not the manufacturer but the store; the distributor's role should be the store's shared warehouse. Future distributor development must revolve around store needs, becoming a service provider for stores. This is also the direction of New通路's future empowerment, and it's what New通路 is doing: negotiating with brands through the platform, gradually opening more products for joint warehouse distributors to sell, providing one-stop supply to stores, and achieving scale distribution, with the platform and distributors developing together.

In conclusion: Borrowing Dai's words, this industry is tough, so tough that he doesn't want his children to take over, but at the same time, it's full of infinite possibilities. The pandemic showed everyone that this industry is one of the most important. The development of online platforms is not a bad thing for the industry or distributors. What distributors need to do is seize the trend, reposition their business and value, and grow stronger.

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