It is well known that establishing connections and enhancing stickiness is a necessary process for every brand to bind with consumers, but how to achieve deep binding and realize the conversion path may be a problem that troubles many brands. At the 2023 (8th) China FMCG Innovation Conference, Liu Zhao, CEO of Qince, delivered a speech titled "The Digital Implementation Path of B-C Integrated Marketing." In his view, with the development of digitalization, brand owners will establish true connections with customers in the future, and digital means will be an important booster. Digitalization reduces the cost of connecting brands with customers Some may think that FMCG brands do not need to understand customers; as long as they convey the product's concept, features, and benefits to users, users will buy. But I believe that one-way communication is a very dangerous approach. For example, the pager is a typical one-way communication device, which was gradually replaced by smartphones with the advent of two-way communication technology. A similar example is the shared bike industry. When OFO started operations, it used a one-way communication method. Users needed to scan a QR code with their phones to unlock the bike. But OFO did not know where its bikes were, nor did it establish any connection with customers; this is a typical failure case of one-way communication. All brands seen in daily life know their customers, such as Apple, Tesla, and Hermès. No matter which store we purchase from, we are required to register as members and accumulate corresponding member points. However, in the FMCG sector, there has not been much attention to user management over the years. Some may say that FMCG brands have too many users, so they cannot reach every customer, but that is not the case. Now Douyin has 500 million monthly active users, and China Mobile has 1.6 billion users; I believe this number is definitely larger than the user base of the FMCG brands present here. China Mobile and Douyin know every one of their users and recommend different content to each customer, thanks to the digital era. So why have FMCG brands not been able to connect with so many customers so far? Because the cost of connecting customers is relatively high, exceeding the value brought by connecting customers. For example, as an Apple member, I create value for Apple; as a Walmart member, I often shop at the supermarket, bringing high returns to Walmart. If the cost of connecting customers cannot be less than the value brought by connecting customers, then for FMCG brands, connecting customers is not worthwhile. However, the situation has changed today. Why is everyone in the FMCG industry talking about digitalization now? In fact, digitalization existed ten years ago, but it was mostly used in monopoly industries. Everyone knows that banks began digitalization thirty or forty years ago. In the past, digitalization was done by wealthy industries, but brands around us, such as Nestlé, Coca-Cola, and P&G, completed digitalization decades ago. Why has the cost of digitalization dropped significantly in recent years, making digital products affordable for every ordinary enterprise? What enables digital enterprises to serve so many FMCG brands, distributors, and consumers? It is because someone is carrying the burden: every year, one million computer science graduates enter the workforce, and the capital market invests 40 billion yuan annually into the digital market. These factors drive the prosperity of the entire market and make digital products affordable for everyone. Currently, digitalization is in a booming stage, costs are decreasing year by year, and we can connect with every customer. Now is the time when the cost of connecting customers has begun to be less than the value brought by connecting customers. I believe that in three to five years, no major FMCG brand will fail to know its customers. New technologies drive the development of enterprise B-C integration Qince specializes in providing digital solutions for FMCG enterprises. Currently, many FMCG brands choose Qince as a partner, especially emerging consumer forces that prefer to arm their brands with digitalization. In the past, brands connected with customers through a long goods circulation chain, supplying products to stores and connecting with consumers through logistics, but they could not get any feedback. Now, the only way is to establish a digital information link. With advanced technology, the cost of digital connection has significantly decreased. In recent months, I have been studying artificial intelligence every day and have participated in many related activities and conferences. In fact, the development of AI is bringing tremendous changes to our lives. Many people have divergent views on ChatGPT. Some think it is just a chatbot, often asked silly questions like whether dad and mom can get married, and it cannot answer such questions, so it seems useless. Others believe that current AI can indeed draw many beautiful pictures, which may affect the graphic design industry. What I see is a huge opportunity. What changes does the current general AI bring us? It is the utilization of data. In fact, the vast majority of brands have digital systems that collect more or less data. Currently, digital data is not scarce but very abundant. But for most people, these numbers do not help them much. These numbers are only used by bosses to customize reports. Why? Because the data volume is too large. But now, the new generation of AI allows everyone to easily converse with the system, and the value of digital systems will greatly increase. For example, if I am a consumer brand, even if I have reached consumers, what can I do? Most people would say, provide coupons for repeat purchases, but if consumers want to express their opinions, no one is willing to listen to their voices. No company has enough resources to listen to every consumer's feedback. Now, the situation has changed. There is no need for manual responses to consumer questions; every enterprise can cultivate its own robot, injecting brand philosophy, services, and other content into the robot, allowing it to converse with consumers. This is an unparalleled opportunity for the new generation of AI. So why is this related to B-C integration? Traditional marketing focuses on the channel side, on how to influence consumer minds, but lacks attention to establishing connections with consumers. But as the cost of digital technology decreases, digital applications greatly increase. In the next two years, AI-driven store connections and consumer connections will become a trend for all consumer brands. If a brand has not yet thought about how to truly connect with customers, or is not ready for this trend, and cannot connect the B-side, it will be eliminated by this era. Time flies quickly, and anxiety means the need for change. Qince is committed to providing digital services for enterprises, helping them build internal management closed loops through tools such as TPM, SFA, and DMS, connecting stores and consumers, and helping enterprises build a complete digital growth engine. We hope to maximize the value of connecting consumers through such an engine. From the internal perspective of the enterprise, headquarters operations personnel are at the bottom of the chain. We will mobilize headquarters staff, invite sales representatives, distributor representatives, and promotional guides to join our platform, then place store owners at the top of the platform, and ultimately through this connection method, let every consumer feel the warmth of each brand. Qince is very professional in artificial intelligence. In fact, we have invested a lot of effort in developing AI technology. So far, the company is in a leading position in the industry in areas such as image recognition and fake photo recognition. In short, the trend of B-C integrated development driven by new technologies will bring a better lifestyle to all consumer brands.