---
title: "Refusing Price Wars and Abandoning Blind Stockpiling: A Practical Guide to Boosting Growth in the 2026 FMCG Beverage Peak Season"
description: "As the May Day holiday kicks off, the FMCG beverage industry officially enters the summer campaign that determines the year's success. This year's market environment is more complex, channels are more competitive, and consumers are more rational. How should this battle be fought? Where are the opportunities? How can growth be achieved? I'd like to share some thoughts to spark discussion. Competition has fully escalated, and the peak season cannot afford any mistakes. This summer's campaign will see a more comprehensive escalation compared to last year, which is both an industry consensus and a realistic pressure. On one hand, offline traditional channels continue to see weak sell-through, with terminals more cautious in stocking and slower movement due to economic conditions and low consumer confidence..."
author: "邢仁宝"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2026-05-01"
categories: "Dealer Operations"
language: "en"
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original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/scQ3OtC84De7-ubUHZSBEQ"
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attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/refusing-price-wars-and-abandoning-blind-stockpiling-a-practical-guide-t-2eb26e49/"
citation: "邢仁宝. “Refusing Price Wars and Abandoning Blind Stockpiling: A Practical Guide to Boosting Growth in the 2026 FMCG Beverage Peak Season.” New Distribution, 2026-05-01. https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/refusing-price-wars-and-abandoning-blind-stockpiling-a-practical-guide-t-2eb26e49/"
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---

# Refusing Price Wars and Abandoning Blind Stockpiling: A Practical Guide to Boosting Growth in the 2026 FMCG Beverage Peak Season

> As the May Day holiday kicks off, the FMCG beverage industry officially enters the summer campaign that determines the year's success. This year's market environment is more complex, channels are more competitive, and consumers are more rational. How should this battle be fought? Where are the opportunities? How can growth be achieved? I'd like to share some thoughts to spark discussion. Competition has fully escalated, and the peak season cannot afford any mistakes. This summer's campaign will see a more comprehensive escalation compared to last year, which is both an industry consensus and a realistic pressure. On one hand, offline traditional channels continue to see weak sell-through, with terminals more cautious in stocking and slower movement due to economic conditions and low consumer confidence...

As the May Day holiday kicks off, the FMCG beverage industry officially enters the summer campaign that determines the year's success.
This year's market environment is more complex, channels are more competitive, and consumers are more rational. How should this battle be fought? Where are the opportunities? How can growth be achieved? I'd like to share some thoughts to spark discussion.
Competition has fully escalated, and the peak season cannot afford any mistakes.
This summer's campaign will see a more comprehensive escalation compared to last year, which is both an industry consensus and a realistic pressure.
  * On one hand, offline traditional channels continue to see weak sell-through, with terminals more cautious in stocking and slower movement due to economic conditions and low consumer confidence;
  * On the other hand, in Q2, brands and manufacturers must shoulder the heaviest sales tasks of the year to make up for the Q1 sales gap. If the summer campaign fails, annual targets are almost hopeless.
Therefore, major brands will concentrate human, material, and policy resources to go all out.
Against this backdrop, continuing to rely on distribution, stockpiling, price cuts, and price wars will hardly break through; it will only lead to a vicious cycle of collapsed manufacturer-dealer relationships, loss of price control, selling more but losing more, and promotions that lower prices further.
Grasp core trends and focus efforts precisely.
Under the dual influence of channel transformation and evolving consumption concepts, this year's consumption logic for FMCG beverages will differ from previous years. Only by seeing trends clearly and avoiding "pepper-spraying" resource waste can precise efforts and efficient breakthroughs be achieved.
1\. In the post-pandemic era, coupled with high-frequency exposure of food safety issues by "315" (Consumer Rights Day), consumers' attention to dietary health, ingredient safety, and formula transparency has reached unprecedented levels. They show a clear rejection of high-sugar, high-burden beverages and are more willing to pay for zero-sugar, zero-fat, natural ingredients, and healthy components. Therefore, product displays must make health value instantly understandable, clear, and credible to consumers.
2\. Scenario marketing has become the hottest keyword in the industry in recent years, and the truly implementable, volume-driving, high-margin, and barrier-building approach is special channel scenarios.
Although the overall volume of such channels is not as broad as traditional channels, they feature strong immediacy of consumption, highly targeted audiences, low price sensitivity, and high impulse purchase rates, making them rare opportunities for certain high-growth increments.
3\. Consumption in first- and second-tier cities is becoming more rational and contracting, while county and township markets are still in a stage of explosive consumption growth. With slower life rhythms, high social frequency, strong festive atmospheres, and obvious herd consumption, the overall consumption level remains relatively high. As long as the approach is right and resources are precise, coverage and sell-through can quickly ramp up.
4\. The current instant retail format has achieved 24/7 fulfillment and minute-level delivery, greatly enhancing the consumer experience, and national policies continue to encourage and support it.
Currently, many brands have not yet fully embraced it. Whoever lays out first, provides exclusive products first, and operates first will seize the minute-level consumption entry point, gaining both platform traffic preference and offline sales dividends.
5\. The summer campaign covers a series of golden nodes including May Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Children's Day, summer vacation, Teacher Appreciation Season, and Back-to-School Season. Each node is an opportunity to ignite sales in a concentrated manner.
In a highly competitive market, seizing nodes means seizing sales; missing one wave means falling behind. You must advance step by step and win each battle.
Ten practical tactics: Abandon extensive operations and seize growth incrementally.
After seeing trends clearly, tactics must be precise, resolute, implementable, and replicable. Here are some suggested approaches.
1\. Seize time and the opening, laying out early to take the initiative.
With abnormal weather, market contraction, and unprecedented competition this year, brands must act earlier than ever. All resource planning, material preparation, personnel arrangements, target breakdowns, and dealer alignment must be in place by the end of April. A slow step means losing the best window for starting and positioning for the year.
2\. Strengthen health differentiation to make selling points instantly appealing.
Around health ingredients like zero sugar and zero fat, or core advantages like premium raw materials, design eye-catching promotional materials uniformly and display clear differentiated value at all terminals. Resolutely avoid self-congratulatory promotion that only places products or shouts slogans; let consumers see your health value and competitive advantage at first glance.
3\. Aggressively attack special channels to build high-barrier closed scenarios.
These include internet cafes, billiards halls, chess and card rooms, sports halls, gyms, and nightlife venues. These channels feature long dwell times, low price sensitivity, strong herd consumption, and high acceptance of new products. Brands and manufacturers must invest heavily, strive for exclusive freezer placement and exclusive displays, and use flexible and diverse event sponsorships to help stores attract traffic, forming long-term exclusive supply high-barrier scenarios.
4\. Seize the outdoor economy and lay out family travel consumption scenarios.
Focus on parks, camping, scenic spots, and weekend outings. Prioritize distribution in surrounding stores, emphasizing family packs, sharing packs, and full-box packs to highly match family travel needs. Use combination promotions and eye-catching stacked displays to firmly grasp the concentrated outbreak opportunities of outdoor consumption.
5\. Select quality traditional outlets to create summer image flagship stores.
Traditional outlets still account for the largest share, but resources are limited and cannot be spread thinly. Must precisely select quality stores near communities, markets, business districts, and traffic arteries. Uniformly implement checkout counter cut-case displays, saturated freezer displays, poster barriers, and clear price signage to create clean and eye-catching summer models, driving brand influence from point to area.
6\. Stay close to bestseller displays to achieve high-frequency interception.
Seize the hottest traffic areas in terminals, often where bestsellers like Nongfu and Red Bull are located, and display as close to these high-traffic zones as possible. Use exclusive materials to highlight cost-performance, ingredient advantages, and taste differences, so consumers see you first and choose you next to bestsellers, achieving the most effective terminal interception.
7\. Deeply cultivate lower-tier townships and use market days to ignite node sales.
Township markets have simple consumption, follow trends, and value atmosphere. Seize markets, main roads, and prosperous village stores, and regularly conduct vehicle distribution, stocking, and ground promotion activities. Focus on combining market days and folk festivals for brand activities, turning township markets into summer "township brand days."
8\. Keep a close eye on key festivals and plan ahead for precise ignition.
List all key dates—May Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Children's Day, summer vacation, Teacher Appreciation Banquets, and Back-to-School Season—in advance. Prepare plans, design exclusive materials, and stock up a month ahead. Especially focus on scenic spots, highway service areas, internet-famous restaurants, and school surroundings, making each node a small but fierce battle.
9\. Fully embrace instant retail with exclusive supply and controlled volume to prevent channel conflict.
Instant retail platforms have far greater insight into consumption times, regions, and preferences than manufacturers. Brands and manufacturers should actively participate in platform theme promotions like the "Ice Drink Season," launch exclusive channel packaging, monitor goods flow, avoid price chaos and channel conflict, and amplify sales while maintaining price stability.
10\. Strictly control goods flow and price system to prevent channel conflict from disrupting the overall situation.
With heavy summer tasks and high pressure, low-price dumping is highly likely. Manufacturers should assign dedicated personnel to monitor second- and third-tier distributor inventory and flow, strictly control bulk wholesale, big sales, and big promotions, and keep an eye on competitor policies to know yourself and your enemy. If the price system is stable, the summer battle is stable; if the price system is chaotic, all investments will be wasted.
## **Final Thoughts**
## **Ultimately, all strategies depend on execution.**
## **Brands and manufacturers must establish clear mechanisms for inspection, review, rewards and penalties, and case sharing. Regularly expose problem markets, commend excellent models, and rectify lagging outlets. Only when the sales team has motivation, dealers have confidence, and terminals make money can you truly win the summer campaign that determines the year.**
Xing Renbao, with 18 years of marketing management experience, has served at Coca-Cola, Yili, Red Bull, and other well-known FMCG companies. He currently serves as Assistant to the Executive President of Marketing at Huabin FMCG Group, focusing on corporate marketing diagnosis, manufacturer-dealer relationships, channel operations, and digital transformation.


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## Citation metadata

- Publisher: New Distribution
- Author: 邢仁宝
- Published: 2026-05-01
- Canonical: https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/refusing-price-wars-and-abandoning-blind-stockpiling-a-practical-guide-t-2eb26e49/
- Original source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/scQ3OtC84De7-ubUHZSBEQ

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