What is offline? This has become a difficult question to answer. If we define offline by channel, channels are also online. If we define it by transaction method, orders, payments, and deliveries are all online. So, what work is irreplaceably offline? Tasks that are more efficient online should be done online; those with higher offline value should be done solidly offline. When online and offline are hard to distinguish, to better execute offline work, we must redefine 'offline' to grasp its key points.

There is pure online, but no pure offline

In the past, we were offline every day, but there was no concept of offline. The concept of offline emerged because its opposite, online, appeared. The emergence of online also changed offline. Now, there is pure online, but there is no longer pure offline. Returning offline is no longer the offline of the past; it is not pure offline, but offline mixed with online. Online and offline are intertwined and hard to separate. Therefore, offline needs to be redefined.

Online and Offline: Defining Perspectives

Early online mainly referred to platform e-commerce. Business conducted via internet platforms was online. Later, with mini-programs, manufacturers could also operate online independently. Thus, online became a category of orders and payments, such as online orders and online payments. If online refers to online payment, then now almost all payments are completed online. If online refers to order methods, then O2O, mini-programs, community group buying, and community e-commerce are all online orders, even scanning codes in stores to place orders is online. Pure offline, completely avoiding the internet, is increasingly rare. The boundary between online and offline is no longer clear. Defining both online and offline is not easy. When concepts are unclear, they need to be redefined. The definition of offline is roughly from two perspectives: one is whether there is disintermediation or whether there are channel intermediaries; the other is the online/offline nature of transaction methods. Channel Perspective on Offline Traditional offline involves channel intermediaries. During the peak of platforms, disintermediation thinking prevailed. Thus, whether there were intermediaries seemed to become a marker for defining online and offline. To this day, many still believe that channel digitalization is disintermediation. The typical channel model for FMCG is "four parties, three-stage transactions". The four parties are manufacturer (F), distributor (B), retailer (b), and user (C, consumer). The three-stage transactions are manufacturer to distributor (F2B), distributor to retailer (B2b), and retailer to user (b2C). Four parties and three-stage transactions are the typical offline channel operation form. In the past, this was self-evident. Different companies have different channel structures, such as direct distribution with three parties (no distributor), or direct sales with two parties (no retailer). But the mainstream is four parties and three-stage transactions. B2B has expanded from early two-party transactions to full-chain digitalization (F2B2b2C). The channel transaction model has evolved from "three-stage transactions" to transactions between any two parties. Three additional transaction models have emerged: manufacturer to retail store (F2b, e.g., Midea's LTL orders), manufacturer to user (F2C), and distributor to user (B2C). Full digitalization of transactions among the four channel parties is not a dream, but channel disintermediation has become an unrealistic fantasy. Therefore, it is not appropriate to use whether channels are disintermediated as a criterion for defining online and offline, nor to use whether transactions are digitalized as a standard for defining offline. Summary: Whether disintermediation occurs is not a marker of offline; B2B has penetrated all aspects of channel intermediaries. Transaction Perspective on Offline Transaction is a broad concept, roughly including orders (narrow transaction concept), payments, and deliveries. Traditional offline transactions, commonly known as "one hand pays, the other delivers," integrate transaction, payment, and delivery. Order (transaction) is the method of placing an order, payment is the method of paying, and delivery is the method of delivery. Integration of transaction and payment means ordering and paying simultaneously (excluding credit sales, credit payments, etc.). This is cash transactions from a retail perspective. Integration of payment and delivery is the true "one hand pays, the other delivers," i.e., on-site delivery. The traditional retail where transaction, payment, and delivery are integrated has changed in the internet era. First, almost all payments have moved online; second, delivery and transaction have separated, with delivery (logistics) becoming an independent third party; third, order methods have largely moved online. Users in a store may also scan codes to order, such as in restaurant ordering. Therefore, from the perspective of traditional integrated transaction, payment, and delivery, there is no longer pure offline. So, it is no longer suitable to define online and offline by transaction methods. Summary: The three major transaction components—order, payment, and delivery—cannot redefine offline. Trinity Perspective on Offline When transaction, payment, and delivery no longer serve as online labels, returning offline requires finding new offline labels distinct from the transaction perspective. In his book "Connection," Teacher Shi Wei proposed the concepts of cognition, transaction, and relationship. I have said this is a minimalist overview of business, a great wisdom. Cognition determines transaction, and relationship also determines transaction. This is the trinity emphasized by Teacher Shi Wei. We define offline by the sources of cognition and transaction relationships. This is our new conception of the offline concept. This definition essentially defines online and offline by traffic sources. As long as cognition originates offline, then regardless of how the transaction is completed (online or offline), it is offline. For example, Lidu's offline experience with mini-program transactions. The focus is not on mini-program transactions but on offline immersive experience. Transaction is the result; cognition and relationship are the sources of traffic. Cognition and relationship are causally related to transaction. It may be better to define from the source of transaction (traffic) rather than from the transaction itself. Returning offline, we particularly value the importance of small stores and propose "small stores, big operations". Small stores, due to strong relationships with users, become important traffic sources. In the past, due to small store areas and limited SKUs, they were considered small. Now stores are "dual stores" (offline small store + online big store), offering greater operational opportunities. Summary: If cognition is formed online and traffic originates online, it is online; if cognition is formed offline and traffic originates offline, it is offline. Redefining Offline: Cognition and Relationship Now is the era of the trinity of online, offline, and communities, meaning online and offline can be converted. Therefore, when we propose returning offline, what does it mean? Defining offline from the perspective of cognition and relationship already indicates the focus of returning offline. Traffic sources are more important than transactions. The reason Lidu's immersive experience is popular and has spread nationwide through light marketing is that experience represents a high-stickiness cognitive method. As far as I know, many companies are setting up experience stores. The value of experience stores is not sales but cognition. High-threshold cognition becomes a source of traffic, which is very important in the era of product upgrades. Relationship management may be a Chinese characteristic of business. Now, the combination of relationships and the internet is perfect. Because offline relationships can be highly active through communities, and transactions can easily occur through mini-programs. So, when transaction methods are easily digitalized, cognition and relationship as prerequisites for transactions become quite expensive. The high turnover of KA store personnel, the high stability of small store owners, and the overlap of living and business radii determine that small store relationships are more easily converted into traffic. Redefining offline from the perspective of cognition and relationship is equivalent to defining the source of offline traffic. This is the core of redefining offline. Teacher Fang Gang proposed that returning offline is a new street battle. Sweeping streets + sweeping people are two sides of the same coin in the new street battle. Sweeping streets is for sweeping people, and the key to sweeping people is relationships. Community Group Buying: Online or Offline? To conclude, let me give an example. This example may be controversial: community group buying. Xingsheng Youxuan was initially doing B2B. When they started community group buying, the logic was simply to let the original store owners (now group leaders) directly serve users, with traffic still originating from store owners. Therefore, I am utterly puzzled by the separation of Xingsheng Youxuan from B2B (perhaps they prefer to be treated as an online platform). Of course, later some platforms doing community group buying attracted "stay-at-home moms" to become micro-store owners, but the main body of group buying is still offline store owners, and group leaders have offline traffic. According to the logic that relationships and traffic originate offline, Xingsheng Youxuan should be offline. Later, when giants intervened, such as Duoduo Maicai and Meituan Youxuan, the nature of community group buying changed. Community group buying experts like Chen Haichao and Li Baolin call them "community e-commerce," not standard community group buying. I strongly agree with this statement. Duoduo Maicai and Meituan Youxuan do not get their traffic from group leaders but from platform traffic. Platform traffic existed before they started so-called community group buying. Although these platforms also have offline "group leaders," they are merely the second "Cainiao stations" for offline centralized delivery, not traffic sources. Therefore, from the perspective of traffic sources, Xingsheng Youxuan is offline, while Duoduo Maicai and Meituan Youxuan are online. Source: Teacher Liu's Digital New Marketing (ID: liuchunxiong1964) Author: Liu Chunxiong Are you "watching" me?