---
title: "Special Channels Are Hot Again"
description: "The status of special channels (special distribution channels) has changed dramatically in the past two years. Previously, they were mainly handled by second-tier distributors, with first-tier distributors unwilling to participate. Now, top brands are establishing dedicated special channel departments, highlighting their growing importance. This article discusses the three key characteristics of special channels: they are social spaces for young people, they integrate sales and consumption scenarios (bC integration), and their true value lies in seeding products for later harvest in general circulation."
author: "刘春雄"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2026-06-02"
language: "en"
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---

# Special Channels Are Hot Again

> The status of special channels (special distribution channels) has changed dramatically in the past two years. Previously, they were mainly handled by second-tier distributors, with first-tier distributors unwilling to participate. Now, top brands are establishing dedicated special channel departments, highlighting their growing importance. This article discusses the three key characteristics of special channels: they are social spaces for young people, they integrate sales and consumption scenarios (bC integration), and their true value lies in seeding products for later harvest in general circulation.

Special channels are soaring.
The status of special channels (special distribution channels) has changed dramatically in the past two years.
In the past, special channels were mainly handled by second-tier distributors, with first-tier distributors unwilling to participate. Now, top brands are establishing dedicated special channel departments, highlighting their growing importance.
Previously, manufacturers believed:
Special channels are a long-tail market. They have many scenarios but low sales volume.
Special channels are closed. They are "courtyard economy" and "upstairs economy." Unlike other commercial establishments that open their doors to customers, these operate on a regular-customer model.
There are professional barriers. Unlike the shelf model of general circulation, each special channel has its own professionalism, hence the name "special channels."
Because of these characteristics, special channels were naturally penetrated by second-tier distributors, leveraging their customer relationships.
How are special channels viewed now? There are two typical perspectives:
First perspective: "Many ants are still meat." Although special channels are small, there are many types! In an era of stagnant general circulation, attention should be paid to special channels to offset some of the decline.
Second perspective: The uniqueness of special channels lies not in sales volume or professionalism, but in three extremely important characteristics:
First, special channels integrate sales scenarios and consumption scenarios. Sales scenarios are B2B, consumption scenarios are B2C. This is bC integration! The scenario of bC integration is a rare marketing scenario today.
Second, special channels are social spaces for young people, with high communication potential and high spillover effects, leading to the third characteristic.
Third, the true value of special channels lies in integration with general circulation. Seed in special channels, harvest in circulation. The sales volume of special channels may not be large, but as a breakthrough scenario for promoting "three new and one high" (new products, new categories, new scenarios, and high-end products), they are very valuable.
This article does not start from sales volume but from the three characteristics mentioned above.

**Special Channels Are Social Spaces for Young People**
What are special channels? They are social spaces, social spaces for young people.
Humans have three types of living spaces: family (first living space), workplace (second living space), and other spaces (third living space).
When we shift our focus from the first space (home) and second space (workplace) to the richer third space, special channels come into view. Cafés, bookstores, fitness studios, livehouses, script murder game venues, pet cafés... These places share a common feature: they do not provide life's necessities, yet people willingly go to them.
The first space addresses basic needs like food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, ensuring survival and reproduction. The second space is the daily grind, earning a living, providing purchasing power for the first and third spaces. Only the third space is the result of free choice—whether to go, when to go, with whom, and how long to stay, all up to one's own will.
The FMCG industry entering an era of stock means survival consumption is complete, and consumption in the third space is growing rapidly. Judging from the number of registered special channels, growth is very fast.
The competition for young people in the third space has begun.
Understanding consumption changes through changes in social methods may be more accurate than income changes. Consumption in the first space emphasizes cost-effectiveness, while consumption in the third space is generous.
However, the third space must possess a kind of magic: scene power.
What is scene power? It is the ability to make people willing to come, stay, and play, and then consume incidentally.
This is completely different from the underlying logic of commercial facilities. Convenience stores emphasize convenience, supermarkets pursue one-stop shopping, and e-commerce competes on next-day delivery—these are all efficiency-oriented. Special channels, in contrast, are often "upstairs economy" or "courtyard economy," hidden on a floor of an office building or deep in an old factory, neither street-facing nor conspicuous. Without scene power, they have no reason to exist.
Where does scene power come from? It comes from spatial atmosphere, aesthetic taste, social attributes, and emotional value. People go to special channels not to buy things, but to experience, to socialize, to become part of a certain circle.
What is consumption here? It is the trophy of socializing. It is incidental, casual, "having fun and then having a drink, taking something, or getting a membership card."
Understanding this, one understands the commercial value of special channels—they are not an efficient sales channel, but an excellent seeding scenario.
Merely understanding social space is not enough; it must be emphasized that in China, it is a social space primarily for young people.
Special channels are social spaces for young people. Young people date, gather, organize events, check in, take photos, and post on social media here. They are natural carriers of "bC integration"—consumption and sales scenarios highly overlap.
In special channels, they are both consumers and communicators. Even before consuming, they are already spreading—notes from store visits, nine-grid photos on WeChat Moments, atmosphere clips in short videos. The production and distribution of this content is itself part of the special channel scenario.
What does this mean? It means that even a brand-new brand or a product never seen before can directly meet target consumers by entering special channels. No advertising bombardment, no channel distribution, no promotional pull needed. The product itself becomes part of the scenario, and the experience becomes the starting point of word-of-mouth. Spaces where young people gather naturally have communication power and the ability to spill over.

**Both Seeding and Planting Trees**
Social spaces for young people, bC integration. These two characteristics determine what marketing should be done in special channels?
The answer: both seeding and planting trees.
Seeding means doing 2C marketing in special channels, and doing experiential marketing.
Experiential marketing naturally implies two major goals: one is on-site conversion to achieve sales; the other is treating consumers as KOCs to achieve communication effects.
Experiential marketing requires integrating into the social space, not just putting products on shelves.
Of course, as social spaces, experiences in special channels must not interfere with normal social interactions.
Planting trees means targeting the B2B side, activating KOS (Key Opinion Sales). First, the B2B side itself must have positive evaluations; second, it must form positive feedback from the C-side to the B-side.
If tree planting succeeds, the B2B side will help manufacturers seed.
Since 2019, I have been advocating bC integration, and many find it hard to understand. Because in the past, depth was mostly on the B2B side. Special channels exactly fit the characteristics of bC integration, being both sales and consumption scenarios, naturally bC integrated.

**Seed in Special Channels, Harvest in Circulation**
We must clearly see: the consumption volume of special channels is limited. A person can only drink so much alcohol or water and eat so much food in one evening.
This differs from supermarkets and convenience stores, where one purchase covers a cycle of consumption. Special channels only involve on-site one-time consumption, so quantities are always limited. The space capacity and average transaction value of special channels have ceilings; they are not suitable for large-scale harvesting.
Although the scale of special channels is growing rapidly, the current number is still limited. According to Mr. Zong Jian of all Xibao Special Channels, currently there are over 280,000 billiard halls, over 100,000 internet cafés, over 30,000 e-sports venues, and many other types, but compared to about 5 million stores in general circulation, the difference is still significant.
But precisely because of this, the value of special channels is clearer—they are a field for seeding, not a battlefield for harvesting.
In special channels, do brands establish weak relationships with consumers? On the contrary. Because of the scenario, social warmth, and time accumulation, special channels build strong cognition and deep connections. Consumers remember not just a product name, but a complete experience, a clear feeling, and a story worth sharing. Once this cognition forms, it spills over.
Where does it spill? Into circulation.
When young people leave special channels, they search online, repurchase at convenience stores, and recognize the product on supermarket shelves—not because it has the best display, but because "I had it at that cool coffee shop." This is true harvesting: not forced selling, but the natural result of seeds sprouting.
Special channels provide depth and warmth; circulation provides breadth and density. Special channels make products "come alive," circulation makes them "run." Special channels seed, circulation mows. Special channels build potential energy, circulation builds kinetic energy.
Compared to the sales volume of special channels, their role in breaking through "three new and one high" is gaining attention. I have observed that top brands are establishing dedicated departments to strategically expand special channels and coordinate operations with general circulation.

**Special Channel Operators**
The overall decline of brand owners is irreversible. Because the industry has entered an era of shrinking volume, private labels are squeezing brand owners' share.
The decline of distributors is irreversible. Because new supply chains bypass distributors.
In the future, the only intermediaries with true moats are category operators and scenario operators.
Special channel operators are also scenario operators and have moats.
The moat of scenario operators mainly lies in the promotion function of "three new and one high," which only scenario operators can carry. B2b does not have this capability.
As a type of scenario operator, special channel operators have professionalism in the entire ecosystem services of special channel scenarios, in addition to promotion capabilities. The supply chain of special channel scenarios itself has no moat, but the facilities of special channel spaces are professional, and services are urgent. The moat lies in professionalism and urgency. Therefore, providing "one-stop" services will be a rigid demand.
China's special channel scale is still expanding. In the future, it will develop towards chain operation.


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