---
title: "Spring Festival Gift Boxes Are No Longer Selling Well"
description: "Distributors are adopting a cautious approach to this year's Spring Festival gift box market, with many reducing stock and focusing on stable sales. Some manufacturers have proactively lowered sales targets and introduced more affordable products to adapt to changing consumer preferences."
author: "何雯"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2024-12-28"
language: "en"
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---

# Spring Festival Gift Boxes Are No Longer Selling Well

> Distributors are adopting a cautious approach to this year's Spring Festival gift box market, with many reducing stock and focusing on stable sales. Some manufacturers have proactively lowered sales targets and introduced more affordable products to adapt to changing consumer preferences.

**Distributors Expect Stability**
Recently, I visited several distributors to discuss their expectations and plans for this year's Spring Festival gift boxes.
Distributor 1: "The walnut milk brand I represent used to be a hot commodity, but this year, sales during major promotions have dropped significantly year-on-year. I'll just get through this year and see how the market goes."
Distributor 2: "Gift boxes are indeed not selling well in traditional channels, but feedback from special channels like fresh food stores, tobacco and liquor stores, and corporate group purchases is positive. It seems the focus for this Spring Festival should be on these channels."
Distributor 3: "Given the 'disaster' of this year's Mid-Autumn Festival, I've stocked 100,000 yuan less for the Spring Festival. I don't dare to hoard too much; I just hope to avoid selling at a loss and break even at best!"
"If we can't meet the brand's sales targets and fail to complete the same period tasks, all extra expenses like promotions and displays will be greatly reduced or even canceled. I can't afford to take that risk this year..."
Overall, the consumer market environment is not optimistic. Although some channels perform well, most distributors remain conservative and prefer to stabilize existing business. They no longer boldly chase performance as in the past but hope to win steadily and find their own way in this unstable market.
After all, **ensuring cash flow and reducing risks are the top priorities now.**

**Some Manufacturers Proactively Lower CNY Targets**
"Last year, to achieve the 7 million yuan sales target, we sold about 2 million yuan worth of goods at a loss," a distributor friend told me.
This year, the brand manufacturer proactively lowered the target by nearly 2 million yuan, which made him feel relieved: "Now I can sell goods steadily without sacrificing profits to clear inventory at low prices. If the brand maintains market order, there might be some small growth. Although the profit is not much, the business is relatively healthy."
This strategy change is not an isolated case. For example, a well-known beverage brand also lowered its sales target, and a snack brand's target only increased by 5%.
**In the past, during CNY, manufacturers usually set sales targets 10%-20% higher than the previous year, but this year, it's clear that some manufacturers are becoming more pragmatic.**
At the same time, in response to the trend of consumption downgrading, manufacturers have begun to launch more affordable, cost-effective products and lower the price range of gift boxes. Previously, during festivals, most beverage and snack brands focused on gift boxes priced at 60-70 yuan. Now, many manufacturers have introduced new options around 30-40 yuan to attract a broader consumer base.
For example, a leading snack brand's cheapest gift box was 29.9 yuan last year, and this year it has launched a 19.9 yuan version. Even a nut brand has introduced a gift box with a flash sale price of 19.9 yuan per box.
Currently, these changes are beneficial for distributors: lowering sales targets reduces inventory and financial risks; **and introducing products at lower price points better adapts to market demand, selling faster.**

**Slow Movement of Gift Boxes at Terminals**
**Reduced Festive Attributes**
With more than a month until Spring Festival, I visited several supermarkets and community stores to understand the current sales situation of gift boxes.
Unexpectedly, there were not many Spring Festival gift boxes in the supermarket; they were sparsely displayed, and the floor stacking space was much smaller than last year. Even the Christmas decorations and atmosphere were stronger than Spring Festival. **What's more surprising is that some gift boxes had production dates from the first half of the year, possibly prepared for the Dragon Boat Festival or Mid-Autumn Festival, but inventory has been piling up until now...**
I asked a store employee, who shook her head helplessly and said: "Young people nowadays are not like us back then; they used to visit relatives during festivals and bring gifts. They prefer to hang out with friends or simply go out to play." This change in mindset directly affects the market demand for gift boxes, and the atmosphere of traditional festivals has indeed faded a lot.
Consumer choices are also changing. In the past, people placed great importance on brand and packaging when choosing gifts, willing to spend more for face. But **now, consumers are more rational and unwilling to pay for unnecessary premiums.**
Especially when the economy is unstable, everyone tightens their purse strings. What attracts them more now are snack stores with high cost-performance and rich new products, and they prefer personalized products over traditional gift boxes.
Moreover, snack stores have obvious price advantages during promotions. For example, a box of yogurt is 5-10 yuan cheaper than in traditional channels. Nearby store owner Sister Wang lamented: "Their prices are too low; we really can't compete."

**If Done Well, Spring Festival Gift Boxes Can Still Be an Increment**
For FMCG manufacturers, especially those in alcohol, plant protein, and nuts, Spring Festival is the "golden period" of the year. Whether it sells well directly affects the annual performance. Taking Six Walnut as an example, a distributor in a third-tier city revealed that sales during Spring Festival account for 40-50% of annual sales.
How to plan for the Spring Festival period? Through exchanges with multiple distributors, I'd like to share some good practices.
**First, leverage brand policies to pass benefits to customers; motivate the team to stimulate sales potential.**
Distributor Mr. Li said: "The brand has given many preferential policies this year. By passing on these extra discounts or gifts to core customers, we can indeed increase sales."
Another distributor, Ms. Yang, shared: "We have set up an incremental reward mechanism to tap into channel growth. For every additional 100,000 yuan of gift boxes sold by a salesperson, they receive extra rewards." She also organized internal competitions, giving cash rewards and honorary certificates to outstanding employees to boost morale.
**Second, find suitable channels.**
By expanding into channels that were previously overlooked, many distributors have found new sales growth points. For example, fresh food stores, milk stations, tobacco and liquor stores, and corporate group purchases.
Mr. Zhang from Guiyang pointed out: "The survival of tobacco and liquor stores depends on festival gift boxes. Each store has some connections and sales networks. 'No business for half a year, but one deal can feed for half a year.' This channel must be seized."
In addition, with more people returning home, launching local specialty gift boxes at gas stations, service areas, and other transit points, as well as corporate group purchases for employee New Year benefits, are market opportunities that cannot be ignored.
**Third, differentiate competition.**
How to break the price war? Differentiation is key. Based on local consumer preferences and needs, self-assemble gift boxes, even design your own packaging, and launch differentiated products that better fit local market consumption habits.
Mr. Zhang from Xuzhou is an example of achieving increment through self-assembled gift boxes. He told New Distribution, "Many gift boxes are flashy but not practical. I cooperated with manufacturers to combine specialty and well-known brand snacks, adding some affordable and high-volume products. This not only ensures profit but also suits the needs of visiting relatives and friends, quickly opening up the market."

**Final Thoughts**
During this period, I visited many distributors and heard these authentic voices from the front line, reflecting that distributors are generally pessimistic about the current gift box market.
But I believe that for distributors, there are still significant opportunities in the gift box market.
How to seize the opportunity? From those distributors who are growing against the trend, I see that **channels are still the core, but on top of that, distributors' operational and control capabilities also need attention.** Bosses should broaden their horizons, not just focus on the traditional channels, but conduct in-depth market research to capture and meet consumers' real needs.

**【New Order · Symbiosis】**
**The 10th China FMCG Innovation Conference**
**Time: March 17-19, 2025**
**Location: Chengdu, China**


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