The baijiu industry's rapid growth has stalled again. Apart from Moutai's outstanding performance, it's hard to say other brands are secretly celebrating. Most importantly, competition among the industry's top players is intensifying. After all, the golden era of surviving by squeezing local brands is over. With no more room to squeeze and the pie shrinking, head-on competition among leading enterprises is inevitable.
The differentiation trend in the baijiu industry is clear: the strong get stronger while fragmentation persists. There are only a few top-tier companies, and local leading enterprises are also few. If you don't even qualify as a fragmented player, there's no place for you in this industry—better to transition early.
After the Singles' Day results were released, articles interpreting the event were numerous, each with its own rationale. But for us ordinary observers, it's not that profound.
First, China's purchasing power remains strong. Those who frequently claim the real economy is declining are mostly blowing smoke. Behind strong purchasing power is production; as long as production continues, factories operate, jobs exist, and the real economy thrives.
Second, China's economy continues to expand. Given its massive size, with GDP still growing over 6%, companies that keep pace with GDP growth are holding their ground.
Third, the way goods are sold has undergone earth-shaking changes. Mobile payments, mobile malls, and online stores are now challenging offline transactions. Lamenting empty street shops is useless; the era of "one shop supporting three generations" is long gone.
The baijiu industry, being part of China's larger environment, cannot stay aloof and will inevitably be influenced and changed by it. If we stubbornly cling to past successes to cope with current changes, we might be eliminated one day.
Competition among top-tier and local leading enterprises is more about management and basic work, as they have solved the most critical brand issue—the foundation for sustained product sell-through. But for frontline staff, that alone is far from sufficient.
For baijiu sell-through, at least these "ten strategies" need to be understood.
-01- Brand-Driven Every brand's birth has its unique brand genes and its specific consumer base. Our goal is to identify those who resonate with the brand's genes, serve them well, and create a connection and stickiness between the brand and the target audience.
Even the weakest brand has its admirers—this is the so-called brand gene, colloquially meaning "birds of a feather flock together." When a brand's audience base is large enough, it can potentially break through to other groups, attracting them and improving or expanding the brand's genes.
Of course, not every brand can grow into a towering tree. But even the smallest brand need not belittle itself, because there will always be like-minded people who appreciate it. Find them, and survival is not a problem.
So, "brand-driven" is not something lofty; it's right beside us, something every product inherently practices.
-02- Tasting First Baijiu is fundamentally about drinking. Many baijiu brands claim tasting events have been done to death; now, at the mere mention of "tasting," both consumers and liquor store owners shake their heads like rattles, unwilling to participate. Because there are truly too many—every product does it, and everyone is "tired of drinking."
Actually, this is a misunderstanding of tasting. The baijiu industry has turned tasting events into eating-and-drinking parties, which is naturally exhausting. Plus, people love to drink in quick rounds, downing cup after cup of two-liang glasses—no wonder they're tired.
We say tasting events should have a sense of ceremony, leaving participants with lasting memories and teaching them product and liquor knowledge. Only then are they rewarding and enjoyable.
-03- Fostering "Fans" The popularity of livestream selling is all due to the "fan" economy. We used to think only teenagers were star-chasers, but suddenly, many adults have become "IQ tax" payers, harvested by "mentors" and "idols" time and again.
Since "birds of a feather flock together," each brand has its own genes, meaning each has its own "fans." You need to figure out how to make your "fans" depend on and trust you. With trust as the foundation, you won't worry about them not placing orders.
Everyone envies Li Jiaqi's livestream selling ability, but his ability to craft his "script" and routine is also the result of hard work. Without these fundamentals, fan stickiness wouldn't exist. Many brands, when cultivating "fans," start from their own wishes rather than the other party's perspective, mechanically copying without capturing the essence—of course, "fans" won't be fooled.
-04- Thorough "Store Soaking" For mid-to-high-end baijiu, there are few outlets that can sustain sales; baijiu is not an FMCG. For frontline sales staff, just visiting stores daily rather than "soaking" in them does nothing for your sell-through efforts, because you're no different from an ordinary FMCG order taker.
"Soaking" means having a holistic understanding and assessment of partner stores: Who buys the liquor in this store? Where are these people distributed? What are the drinking scenarios after purchase? What purchasing policies or discounts does the store offer these groups? What age groups buy liquor? What social circles? The more detailed, the better.
With these basic judgments, you can switch roles: If you were the store clerk, how would you recommend your product to these groups and persuade them? Further, if you were the in-store promoter for your product, how would you recommend it? Can your professional expertise spark their desire to buy?
When "soaking" leads to a shift in the partner store's customer base toward your product, whose product will the store owner sell if not yours? No store owner would go against their own interests.
-05- Role Reversal "Brand-driven" is the pull, the foundation for sustained sell-through. Role reversal is the push—the power of proactive channel recommendation.
Channel push boils down to two key points: First, profit incentive. With similar price and brand power, if your product offers higher margins, the channel will push it, including products the channel itself distributes. Second, when profits are similar, the party with better customer relations gets the push, as the channel feels obliged.
Profit is easy to set for any product, but whether it becomes long-term and visibly easy profit is another matter. For pyramid schemers, profit is a mirage, yet it doesn't dampen their enthusiasm or loyalty.
Whether you can turn partners into spontaneous "brand ambassadors" is the most effective criterion for evaluating role reversal. This tests the business skills and professional expertise of the manufacturer's resident manager. If this is achieved, sell-through truly becomes twice the result with half the effort.
-06- Activity Coordination The purpose of activities is to give consumers a reason to buy.
It's not that people don't shop except on Singles' Day; rather, Singles' Day makes everyone believe it's their most cost-effective shopping. Consumer activities work similarly: a gathering might be perfectly enjoyable with two bottles of liquor, but when buying, discovering that four bottles offer a better deal—since two will be consumed now, the other two can be saved for next time—often results in all four being consumed at once. Such scenes are common around us.
Therefore, consumer activities are not about the bigger the discount, the better, but about designing the activity to just touch the consumer's psychological expectation at the moment of purchase, helping them make the decision to buy.
Products with very aggressive consumer promotions are typically non-best-sellers or borderline products. That's why supermarkets' heavily promoted Spring Festival items must change packaging annually and use new bottles for old wine.
-07- Advertising Momentum This includes the atmosphere of the first advertising position in partner stores, and outdoor advertising during Mid-Autumn and Spring Festival. These two types of momentum correspond to different consumer psychologies: In-store atmosphere pushes those who have already made up their minds or are wavering to decide and lean toward the store's first atmosphere; outdoor advertising creates a first impression, pre-establishing purchase intention—a subtle influence.
Currently, consumers have a strong sense of face. If they hear no sound or see no ads, even good products leave them hesitant at purchase. Therefore, even the smallest brand must make its voice heard—at least the target consumer group must be able to hear it.
Some say certain ads are clearly aimed at channels and distributors, so why do them? Because you don't have enough money to advertise to consumers. Thus, advertising to channels and distributors builds their confidence, which they then pass on to consumers—an indirect communication, essentially still creating momentum.
-08- Highlight Selling Points Many brands like to talk to themselves, indoctrinating consumers from their own perspective, often with "Wang Po selling melons" self-praise. That's not to say it's wrong, but it depends on how much money you have to spend on ads to make consumers believe it. Look at two ads: "Fear of getting heaty? Drink Wanglaoji" versus "Drink Wanglaoji, no heatiness." The meaning is similar, but the effect is vastly different.
A brand must at least clarify its relationship with consumers. "Want aged liquor? Drink Yitanhaojiu" because "Yitanhaojiu has more aged liquor." Few true drinkers don't want aged liquor; "wine gets better with age" is a Chinese proverb passed down for millennia—everyone understands it.
Highlighting selling points makes consumers remember you and accelerates sell-through.
-09- More Benefits This is relative, but especially important in the current context. As the pie shrinks, per-unit profit must rise. If low prices prevail and cross-regional selling erodes outlet profits, even good brands will be abandoned by outlets.
Moutai's rise is certainly linked to the sauce-flavor trend and top-down leadership, but the fact that Moutai distributors enjoy profits higher than drug trafficking is a key reason for its popularity.
If we can enable partners to earn more under equal conditions, our products will naturally sell faster. This tests our management, market, and balancing capabilities.
-10- Tech-Assisted Sales Linking baijiu sell-through to technology is no joke.
Internet baijiu aside, digital marketing's help to baijiu sell-through is visible progress. Social media's influence on baijiu is growing, and its communication and experiential attributes are inherently essential for baijiu.
Selling via WeChat Moments, self-media, livestreaming, mini-programs—each has its own tricks and merits. The key is having the right product, right audience, and right promotion method. It doesn't matter which is better or worse; what's sad is having good tools but refusing to use them and rejecting technological progress.
Source: Weijiu (ID: zgweijiu) Tips will be paid 400-2000 yuan upon adoption.