Terminals will never disappear, and brand owners cannot sustain or take root without offline channels; regardless of channel fragmentation, offline sales remain the primary sales. Offline sales come from the number of terminal outlets multiplied by per-store sales. Of course, the number of outlets is not the more the better, nor the fewer the better. Like farming, if density is too high, they may not grow well; if density is too low, they may grow but in small numbers. A reasonable distance ensures high yield. Similarly, a reasonable number of outlets in a regional market should both achieve consumer convenience of "being able to buy" and maintain the enthusiasm of terminal recommendations. Per-store sales come from the number of SKUs, in-store scenario-based displays, in-store shopping experience, in-store promotions, and conversion rates. Hans-Georg Häusel, founder of neuromarketing, showed through MRI scans of consumer brains that only one-third of consumers have a definite plan. In such cases, consumers know in advance what product and brand they want to buy; the remaining two-thirds are impulsive decisions. Half of these impulsive decisions are cases where we know we want to buy a certain category, such as detergent, but are unsure of the brand, so we decide at the shelf. Only by breaking through at the single-store level and forming a reasonable density can regional market breakthroughs occur, followed by multi-regional coordinated development, achieving national market breakthroughs and forming a national market. Therefore, the premise of a national market is the establishment of a single-store breakthrough model. The premise of the single-store breakthrough model: the new store model The premise of the single-store breakthrough model is the new store model, which stands from the brand owner's perspective, takes consumers as the origin, terminals as the fulcrum, and aims to improve satisfaction for both stores and consumers. Through cloud store mini-programs, community group buying platforms, communities, BC integration, scenario experiences, and other means, it empowers terminals, reaches consumers, establishes connections with consumers, activates existing stock, achieves incremental growth, and maximizes the contribution of terminal stores. One of the core aspects of the new store model is BC integration. Here, B refers to terminal stores, and C refers to consumers. BC integration means connecting C through B, activating B through C, establishing connections, achieving interactions, generating transactions, continuously strengthening relationships, from occupying consumers' time in specific spaces to occupying their time at all times, giving brand owners a handle. Marketing solves the problem of sellers willing to sell and consumers willing to buy. BC integration solves the relationship between buying and selling, making sellers motivated to sell and consumers willing to buy, forming relationships and interactions. Previously, brand owners' handles were only at the distributor and terminal levels, while the terminal-to-consumer level was random, and post-transaction consumer operations were in a vacuum. Except for some high-involvement products with membership programs, this was related to the maturity of internet infrastructure and the marketing environment. In the past, when internet infrastructure was immature, connecting B to C was difficult, especially for low-involvement products due to high costs. Now, through one-code-one-item, mini-programs, live streaming, and other means, it is easy to establish connections with the C-end. Changes in the marketing environment determine the need to reach the C-end. With the advent of the consumer sovereignty era, it is essential to truly be user-centric. Overcapacity, many consumer choices, and lower loyalty mean that the brand closer to users and more understanding of them is more likely to win their favor, such as Xiaomi's "born for enthusiasts" and fan economy. Only with BC integration can channel operations form a closed loop. Although e-commerce models directly reach the C-end, the initiative in traffic is in the hands of third-party e-commerce platforms, leaving no initiative. At the same time, this approach's drawback is that it cannot take root, form lasting memory, and overuse traffic. It may be effective but at the cost of overdraft, not traffic, not sales, ultimately forming traffic dependency. For brand owners, without the B-end, they are unstable; without the C-end, they are inactive. Only with BC integration can channel operations fully form a closed loop. From the evolution of channel operations, from regional agents to provincial agents to county agents, to enterprises sinking to terminals, to now BC integration, it can be said that BC integration is the ultimate goal of channel operations. Many enterprises are practicing BC integration. Each has different resources, and the depth of BC integration varies. They all reach the C-end through terminals in various ways, completing interactions with the C-end. All who practice it influence consumer awareness of the brand and purchase opportunities. BC integration has been recognized by many enterprises as a magic weapon for leapfrog development. Once the transformation is completed, it enhances corporate competitiveness and raises competitive barriers. Some people dispute BC integration on the difficulty of connecting B-end and C-end and operating the C-end, especially in the FMCG industry, believing that low-involvement products are not worth the investment and difficulty, and that BC integration is more suitable for high-involvement products. This view mainly comes from a private domain traffic perspective, thinking that connecting and operating consumers for low-value products like a bottle of beer, soy sauce, or instant noodles is not cost-effective, like using a cannon to shoot a mosquito. This itself reflects a shallow and narrow understanding of BC integration. The ultimate goal of BC integration is certainly to bring incremental growth to terminals and strengthen consumer repurchase, but BC integration must distinguish between consumer education and sales conversion, single-store breakthrough, regional breakthrough, and national breakthrough. The degree of BC integration application depends on the enterprise's own resources. BC integration is the full connection of the entire channel chain, completing top-down connection (F2B2b2C) and bottom-up activation (C2b2B2F). For example: Dongpeng Special Drink uses one-code-one-item to associate consumers, terminals, and distributors. Terminals scan the box code to register as members and bind relationships. Through the "1 yuan joy" promotion activity of one-code-one-item, consumers are connected. The redemption of "1 yuan joy" is done by scanning the cap code at the terminal, obtaining redemption rewards. The backend can instantly see specific sell-out data (distributor, terminal, cap opening), analyze by region, distributor, and even each store's sell-out situation. The middle platform can use this data for precise breakthroughs and implement thousand-store, thousand-strategy. Consumers who scan the code not only get "1 yuan joy" but also earn points. Accumulated points can be redeemed for gifts in the points mall, strengthening the connection with consumers. Through periodic lucky draws, user stickiness is further reinforced. Another form is associating one-code-one-item with a WeChat official account, depositing consumers on the official account. Later, content is created to repeatedly reach consumers, co-create content with users, enhance stickiness, deepen brand awareness through content, and achieve sales conversion through activities. Operating C-end, Empowering B-end Of course, the premise of BC integration is deep distribution. Without a foundation in deep distribution, achieving BC integration is like a castle in the air. Similarly, without a digital middle platform, it is still difficult. With data but no analysis, timely frontline operations cannot be formulated. The middle platform team also requires high skills, understanding both technology and the logic of deep distribution. Deep distribution is like sweeping mines, building roads and bridges; BC integration is like precise sniping, attacking without dead ends. Some may ask: if these resources are not available, can BC integration still be done? Of course, it can. Start with single-store breakthroughs, encircle and strike, choose a core store. By establishing flash groups, preheating, promoting, accumulating customers, and community activities, empower terminal stores to activate incremental growth, one by one, rolling development, repeating cycles. This is also BC integration. This method was used in serving a seasoning company. Similarly, community group buying is the lightest means for brand owners to achieve BC integration, but data is in the hands of third-party community e-commerce platforms. "Standing across from me, yet I don't know who you are." For B-end with stores, this has reference significance for brand owners to use C-end to activate B-end in the next step. For pure store-less B-end group leaders, it is meaningless and cannot achieve natural sales in the next step. From the brand owner's perspective: The core of BC integration is to use B-end to connect C-end, use C-end to activate B-end, implement thousand-store, thousand-strategy, precisely achieve single-store breakthrough, regional breakthrough, national breakthrough, and ultimately achieve natural channel sell-out, making the channel unobstructed. It is not about gathering all C-end and having the brand owner directly operate for sales conversion, but rather helping and empowering the B-end, giving B-end confidence and loyalty. It is done around the B-end, not bypassing it to directly do private domain operations. Operating C-end, empowering B-end, someone is willing to buy, someone is willing to sell. B-end doesn't worry about sell-out, C-end feels warmth toward the brand and is willing to buy. Thoroughly connect and penetrate, achieve a closed loop in the channel system—this is the charm of BC integration. Chairman Mao once said: "If conditions exist, go ahead; if not, create conditions and go ahead." Being three steps ahead makes you a martyr; being one step ahead makes you a hero. This moment is the best time to implement BC integration. About the author: Zhu Chaoyang, General Manager of Zhenjian Management Consulting Co., Ltd., co-author of "New Marketing 2.0", a practical marketing expert who grew from the front lines, having served the beer, liquor, food, beverage, and seasoning industries, providing marketing consulting services to many small and medium-sized enterprises, helping them grow rapidly and achieve brand nationalization. Are you "watching" me?