温馨提示**点击↑“ 快消品经销商专业咨询”了解更多营销及经销商内部管理等内容。** In 2012, during a market survey in Linyi, I noticed that Shunhe Liquor Store had opened five liquor specialty stores, and both the storefront decoration and locations were quite impressive. Currently, the store has expanded to 13 liquor specialty stores, and after several years of operation, its scale and sales have shown a clear upward trend. World-renowned brand marketing expert Larry Light once said, "Having the market is more important than having the factory; controlling the retail market is the true meaning of owning the market." Therefore, having a terminal group that directly faces consumers is crucial in market competition. In fact, many distributors have already started or are already working on building their own terminals! This includes franchising through特许连锁 and direct-operated self-built terminal stores, with the goal of controlling terminals to win the market. Distributors feel that the hotel channel and hypermarket channel are difficult and stressful. Additionally, due to the overall environment of the baijiu industry, many brands have seen significant declines in sales in traditional channels this year. To escape difficulties, many distributors are also trying new development directions. In summary, the new directions mainly focus on two aspects: one is moving upward, entering the product production field, achieving own-brand or self-produced products, and elevating themselves to manufacturers; the other is moving downward, building their own terminals and directly controlling them. Comparatively, building their own terminals offers better safety and return on investment, and to some extent alleviates the issue of distributor weakness. If developed well, it can greatly improve distributors' survival security and profit stability. Therefore, distributors with certain resources are starting to build their own terminals to cope with the difficulties they face in traditional channels. Unconsciously, self-built terminals have become a trend in the baijiu industry! Case Study: The Scale Effect of Luoyang Wangcheng Sugar & Wine's Famous Liquor Chain In Luoyang, when it comes to Wangcheng Sugar & Wine, almost everyone in the industry knows it. Its over 40 famous liquor chain stores occupy a significant market share in Luoyang. Like other distributors, Luoyang Wangcheng Sugar & Wine Company once did wholesale, entered hotels, and joined hypermarkets. However, due to intensified market competition and rising terminal costs, facing hotel shelf fees, waiter's bottle-opening fees, and various personnel favor fees, the distributor's meager profits gradually disappeared. General Manager Yang Lixia clearly felt this confusion. After long-term thinking, summary, and field inspections, Yang Lixia believed that rather than relying on terminals, it was better to take the path of self-built terminals. In 2002, when there were almost no famous cigarette and liquor stores in Luoyang, Yang Lixia decisively opened the Wangcheng Famous Cigarette and Liquor Store. In decoration, she absorbed the advantages of clothing specialty store design, giving it an upscale and beautiful feel. White walls and beautiful spotlights attracted many consumers, and daily sales at the store rose sharply, which delighted Yang Lixia and filled her with more confidence. At that time, Yang Lixia had already determined that famous cigarette and liquor stores would become an increasingly broad path. Building the Brand with Famous Liquor Chain Stores Good things are easily imitated. From 2002 to 2004, famous cigarette and liquor stores in Luoyang blossomed like "a thousand trees with pear flowers." Competition intensified, and more frighteningly, some unscrupulous merchants sold fake liquor in their stores, putting tremendous pressure on Yang Lixia's store with their low prices. Yang Lixia keenly realized that competition would become increasingly fierce. At that time, Yang Lixia's three siblings were each developing their own famous cigarette and liquor stores. Yang Lixia believed that fighting alone was slow and lacked core competitiveness; to develop rapidly, the enterprise needed to transform. Therefore, led by Yang Lixia, the three siblings' three famous cigarette and liquor stores, three supermarkets, and one wholesale department were integrated to establish Luoyang Wangcheng Sugar & Wine Co., Ltd., with her as general manager. The company quickly divided its operations into two parts: brand agency and terminal retail operations. This time, the siblings were determined and gave competitors no breathing room. They hired a planning company, renamed all stores to Wangcheng Famous Cigarette and Liquor Stores, proposed the business philosophy of "Creating a First-Class Famous Store, Building a Century-Old Brand," and vigorously promoted corporate culture among employees. Since the company's establishment, it has successively acted as an agent for dozens of single products, including Quanxing, Xiangjiugui, Luzhou Chenqu, Laobaifen series, and Dukang series. Wangcheng's products have never been complained about by consumers and have been rated as a consumer-trusted unit by the Luoyang Consumers' Association multiple times. At this point, Wangcheng's brand image began to take root in the hearts of Luoyang citizens. Establishing Status with the Famous Liquor Port However, the competitive environment is never static. In 2006, famous cigarette and liquor stores blossomed everywhere in Henan, with a mix of good and bad. Wangcheng Sugar & Wine Company faced a severe test. How should it proceed? Yang Lixia said, "We must always stay at the forefront of the industry, never stopping for a moment. We must be the industry leader, not the follower." So she decided to break through the bottleneck and build a more suitable profit model. Yang Lixia quickly rented a storefront of over 400 square meters in a prime location in the city center and opened a Wangcheng Famous Liquor Flagship Store, named "Wangcheng Famous Liquor Port." After renovation, famous liquor specialty stores immediately moved in, creating a store-within-a-store. The Wangcheng Famous Liquor Port officially opened on June 30, 2007. Some industry insiders said that Wangcheng's flagship store might be the largest and most luxurious in Luoyang or even Henan. The opening of this store marked a new step for Wangcheng and established its position as an authoritative place for purchasing famous liquor in consumers' minds. Although in recent years, some so-called "famous cigarette and liquor stores" in Henan still sell fake liquor, consumers have gained a fuller understanding of the market situation and have gradually formed a certain differentiation. Yang Lixia believes that consumers who want to buy genuine famous liquor often choose to buy at brand stores like Wangcheng. Therefore, in Yang Lixia's view, once famous cigarette and liquor stores embark on the brand path, survival is no longer a problem; the most important thing during development is persistence and patience. Breaking the Operation Model with Franchise Stores Wangcheng's pace did not stop. Wangcheng Sugar & Wine began to expand its focus to the entire Henan province, establishing Henan Wangcheng Liquor Co., Ltd. in Zhengzhou, the provincial capital. This company will introduce franchise stores on a large scale across Henan. Wangcheng's franchise stores differ from others in that Wangcheng does not charge any franchise fees or management fees but provides services such as delivery to the door and management assistance. The reason for adopting this operation model is that Yang Lixia believes the current national market economy is not very ideal. The stock market, funds, and bank deposit interest rates are not very favorable. Many working-class people want to do small business. What she chose are those with certain connections. They only need to invest 200,000 to 300,000 yuan to own their own famous liquor store, without worrying too much about supply sources and management. Moreover, for such people, their requirements for investment returns are not particularly high; as long as it is more cost-effective than bank interest, they are willing to try. For Wangcheng, this move reduces capital pressure and achieves larger and faster scale development. To facilitate management, she specially introduced a software system for information and data management of chain stores, providing management guarantees for its next step of development. Through continuous operation, she gradually established the concept of scientific management and seeking benefits from management. Other enterprises with self-built terminals include: Anhui Nanxiang currently has over 300 direct-operated and franchised leisure snack stores, covering most cities in Anhui and expanding to Jiangsu. Terminal entry fees, barcode fees, display fees, DM fees, promotion fees, advertising fees, holiday fees, sponsorship fees, and many other charges have eaten away most of the distributor's gross profit margin. In addition, the 30-75 day payment terms make it difficult for many distributors to bear. By opening their own stores, they gain greater initiative. For example, Guangdong's "Yotopia", Shanghai's "Laiyifen", and Hunan's "Yanjinpuzi" have formed considerable scale and established their own brand advantages. Anhui Huangshan's Ruilong Trading has even opened giant leisure food stores. Its "Laiyidian" and "Shihuidian" stores each have an operating area of over 300 square meters, with a richer variety than hypermarkets, and have seized most of the local leisure food market. Building retail terminals requires certain financial strength, management experience, and a strong procurement system. Some shrewd and powerful distributors have achieved a magnificent transformation. But there are also many problems! In fact, the road to self-built terminals for distributors may seem glorious, but it is actually bumpy and full of twists. Improper operation can lead to losing both the wife and the soldiers. Distributors who truly build their own terminals will find that many current situations differ greatly from what they originally imagined. Many distributors build terminals on a whim or under the influence of industry calls, without considering long-term operational difficulties. So what are the difficulties for distributors in building their own terminals?

  1. Working Capital Becomes Fixed Investment Distributors' capital turnover has always been a headache for bosses. Distributors have limited social financing capabilities and are accustomed to operating with "hot money" and "quick money." In terms of capital use, distributors tend to focus on rapid turnover, even sacrificing some product profits when necessary to achieve rapid capital turnover (many incidents that damage manufacturers' price systems and regional sales regulations stem from this). But if they open their own terminals, this cannot be "quick." When distributors open their own terminals, they must consider fixed investment and daily expenses. For example, terminal premises are either bought or rented. As business premises, the rent is much higher than the distributor's office or warehouse, and most are paid annually. Plus decoration, equipment, and other costs, a large amount of capital is tied up in these fixed investments. This is only the initial basic investment. During terminal operation, there are continuous personnel costs, equipment maintenance costs, government fees, and purchase costs from other suppliers, requiring strong capital mobilization and turnover space!
  2. Transparency of Self-Built Terminal Operations Which distributor hasn't done "under-the-table" business? When conditions are suitable, many goods are transferred and gone. Sometimes goods don't even need to be unloaded at the warehouse; they are directly transferred to another truck and sent off. Lower-level customers in the channel rarely ask for invoices; a delivery list is enough. A pure wholesale storefront doesn't show large transactions, making it easier to apply for a lower fixed tax from the government. But if you open a terminal, all government functional departments will come knocking. Various tax and fee bills will fall like snowflakes. If there is any slip or offense, it is easy to trace from the terminal to the distributor's entity. In addition, legal employment procedures, fire safety, local apportionments, environmental hygiene, etc., all come, and you can't avoid them. The resulting increase in management difficulty and costs is also a headache for many distributors.
  3. Issues with Categories, Inventory, and Customer Management When opening a terminal, you can't just sell one type of product; you need to stock too many products. Coupled with the existing complexity of inventory management, this can lead to a sharp increase in losses and overall operating costs. More inventory means losses! And the manufacturer will not subsidize terminal inventory losses. Secondly, in terms of customer management, terminals face various consumer opinions, complaints, criticisms, and pickiness every day. Individual transactions are small, but there are many issues. Some consumers are clearly looking for faults. This requires a store manager with handling experience.
  4. Issues of Self-Management and Management Professionalism Competition among terminals is fierce. Many distributors' self-built terminals will face two problems in the early stage. On one hand, distributors have certain social resources; how to convert these social resources into sales. On the other hand, as self-built terminals, they have advantages in price competition and promotional resources for some products, but this advantage is often difficult to show, or can only be shown secretly. This requires the distributor's own management and control. At the management level, distributors lack terminal operation experience. If the terminal is large, the requirements for management professionalism are higher, and distributors often imitate superficially in overall design and planning. They achieve scale, but in terms of talent, it is often hard to find. Most of these highly professional operators are in large group retail systems, and they move within these systems. Due to the distributor's status, it is difficult to attract these professionals. They have to find ways to manage and operate themselves. From the perspective of future development trends, distributors investing in their own terminals is indeed a viable development direction. The key lies in how to handle the above issues. Additionally, distributors need to grasp six key points. First: Correctly analyze your own brand strength. If your brand's influence in the local area is weak, I think you should focus on your old business. If brand influence is insufficient, self-built specialty stores will be seen as generic brands by consumers, resulting in low foot traffic, inability to raise prices, and ultimately no profit, so closing is not surprising. If brand influence is strong, the result is different. Consumers come for the brand, foot traffic is guaranteed, prices can be raised, and money is made. Second: Tailor products for the self-built channel. This ensures no conflict with other channels and also secures the profit of the self-built terminal. Third: Storefront construction and layout. The storefront of the self-built channel must be good, meaning good location, good decoration, good products, good service, and good sales guidance. For location, there are two approaches: one is to be close to hypermarkets, and the other is in central areas where hypermarket influence is weak. For decoration, first do the storefront well, making it look like it comes from a big brand. This can refer to jewelry brands. Then the interior decoration should be slightly larger than similar brands, and the style should be relaxed and comfortable. Products should be comprehensive, including both those available in hypermarkets and those not, with a ratio of 4:6 being ideal. Fourth: Service first. This is mainly reflected in the attitude of sales staff and return/exchange policies. This can be handled flexibly to give customers no worries, laying the foundation for repeat visits or recommendations to friends. Fifth: Know how to promote and create momentum. First, the opening should be lively. The opening is the best time to announce your existence and features to surrounding target consumers. A successful opening can expand your visibility and awareness, boost sales, and boost team confidence. If the opening is not successful, it is recommended to change location or reopen. Key points for opening activities: choose a reasonable opening date, make the activity intensity higher than usual, have wide publicity, and have full participation with division of labor. Secondly, for major brand-level communication, you can use various mainstream media and self-made promotional materials to introduce the features of each store comprehensively, highlighting the characteristics of the self-built stores. This way, consumers will choose to consume based on their own spending power and habits. Sixth: Take the initiative. First, be a traveling merchant or operating merchant, and say goodbye to sitting merchants. Don't adopt the traditional passive approach of sitting in the store waiting for customers. Form an active marketing team to proactively seek target customers and increase the number of customers entering the store. Many self-built chain store managers are in the store in the morning and visit customers in the afternoon. By continuously adjusting product structure and pricing to meet customer needs; through various trainings to improve sales staff's selling skills; through various promotional activities to attract consumers to buy in advance, etc., convert more foot traffic into sales. Continuously tap the value of old customers. Carry out exclusive activities for old customers, and formulate incentive plans for them, turning them into brand promoters and sales personnel. Amway's approach in this regard is worth learning and referencing. Seventh: Promotional Activities As long as promotional activities are well-planned and details are executed properly, most can achieve both sales and brand success. Self-built chain stores should take the opportunity of promotional activities to introduce their features and advantages, improving awareness and visibility within the radiation range. They can also independently carry out targeted promotional activities for specific groups. In my opinion, whether it is exhibition marketing, conference marketing, group buying, joint promotions, or community promotion, opening, or other types of promotional activities, they are all similar. As long as you always focus on the two links of planning and execution, and firmly grasp the seven key points of theme planning, activity publicity, activity intensity, personnel division, atmosphere creation, mobilization and incentives, and personnel training, you can basically achieve the expected goals, and even if you fall short, it won't be by much. Conclusion: Self-built terminals can indeed solve many problems or pressures brought by other channel operation models. They can effectively improve brand management, product management, price management, inventory management, promotion management, information management, and account management. Moreover, the overall layout of outlets can be fully controlled by the manufacturer. However, the management costs and circulation costs brought by self-built terminals will also rise, and the requirements for marketing management level are also high. For distributors, they can also consider starting with small terminals, controlling risk costs within a fully controllable range, exploring management experience, gradually improving various rules and regulations based on actual conditions, training corresponding operating personnel, and also striving to get professionals from large retail stores for training and guidance, laying a solid foundation before extending upward. Moreover, in the early stage of development, it is advisable to deliberately avoid the identity of the distributor as the investor, and list single households separately to avoid negative impacts on the distribution entity due to terminal participation in market competition. Source: Zhizhuo Winning Marketing Lecture Hall --------------------------------------

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