---
title: "Who Should Lead O2O New Retail: Regional Units, HQ Key Accounts, or E-commerce?"
description: "In 2020, new retail has significantly impacted FMCG brands, from O2O home delivery during the pandemic to community group buying. This article explores which internal team should lead O2O new retail, considering the roles of various functions and proposing that the general manager leads, sales department takes charge, marketing assists, and all departments participate."
author: "欧以正"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2020-11-25"
language: "en"
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---

# Who Should Lead O2O New Retail: Regional Units, HQ Key Accounts, or E-commerce?

> In 2020, new retail has significantly impacted FMCG brands, from O2O home delivery during the pandemic to community group buying. This article explores which internal team should lead O2O new retail, considering the roles of various functions and proposing that the general manager leads, sales department takes charge, marketing assists, and all departments participate.

****Click "Read Original" for details****
In 2020, the biggest impact on FMCG brand companies has been new retail, whether it's the rapid O2O home delivery business during the early pandemic or the community group buying that major platforms have recently entered, both are visibly changing the channel business structure and resource allocation of FMCG brands.
Among brand companies, some have steadily advanced, establishing new retail teams or assigning responsible personnel years ago, while others have been slower to react but have adjusted their structures and recruited relevant positions in the first half of this year, hoping to catch up with this fast-moving train.
However, both pioneers and followers face a common question when designing their organizational structure:
**Within the organization, who should lead and be responsible for new retail O2O business? How should KPIs be set? How should various departments and teams collaborate to achieve maximum results?**
Today, let's explore which team is most suitable to lead O2O new retail, considering the characteristics of new retail O2O and traditional company structures.
**-01-**
Let's start by analyzing the relevance of O2O to existing functional teams, first determining the role of each functional team in O2O.
In the current FMCG industry, a common organizational structure is that the Commercial GM is responsible for the sales and marketing departments, with the sales department further divided into different teams based on functions, as shown below:
**Key Account Team (NKA):** Responsible for cooperation with the most important offline retailers nationwide (such as Walmart, RT-Mart, Carrefour), including business plans, business targets, and profit targets.
**Channel Marketing Team (TMKT/SMKT):** Responsible for connecting with the marketing department, planning offline (or omni-channel) business targets and activity plans (new products, in-store displays, channel promotions, consumer promotions, etc.).
**Channel Strategy Team (GTM):** Generally responsible for the layout and strategy of offline channels for products, especially for brands requiring deep distribution; GTM handles the planning and management of distributor channels.
**E-commerce Team (EC):** Usually managed by categories such as Alibaba, JD.com, and others (e.g., EB2B, social e-commerce).
**Regional Teams:** Primarily execute business strategies and plans formulated by headquarters; in some decentralized management companies, regional teams also have their own marketing, channel marketing, and other functional departments to specifically handle regional business and profit targets.
**-02-**
So, where is the relevance of O2O to each functional team?
**O2O VS NKA: The current top five O2O platforms (JD Daojia, Meituan, Taoxianda, Ele.me, Duodian) have covered all NKA customers.**
These platforms build the "field" of O2O, create consumption scenarios, provide consumer services, and drive "people" traffic through online and offline, inside and outside the platform. NKA retailers, on the other hand, sell offline products on the platform, providing the "goods." Meanwhile, NKA customers have also established their own private domain platforms.
**O2O VS TMKT: As O2O platforms become places where consumers shop more frequently, they have become part of the sales channels.**
TMKT will increasingly include O2O in overall plans when developing channel strategies, channel activities, and consumer activities, and allocate resources reasonably and design mechanisms that align with consumer shopping mindsets.
At the same time, TMKT is responsible for formulating and regulating guidelines for O2O platform activity intensity, ensuring balance among channels.
**O2O VS GTM: O2O platforms cover a certain number of small and medium outlets (especially Meituan and Ele.me), and these stores are often supplied and managed by distributors.**
Therefore, GTM will also include O2O platform content in existing channel strategies and activity arrangements. Additionally, for emerging business formats like community teams, which require more regional solutions and flexible management, GTM teams often take charge.
**O2O VS EC: It is undeniable that O2O platforms and e-commerce platforms are increasingly closely related, whether it's Alibaba's same-city retail or JD.com's competitive selection, both are strong connections between O2O and e-commerce platforms.**
Moreover, the gameplay on O2O platforms has been run by e-commerce for a long time and proven effective. There is still a gap between O2O platforms and e-commerce platforms in data utilization; in the future, mature e-commerce technology will inevitably help innovate O2O platform digital technology.
**O2O VS Regional Teams: From the current market perspective, regional teams and O2O platforms mainly execute activity plans formulated by headquarters.**
However, for companies with decentralized regional management (typical examples: beer and beverage companies, where bottling plants operate as independent market units), they can also promote new retail business development within their regions through cooperation with O2O platforms.
**-03-**
O2O is strongly related to all sales functional teams. Due to these complex relationships, there are currently several types of O2O teams in major companies in the market.
**1. Independent Team Type:**
**Establish a separate O2O team, parallel to other functional teams.**
The team's reporting line can be to the NKA team leader (generally applicable when platform business exceeds 80% from NKA and requires more cooperation with NKA) or to the sales head (generally when platform-covered business is scattered across multiple channels).
Typically, the team can be divided into O2O key accounts (connecting public O2O platforms and customer O2O teams) and O2O channel marketing (similar to TMKT function, mainly designing activities and resource allocation). This type of team is responsible for platform business output and also controls promotional resources to cooperate with platforms.
**Externally, it connects platforms and customers; internally, it needs to communicate with the marketing department about brand investment plans on platforms (consumer reach) and with the channel marketing department about activity plans on O2O channels.**
**Advantages:** The company can have strategic height in the O2O channel, making it easier to establish omni-channel concepts and strategies. The organization is fully empowered, responds quickly, has clear internal and external functions, can quickly drive business development, and KPI setting is clear (platform business output + platform investment amount + front-end and back-end data metrics).
**Disadvantages:** O2O is only part of the customer's business; after separation, it is easy to lack a holistic plan, increasing communication costs and conflicts between teams.
**2. Multi-Team Cooperation Type:**
**Under the existing sales department structure, each team has a separate O2O team responsible for independent matters, and teams cooperate based on division of labor and processes.**
NKA O2O team is responsible for client-side O2O channel business plans (e.g., Walmart O2O account manager responsible for Walmart Daojia, Walmart JD Daojia, Walmart JD flagship store, and Walmart scan-to-buy mini-program). TMKT O2O team is responsible for formulating O2O channel business plans and activity arrangements, resource allocation. E-commerce O2O personnel are responsible for joint activities and data on e-commerce-related O2O platforms.
**Advantages:** Each team performs its own duties. On the client side, business is still developed from a holistic perspective, reflecting a customer-oriented management mindset. Internally, each original functional team can have its own overall plan and global control.
**Disadvantages:** Responsibilities between teams are easily unclear, external platform coordination is complex, internal communication costs increase, and it is difficult to form a company-wide O2O strategic thinking; other teams need to participate in integrated matters.
**3. Project Team Type:**
**Generally suitable for companies with less strict functional divisions, and where O2O business accounts for a small proportion of company business. Project team members are often part-time from various functional teams, and through project leader or coordinator management, O2O business is developed.**
In the initial stage, O2O business is treated as one or more projects, with project members coordinating within their original functional teams. When a project matures and forms a fixed process, it is handed over to a highly relevant team for full-time responsibility based on the project's situation (business composition).
**Advantages:** Flexible operation, clear responsibilities, no impact on existing structure.
**Disadvantages:** KPIs are difficult to set, project team members have limited focus, and stability is not strong.
**4. Team Autonomy Type:**
**Customers or regional teams independently develop and manage O2O business, generally existing in companies where O2O business accounts for a small proportion, and customers or regions have strong autonomy (decentralized management).**
Since O2O is just selling products to consumers, actual purchases occur between retailers and brands, and account managers control all resources (from channel fees to consumer promotion fees and personnel costs), account managers decide investment and cooperation directions on the client and platform side.
**Advantages:** Clear KPIs, flexibility, result-oriented.
**Disadvantages:** Handling needs beyond the account manager's capabilities and functions is difficult, forming an overall channel strategy and planning is harder, and the "people" factor is significant.
These four different team settings are determined by factors such as the company's business layout, O2O channel development, and existing organizational structure. There is no absolutely right or wrong team setting; only suitability matters. **But regardless of the team setting, one question needs to be considered: Who should lead the development of new retail O2O within the organization?**
**-04-**
My personal summary in twenty characters is: **Led by the top leader (GM), responsible by the sales department, assisted by the marketing department, and participated by all departments.**
**Led by the top leader:**
Regardless of whether O2O or new retail currently accounts for a large or small proportion of the company's business, it is undeniable that the market and brands need to undergo digital transformation with the times. Any emerging business format represents a change and choice of consumers.
**This requires a person who can lead and influence the overall company to drive this transformation, keep up with the market pace, and handle division of labor, collaboration, and balance of goals and resources among departments.** New things always affect existing structures and interests, so it is necessary to change the original ecosystem and organizational structure from top to bottom, forming a new cooperative community.
**Responsible by the sales department:**
Whether it's O2O or community group buying, they are part of sales. For new retail, it is most suitable for the sales department to be responsible. As for which functional department within the sales department should take the lead, it can be considered from different angles:
**1. From the "goods" dimension:**
**The suggested order is: Key Account Department > Channel Marketing Department > Regional Sales > Channel Strategy Department > E-commerce Department.** Although O2O business is generated online, fundamentally it is an exchange of "goods" and "currency." The team that connects with retailers holding "goods rights" is most suitable to manage the "one set of goods."
**2. From the "field" dimension:**
**It is suggested that the O2O channel leader, parallel to various teams or channels, takes the lead, followed by the Channel Marketing Department.** This makes it relatively easier to allocate resources and coordinate for business; in decentralized management companies, regional sales can also "decentralize" responsibility based on circumstances.
**3. From the "people" dimension:**
**Currently, O2O is classified under the "online field," so e-commerce can take the lead.** E-commerce has advanced data analysis methods, good consumer reach, and diverse platform gameplay experience.
It is also easier to coordinate with the "same group of consumers" across e-commerce platforms. However, from a KPI perspective, the purchase target is still the responsibility of the offline team. Therefore, if e-commerce takes the lead, KPI setting and inter-team cooperation need to be agreed upon in advance.
**Assisted by the marketing department:**
The vigorous development of O2O fully demonstrates consumer choices. For the marketing department, **the right consumers are the brand reach direction, and more off-platform traffic and on-platform brand building will inevitably require the marketing department to assist the sales department in doing better on this channel.**
**Participated by all departments:**
Currently, O2O's relationship with other departments is not yet close, but participation from other relevant departments is still needed. For example, the finance department can do better investment model analysis, HR can set job responsibilities and develop capability directions, and the data strategy department can participate in platform cooperation to establish better data transmission and database building. Through the participation of all departments, we can jointly support O2O development.
**In conclusion:**
O2O has only developed for a few years, while most companies' organizational structures have been stable for ten years (ten years ago, e-commerce broke the pattern, prompting companies to redesign their organizational structures).
In the short term, we cannot see disruptive functional redivision, but **in the next ten years, we look forward to seeing more emerging business formats break the existing retail business layout and drive development through change.**
****—end—****
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