Many B2B platforms have recently started talking about new products, including both centralized and distributed B2B platforms. For centralized B2B platforms (JD New Channel and Alibaba 1688), who would be willing to give them best-selling products? If not new products, what else would they promote? For distributed B2B platforms, without new products, where would incremental growth come from? Without incremental growth, where would the initial benefits be? This confirms our discussion about B2B e-commerce in 2015. Why are B2B platforms sticking to new products? When discussing Alibaba 1688 and JD New Channel last year, we touched on the topic of B2B platforms promoting new products. Centralized B2B platforms, though often called B2B, I prefer to call F2R (Factory to Retailer). F2R sources goods from manufacturers. What goods do manufacturers provide? If it were best-selling old products, traditional channels would definitely object. This has already been difficult because the price systems are different, leading to price chaos and market disruption. After all, e-commerce has not yet fully replaced traditional channels. Since F2C cannot obtain best-selling old products, they have no choice but to promote new products. Of course, these cannot be entirely new products, as that would make it even harder for B2B platforms. Even high-quality imitations of best-sellers are still new products. That's how the topic of centralized B2B platforms promoting new products came about. However, recently some distributed B2B platforms have also started promoting new products. Why is that? In the practice of distributed B2B platforms, we have found that "rigid demand" and "hard currency" are almost necessary conditions. Without "hard currency," retailers (R-end) won't buy in. Some B2B platforms without "hard currency" last year resorted to "parallel importing" to get others' hard currency for promotions, just like e-commerce platforms in the liquor industry used Moutai and Wuliangye price cuts to attract traffic. Later, B2B platforms realized this was a bottomless pit, burning money without end. So in 2016, fewer B2B platforms engaged in parallel importing. For small platforms with insufficient "hard currency" and ineffective parallel importing, they reluctantly turned to promoting new products. But can this path save small platforms? The Logic of New Products in B2B Differs from C2C In the early days of Taobao, C2C was a market for counterfeit goods. Tmall B2C initially served as a platform for large enterprises' "surplus stock," and later became a platform for their "third product line." Taking FMCG as an example, the first product line is for traditional channels, the second for KA (Key Accounts), and the third for C-end e-commerce. Because the price systems and promotion methods differ across traditional channels, KA, and C-end e-commerce, having these three product lines is necessary to operate flexibly. Of course, brands like Coca-Cola don't need this. C-end eventually became a machine that kills new products. For instance, brands like Handu Yishe had 30,000 new styles in 2014, surpassing ZARA's 27,000. If C-end is effective in promoting new products, is B2B the same? I believe the logic is completely different. C-end is retail, involving a single transaction that ends with the purchase. B2B is wholesale; after the platform transaction, there is a second sale process, i.e., reselling. The single transaction in C-end makes promoting new products relatively easy; as long as consumers accept them, especially during e-commerce promotions where emotional decisions are common. However, in B2B, the buyer must consider whether they can resell the products. When retailers' emotional decisions meet consumers' rational consumption, problems can arise. Therefore, promoting new products in B2B is much harder than imagined. There is a saying that the traditional channel can also be a barrier. In markets where old products sell well, promoting new products can be even more difficult. Now, promoting new products in KA is almost entirely left to manufacturers, who complete the promotion through long-term in-store marketing. Some might say that e-commerce can burn money; can burning money accelerate new product promotion? Of course, promoting new products requires spending, but burning money like e-commerce does is useless. New Products Cannot Save B2B Platforms My biggest question about Alibaba 1688 and JD New Channel is what kind of goods they can obtain. If they could get best-selling old products, they could easily succeed, but that would be a disaster for manufacturers. Look at C-end platforms in the liquor industry: how many have succeeded in promoting new products? Moreover, Alibaba 1688 and JD New Channel aim to become national general agents for a large number of new products, so the difficulty is immense. This is not about their capabilities or resources, but purely about logic. For those small distributed platforms, once they lack "rigid demand" products, I am skeptical about their ability to succeed in B2B by promoting new products. First, their small size is itself related to their capabilities. As individuals, some may succeed. As a group, they cannot all change in the short term. Traditional new product promotion has a very low success rate, long cycles, and relies more on people than resources. The success rate of new product promotion in China is already low. Even if using e-commerce platforms improves it, it won't be much better. If the lack of upstream resources is the issue, introducing new products to save small platforms is, in my view, very difficult. New products may become a supplement to platforms, but they are unlikely to become their savior. At the request of many distributor friends, the fourth B2B e-commerce inspection class of this public platform will be held from August 15-18, visiting Qianmi Network and Alibaba Retail Link in Nanjing and Hangzhou. Distributors interested in transformation can join us for on-site inspections: Activity Schedule: Time: August 15-18

Nanjing · Hangzhou 15th: Check-in at designated hotel in Nanjing; 16th: On-site inspection of Qianmi Network, then high-speed rail to Hangzhou in the afternoon; 17th: Participate in the "FMCG Distributor B2B Transformation Exchange Summit"; 18th: On-site inspection of Alibaba Retail Link in Hangzhou; Distributors interested in transformation are welcome to join us for understanding and on-site inspection: Organization Format

  1. Company visit
  2. Actual market case visit
  3. On-site explanation
  4. One-on-one communication Participating distributors only need to pay a registration fee of 200 yuan. Other expenses are self-covered. Note: This inspection is limited to distributors. Interested distributors can register by long-pressing the QR code below. When adding, please note: "Fourth Registration". Non-participants, please do not disturb. Group Photos from Previous Inspections: Third B2B e-commerce inspection group photo, from top to bottom: Yunbao Shangmeng, Weijie Chengpei, Wanshang Yizhan. Second B2B e-commerce inspection group photo, from top to bottom: Jinhuobao, Caiba, Yishang. First B2B e-commerce inspection group photo, from top to bottom: Piduoduo, Beiquan, Yishang. -END- The best FMCG distributor learning platform in China Focusing on providing professional, practical, and actionable tutorials for enterprises and distributors Committed to helping Chinese FMCG distributors grow rapidly The most professional and practical knowledge base in the FMCG industry Reply with the red number below to get corresponding content Reply with number 1 to view the complete knowledge base | 001 Excellent article selection | 002 Distributor market operations | 003 Terminal visit management | 004 Sales supervisor skills | 005 Sales improvement techniques | 006 Channel expansion | 007 Managing distributors | 008 Distributor development | 009 Distributor internal operations management | 010 Team management | 011 Efficient distribution techniques | 012 Sales manager's eighteen skills | 013 KA operation methods and strategies | 014 First lesson for sales novices | 015 Internet, brands | 016 Distributor B2B transformation | [Long press QR code to follow]