--- title: "Will Distributors Disappear? A Lie!" description: "The claim that distributors will disappear has resurfaced, but it has been proven wrong for over a century. B2B platforms will only replace non-core functions of distributors, not their essential role in promotion and market development." author: "刘春雄" publisher: "New Distribution" email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com" telephone: "+8615854817671" published: "2017-09-06" language: "en" canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/will-distributors-disappear-a-lie-ab5aed2d/" markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/will-distributors-disappear-a-lie-ab5aed2d.md" original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/ej-bwlzwjo4O2zyiux1k3A" translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E4%BB%A3%E7%90%86%E5%95%86%E4%BC%9A%E6%B6%88%E5%A4%B1-%E8%B0%8E%E8%A8%80-ab5aed2d.md" attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/will-distributors-disappear-a-lie-ab5aed2d/" usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt" --- # Will Distributors Disappear? A Lie! > The claim that distributors will disappear has resurfaced, but it has been proven wrong for over a century. B2B platforms will only replace non-core functions of distributors, not their essential role in promotion and market development. Click the image for details Text | Liu Chunxiong / Teacher Liu's Forum (ID: liuchunxiong1964) The claim that distributors will disappear has resurfaced. It's called "resurfaced" because it appears every so often. The "useless distributor" theory has been around for 100 years. Americans said it over 100 years ago. Japanese said it over 50 years ago. In China, people have always said it, and at every turning point, distributors become a joke. After B2B emerged, people said it again. Each time, there are different reasons, but they never hold up. However, each mention causes distributors to change. Statically, the traditional ones have indeed disappeared; dynamically, distributors have revived. 01 This time, it's backed by the internet and B2B. B2C has already bypassed distributors, and B2B will bypass them again. **The internet always has a "revolutionary target," and it always aims at distributors.** History has repeatedly proven that the "useless distributor" theory is prejudice, but prejudice persists. Why the prejudice? Because distributors are inefficient, because they are "middlemen," and "middlemen" are unnecessary links. Distributors are indeed inefficient, such as in delivery, but that's because there is no public platform, so they have to do it themselves. Delivery is not the core function of distributors. Are distributors redundant? Except for second-tier wholesalers, China's county-based distributor network is already hard to compress. **If B2B succeeds, it will still be a distributor.** Don't think that just because Alibaba and JD.com are involved in B2B, they will surely succeed with money. It's said that every internet entrepreneur is asked: "What if Alibaba (JD) or Tencent also does this project?" Later, some said this isn't a real question. Because Alibaba, apart from its B2C ecosystem projects, has almost no success in other projects. But its F-round investments have mostly succeeded. Because projects that survive to F-round, as long as you pour in big money, success is almost inevitable. 02 Channels will certainly change! The future channel structure will roughly be three major platforms: * **Delivery Platform** * **Order Platform (Data Platform)** * **Promotion Platform** Delivery is not the core function of distributors. In the U.S., delivery has long been third-party. So, after B2B emerged, stripping delivery from distributors is not new. **The core of B2B platforms is the order platform, which distributors are not afraid of.** First, many distributors have been doing SaaS in recent years; second, order results are the result of promotion, not the platform. **The core function of channels is promotion, such as new product promotion. Stripping other functions does not affect the existence of distributors.** It can even be said that when non-core functions are stripped, distributors will focus more on their core functions, making them harder to replace. _**■ My conclusion: B2B only replaces non-core functions of distributors, not enough to subvert them.**_ 03 Some may say B2B has big data and can do promotion better than distributors. I dare say manufacturers have proposed "manufacturer and distributor are one family," but B2B won't say that. Jack Ma's dream is "to make it easy to do business anywhere," but platforms are destined to make his dream impossible. This has nothing to do with Jack Ma, only with the nature of platforms. "Manufacturer and distributor are one family" means they are a community of shared destiny. B2C has proven: if all manufacturers join a platform, the platform can look down on all manufacturers, and everything becomes a transactional relationship. In the past, some manufacturers were strong, but not as strong as platforms. **If a platform becomes the distributor for all manufacturers, the platform is no longer just strong, but dominant.** Platforms have big data, but big data should not be in the hands of platforms. When platforms and manufacturers are in a game relationship, big data is first used to play games with manufacturers, not to serve them. I also don't think big data necessarily brings advantages, just as "market insight" is more effective than "market research" in the past. In the past, distributors could collaborate over several years to promote new products, which platforms cannot do. In channel promotion, interpersonal relationships are very important. This is also hard for platforms to replace. 04 How should distributors transform? The general direction must not be wrong. Some think they should transform into delivery companies, some into retailers, some into service providers. I think these are not universal transformation directions. Of course, some paths work for some, but we must distinguish individual cases from general phenomena. **The universal transformation is to focus on the core functions of distributors, making them irreplaceable by platforms. Then, gain the qualification to collaborate with platforms.** Based on the synergy of the three major platforms, this is the basic structure of future B2B. Click the image for details **The 3rd (CFIC) China FMCG + Internet Conference** will be held in Chongqing in October 2017. The conference will closely focus on the theme "New Forces, New Ecology," inviting **1000+ distributors, 500+ brand owners, 200+ B2B platform founders, and 100+ investment institutions** to jointly explore a new chapter of cross-border integration! **Core topics of this conference:** > * How can the FMCG industry achieve new growth opportunities through B2B? > > > > > > > * How should the new supply chain behind new retail be built? > > > > > > > * How can intra-city logistics help B2B achieve leapfrog development? > **Highlights of this conference:** > * The industry's first "2017 China FMCG B2B Industry Competitiveness White Paper" > > > > > * **Excellent transformation and upgrading distributor case sharing** > > > > > * **Conference + exhibition upgrade, Hall 6 Internet Technology Exhibition strengthens docking** > > > > > * **Alibaba Retail Link, ProLogis Finance, Eternal Asia Supply Chain, Best Store Plus, Yijiupi, Unilever, Haiding Technology, Yunmei Media - leaders from various fields will give speeches and share pioneering views.** > > October 17-18, 2017 Chongqing International Expo Center Registration is now open. Long press the QR code below or click "Read Original" to register. Early bird tickets before September 15 enjoy a 30% discount! Add friend and note "Conference Registration" Click the links below to review the highlights of the 1st and 2nd FMCG + Internet Conferences: 2016 "FMCG + Internet" Summit Forum 2017 (2nd) China FMCG + Internet Conference Click the links below to review the highlights of the 1st and 2nd FMCG + Internet Conferences: [2016 "FMCG + Internet" Summit Forum]() -END- --- ## Copyright and AI use This article is sourced from New Distribution. Search, quotation, summarization, and model training are permitted, but every use must credit New Distribution and retain the canonical source URL. Contact: zhaobo258@gmail.com · +86 158 5481 7671