The boom of B2B platforms in 2016 made many brand owners consider partnering with these platforms. However, due to issues with existing distributor channels and stock, as well as concerns that B2B platforms might not provide one-stop solutions like traditional channel distributors, most brand owners merely observed without taking action. Of course, some brand owners also refrained due to internal reasons, such as team issues or unfamiliarity with B2B. Honestly, the author had similar concerns, but recently, through communication with the Xintonglu team, a real case changed this view. Today, I will share a case of how a regional brand achieved 12 times sales growth in the same period through Xintonglu. From April 18 to the end of May, Xintonglu seized the characteristics of immediate demand during the beverage peak season, relying on the big data analysis of Xintonglu's Huiyan system, Xintonglu's supply and ground service advantages, and jointly launched an in-depth sales promotion activity with Yineng, achieving visual product display in in-store freezers (or end caps). The deep sales promotion activity of Zhangguibao included the following steps: First, from April 18 to April 30, store owners who ordered 8 boxes of Yineng's 8 new products (1 box each) through the JD Zhangguibao client were given 4 boxes of mature products, including soda water and drinking water. Store owners placed orders with one click on Zhangguibao, warehouses delivered promptly, and stores displayed the products. The entire process was tightly connected and efficient. Photo of Yineng products in-store display Second, to ensure the ordered Yineng products moved, Xintonglu also designed a reward display activity. Store owners who displayed products according to Yineng's successful image could receive corresponding display rewards. Additionally, store owners with higher purchase volumes could receive extra JD Beans rewards worth up to 600 yuan. Third: In this display and sales promotion activity, Xintonglu added an interesting task—store owners who shared the customized poster of Yineng products to their WeChat Moments also received rewards, achieving both product promotion and store traffic attraction. Screenshot of store owner's WeChat Moments This JD case shows that internet B2B e-commerce can also solve brand owners' needs for deep distribution and sales promotion. From the cooperation case between Yineng and Xintonglu, we can see that the basic tasks originally only distributors could do, such as product distribution with purchase gifts, in-store visualization, and display rewards, can be fully undertaken by Xintonglu. Moreover, Xintonglu can achieve more innovative promotional gameplay through its online transaction system, and through JD Bean rewards, encourage small store owners to actively stock and sell. More importantly, through the Huiyan system, Xintonglu can help brand owners distribute products to "suitable" terminal stores more accurately and efficiently. In addition, in traditional channel promotions, many brand owners find it difficult to effectively implement channel expense investments, with interception and misallocation occurring from time to time. However, through Xintonglu, data is real and effective, the process is transparent, and precise expense investment can be made based on multi-dimensional data profiles of stores. Through Xintonglu's accurate and effective channel marketing strategy, Yineng's short-term sales explosion is an inevitable result. Undoubtedly, Xintonglu's self-operated model is a reconstruction of China's FMCG industry channels. Xintonglu gives brand owners a new and better choice besides distributors, and also allows many small and medium-sized brand owners' quality products to achieve curve overtaking and rapid growth. Zhang Kun, Deputy General Manager of Shanxi Youzhen Food and Beverage Co., Ltd. (Yineng's parent company), interviewed by media In today's fiercely competitive market, if your products still use inefficient, high-operating-cost distributor agency models, if your channels have not achieved dataization, transparency, and visualization, and if you still use flood irrigation for terminal coverage, then you will definitely be eliminated by competitors who first try B2B distribution. The author has the following suggestions for brand owners cooperating with B2B:

  1. Establish a professional e-commerce operation team to connect with B2B platforms By forming a professional B2B operation team, formulate targeted promotional activity policies based on the company's own operating conditions. Through cooperation with B2B, quickly cultivate an operation team capable of rapidly achieving distribution through B2B in the internet era.
  2. Use ODM products to avoid stock competition Some original best-selling products in the channel have relatively complete networks. If you are worried about conflicts with original sales and price systems, consider adjusting product specifications or offering exclusive products for distribution.
  3. Consider distributor authorization and try in local markets If you think cooperating with national channels at once has a significant impact, consider trying locally in representative markets. Based on actual market feedback after cooperating with B2B platforms, then develop targeted cooperation plans.
  4. Building B2B alone is not enough; you also need a new air force (marketing department) to cooperate with B2B ground product promotion B2B only solves channel efficiency issues, but communication with consumers still requires the enterprise itself. However, traditional marketing departments find it difficult to adapt to brand communication and promotion functions in the new era. It is necessary to iterate brand, image, communication, and promotion projects around products, requiring the marketing department to build new functional divisions around the new communication system, thereby avoiding being seen as a bad teammate. Summary: Undoubtedly, the transformation of traditional industries by the internet is an inevitable trend. Brand owners who lack the ability to expand channels nationwide, brand owners with too many children (products) and too few nannies (distributors), and brand owners who are tired of traditional channels and want to try new models can all consider using B2B for channel promotion. Originally, regardless of high channel costs and high distributor education costs, brand owners had no choice but to endure. But now there is a new choice, so they must seize it. In addition, many brand owners consider whether they can build their own B2B platforms. The author can confidently tell all brand owners that this is a false proposition and completely unnecessary. Moreover, while cooperating with B2B online, enterprises must not relax their own terminal service capabilities. Existing stock can be left for now; doing well with new products can also drive sales growth. Final words: In the past two years, China's FMCG market has been talking about consumption upgrading. The essence of consumption upgrading is the dual improvement of consumption awareness and consumption ability, which inevitably leads to dual changes in consumption concepts and behaviors. Consumers have changed, but if brand owners do not perceive this change, the iteration speed of products and brands will lag behind the speed of consumer changes. JD Xintonglu's model allows enterprises to avoid investing a large amount of profits and resources into channels, and also gives them sufficient resources to better serve consumers—this is the fundamental of enterprise transformation and reform. -END-