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By the time you read this, the Mid-Autumn Festival may have less than five days left, and the "Mid-Autumn terminal promotion battle" is in full swing. However, when it comes to the Mid-Autumn Festival peak season, liquor distributors in the north and south have different experiences: the atmosphere in the south is relatively weak, while the north is somewhat better, with sales accounting for one-sixth of the annual total. Recently, in the Jiu Shuo online reception room, I chatted with Jiao Yang (alias), a county-level distributor from Hebei, about how he "fired up" his tobacco and liquor store terminal promotions this Mid-Autumn Festival...

Mr. Jiao said that as a county-level distributor, he doesn't have large supermarket resources. If he wanted to move a large volume during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the current market conditions wouldn't make it realistic. So, based on his own situation and market response, he focuses more on pre-festival product promotion and publicity, while also giving key support to distributors who drive terminal sales, concentrating core efforts on tobacco and liquor store terminals to "fire up" this Mid-Autumn Festival!

Put Good Steel on the Blade: Ensure Core Stores' Enthusiasm

Mr. Jiao said, "We must focus our limited resources on a few high-quality terminals and achieve market sell-through through these high-quality terminals." Therefore, Mid-Autumn activities should also select core terminals, doing one, succeeding in one, and acting with a clear target. In selecting core terminals, Mr. Jiao follows these points:

(1) Larger scale, with unified and standardized store signs and facades. Such terminal stores themselves have the space and capability for promotions, and a unified, prominent store sign lays the foundation for creating a Mid-Autumn atmosphere;

(2) Follow the principle of regional focus, selecting specific areas, which could be a street or a district. Here, Mr. Jiao's location is in a cluster of residential communities, with a wide reach, serving as outdoor publicity;

(3) High customer traffic during business hours, which can serve as in-store publicity;

(4) Terminal stores ideally have some group-buying resources, laying the groundwork for holiday volume.

After locking in core terminal stores, Mr. Jiao focused on boosting their enthusiasm! This is a point that many distributor bosses easily overlook. During communication, I learned that competition among core tobacco and liquor stores is no less fierce than in supermarkets. Terminals worry about thin margins, so ensuring core terminal profits becomes key to enhancing their push. So, how to generate high profits during the sales process and avoid terminals only shouting without results is worth distributors' consideration. Here, Mr. Jiao often uses an "inverted trapezoid probability promotion" to protect terminal interests.

Specific operations are as follows:

For each terminal store that completes a certain sales target, Mr. Jiao issues a reward card. The prize levels are set from first to X-th prize, with prize amounts decreasing progressively, but the number of prizes for each level does not decrease progressively; instead, the first prize and the last prize have the same quantity, accounting for 20% of the total, and the other levels have the same quantity. This way, terminals cannot calculate the probability of winning, completely avoiding the phenomenon of undercutting each other in pursuit of sales volume and abandoning sales policies. On this basis, if a special prize is added to create a sales competition among terminals, it will achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Inverted trapezoid promotion prize settings:

First prize: XXXX yuan prize | X winners Second prize: XXXX yuan prize | Y winners Third prize: XXXX yuan prize | Y winners Fourth prize: XXXX yuan prize | Y winners Fifth prize: XXXX yuan prize | X winners

Due to sales uncertainty, based on sales performance, if the total number is insufficient or exceeded, rules for increasing or decreasing prizes are formulated. Of course, determining the appropriate sales amount required per card based on terminal sales forecasts is the key to the success of this method.

In addition, Mr. Jiao's reward settings are more innovative and diversified. For example, rewarding terminal store owners who reach a certain order volume with a "5-day National Day trip" or a "winter camp activity." These two rewards actually target the needs of terminal store owners' family members and children, and they can choose either. This approach maintains deeper relationships, is thoughtful and practical, and also prepares for the National Day peak season in the second half of the year, allowing terminals to stock up in advance. Reaching a certain amount earns a trip, combined with corresponding promotional policies, which is quite tempting for terminals. In this way, cooperation is not limited to this Mid-Autumn Festival; playing the long game saves costs!

Get the Mid-Autumn Festival Buzzing: Terminal Stores Should Do This!

1. Hang promotional banners at terminal stores

Mr. Jiao negotiates with core terminal stores to hang promotional banners. The banners concisely state "Buy wine and win prizes," such as "Drink XX wine, good gifts in every box!" so that consumers have an impression before entering the store that "XX wine has discounts."

2. Display stack promotions

Hanging banners is the first step. Mr. Jiao also requires each store to place eye-catching stacks so consumers see the wine as soon as they enter. It's important to either print promotional policy labels on the boxes or paste a poster with promotional activities, in short, reminding consumers again that the brand has discounts. This setup is gimmicky and makes it easy for terminal store owners to proactively recommend the product to consumers.

3. Display promotional prizes

Mr. Jiao mentioned that when doing promotions at terminal stores in townships and rural markets, it's essential to display the actual promotional prizes in plain sight so everyone can see them. This trick particularly drives impulse buyers. In this regard, Mr. Jiao often prepares practical household gifts, such as stylish electric kettles and small appliances. He believes that people often buy wine for gifting during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and if consumers can also get a gift they can use themselves, they'll be more inclined to choose such products.

4. Prepare promotional materials

Promotional materials must have a consistent, clear theme, and the discount activities should be clear and intuitive. Taking core terminal stores as an example, typical materials are as follows:

X-stands: 2-4 Posters: 4-8 KT boards: 1-2 DM flyers: 500-1000 copies Stack displays: Build stacks to highlight the atmosphere In-store hanging flags: Several Banners: 1

Promotions Formulaic? If Consumers Buy It, Do It!

Speaking of new promotional tricks, Mr. Jiao laughed and said that after years in the liquor business, the promotional formats for tobacco and liquor store terminals are still the same few, the routine is still the same, but they still have to do it because consumers fall for it!

Common ones are as follows:

Buy one, get one free: This can be buy one, get one free of the same product, or give a small bottle of liquor or a lower-priced product from the same series, depending on the product's price.

Buy wine, get mooncakes: Buy one bottle and get a coupon for mooncakes; buy a case and get a box of mooncakes. It's best to find a locally well-known mooncake brand.

Fuel card rewards: For customers who might generate group purchases, buying a certain amount can earn a fuel card.

Lucky draw activities: In the early stage, you can combine with roadshows and give big prizes to attract consumers; in the later stage, focus on small prizes or wine vouchers.

WeChat Moments: Terminal store owners can use their own WeChat platform or other communication platforms to spread Mid-Autumn promotional discount information. Of course, if you can use some game formats, the effect will be better, such as "help bargain" or "help send greeting cards," which can achieve better dissemination.

Finally

In his exchange with me, Mr. Jiao said that the current Mid-Autumn peak season is not like before; it's more about daily customer accumulation, resource precipitation, and practical operations. As a "veteran" in the liquor industry, we should still have confidence in this industry, take every step steadily, whether in the off-season or peak season, communicate more, try more, and persevere!

Source: Jiu Shuo

New Food Era · New Distribution

—— 2016 China "FMCG + Internet" Summit Forum ——

This is a grand event focused on how FMCG industry channels will transform under the trend of Internet + transformation

Agenda

09:00-09:30 Registration 09:30-09:35 Host opening 09:35-10:05 2016 China FMCG Industry Trend Analysis Report - Zhao Bo 10:05-10:25 FMCG Enterprise Transformation Strategy and Path - Liu Chunxiong 10:25-10:45 Opportunities and Challenges Brought by FMCG Channel Reform - Liu Zhao, CEO of Waiqin 365 10:45-11:25 Alibaba Retail Link All-Around Empowerment - Guo Kunkun, Alibaba Retail Link 11:25-12:00 Roundtable Forum - Brand Transformation: Improvement vs. Reconstruction? (Guests TBD) 12:00-13:30 Lunch 13:30-14:00 Distributor Transformation: Trends in City Distribution - Wang Qi, CEO of Weijie City Distribution 14:00-14:30 Roundtable Forum - Why Should Distributors Do Logistics in Transformation? 14:30-15:00 Detailed Explanation of Zhongshang Huimin's One Machine, Two Wings Strategy - Su Xiaoxin, VP of Zhongshang Huimin 15:00-15:30 Detailed Explanation of Zhanghe Cloud Factory Strategy - Yang Lixiang, Zhanghe Tianxia (Speech content TBD) 15:30-16:00 Supply Chain Finance as a Lubricant for B2B to Drive Traditional Business - Chen Xian, CEO of 51 Order 16:00-16:30 Principles and Approaches for 2B Investment - Xu Xiaoping, Founder of ZhenFund (Guest TBD) 16:30-17:00 Small Retail, Big Opportunity: Transformation and Upgrade of Chinese Retail - Wang Jianfeng, General Manager of E-commerce Division, Yurun Group 17:00-17:30 Roundtable Forum - Who Is the King of FMCG B2B Models? (Guests TBD) 18:00-20:00 Dinner

For manufacturers and distributors looking to transform, this grand event is not to be missed. Interested friends can long-press the QR code below or click "Read Original" to register.

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