AUTHOR ARCHIVE
Articles by 刘春雄
Browse 419 New Distribution articles by 刘春雄.
Published articles
419 articles · Page 4 of 18
One Step Further, the Sky Is the Limit
In marketing, taking one step further—rather than retreating—opens up new possibilities. Drawing on decades of experience, the author argues that overcoming industry challenges requires evolutionary progress, such as moving from provincial to municipal distribution, and ultimately to bC integration, always moving closer to the consumer.
刘春雄Where Will Hard Discounts Break Through in 2024?
After visiting hard discount stores, the author shares insights: the hard discount trend in snack foods has settled, Hema's private brands are successful, and a new wave of comprehensive hard discount stores is emerging. The key for 2024 is finding the next category or model to sustain momentum, likely through white-label hard discounts.
刘春雄The Return of the Big Distributor
Some say my recent articles are pessimistic about distributors, citing the orderly retreat of distributors. I disagree! Those who should grow big will grow big, and those who should disappear will disappear. That is optimism. Those who should grow big but don't, and those who should disappear but don't, that is pessimism. Over the past 20 years, distributors have basically not grown big, but they have lived well, which is not necessarily a good thing. In recent years, distributors as a whole have been struggling, but there are more big distributors than before, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Whether pessimistic or optimistic depends on one's standpoint.
刘春雄Distributors Won't Be Eliminated, But the Trading Model Will
This article discusses the future of distributors, arguing that while traditional trading models are becoming obsolete, distributors themselves can survive by transforming into platform operators, third-party delivery providers, promotion specialists, brand service providers, or circle-based deep distribution specialists. The key is embracing digitalization and adapting to the changing market.
刘春雄After Hard Discounts in Snack Foods, White-Label Hard Discounts Could Be the New Highlight of 2024
Hard discounts in snack foods have made a strong start to the supply chain revolution, but the climax awaits large-scale breakthroughs in private labels by mainstream retailers. In 2024, emerging retailers leveraging white-label hard discounts may become the next highlight.
刘春雄Seeing the Shift of Times Requires a God's-Eye View
A God's-eye view means thinking from the highest dimension, understanding cause and effect, and foreseeing the future. In today's uncertain era, Chinese enterprises need such a perspective to find certainty and navigate the future.
刘春雄Farewell to Increment
The FMCG industry has no increment, and it has been that way for a long time. Since 2013, sales volumes in most FMCG sectors have been declining. Even if there is an occasional rebound in a certain year, it is only a sideways movement, not a reversal. The biggest tragedy of the FMCG industry in the past decade is the stubborn belief that there is still increment, and it has spent ten years on this. As long as sales growth is not achieved, the external environment is blamed. The macro environment has problems, policies have problems, and the internet has problems. In short, as long as there is no growth, there are problems. Over 30 years of continuous growth has fostered...
刘春雄Pessimism with Hope: Distributors' 'Attack' and 'Defense' in the Context of the Supply Chain Revolution
The future of distributors is not optimistic, even pessimistic. In the future, distributors will undergo significant differentiation, with the advantaged becoming stronger and the weak gradually disappearing from the industry. Facing the fierce market competition in 2024, Li Feng of New Distribution invited Liu Chunxiong, a proponent of new marketing, channel digitalization expert, and associate professor at Zhengzhou University, to discuss strategies for distributors to break through.
刘春雄Involution Creates Giants
Involution is an inevitable phenomenon in the evolution of most industries and a necessary process of competitive rivalry. It occurs in stages: price, channel, supply chain, and brand, ultimately leading to industry concentration and the emergence of giants. To escape involution, one must compete at a higher dimension.
刘春雄Snack Hard Discount Fires the First Shot of the Supply Chain Revolution—When Will the Second Shot Be Fired?
Behind hard discount is a supply chain revolution. Snack hard discount has fired the first shot, and hard discount and private labels will penetrate from snack categories to other vertical and comprehensive categories. The supply chain revolution, by re-channeling distribution, will redraw the spheres of influence among factories, brands, distributors, and retailers, particularly across price bands.
刘春雄Downgrading is Lazy Governance!
Labeling a complex environmental change with a simple 'downgrade' tag is lazy governance. Recently, I discussed several topics about the macro environment with friends, including self-rescue in quagmires, the unexpected success of Dongfang Leaves, and a listed company's strategy to increase dealer profits by 3-5 percentage points. The key is to focus on opportunities rather than problems, as success comes from seizing opportunities, not just solving problems.
刘春雄How Should the FMCG Industry Face 2024?
The article discusses how the FMCG industry should approach 2024, arguing that it marks the beginning of a new era driven by a supply chain revolution led by retailers. It advises companies to preserve existing market share while positioning themselves for new opportunities in the evolving price spectrum.
刘春雄Inventory Clearance in 2023: Can We Travel Light in 2024?
Grasp the macro trends, manage marketing actions aligned with those trends, and continuously accumulate marketing successes; quantitative changes lead to qualitative changes. In the era of self-media, it's common to follow media buzzwords in marketing, which can be both beneficial and harmful. At year-end, industry and professional fields select top ten phenomena, often based on media buzzwords. If I were to pick the most overlooked marketing phenomena of 2023, I'd choose 'inventory clearance' and 'difficulty in recruiting distributors (or launching new products)', which are interrelated.
刘春雄Hard Discounts Arrive: Do FMCG Brands Still Dare to Raise Prices?
As private label share grows, some worry that national brands will become redundant. However, private labels and national brands are complementary, as national brands drive store traffic, support retailer profit optimization, and offer consumer choice. Notably, high private label volume penetration and market share in a category do not necessarily maximize category profitability. The answer: In the era of hard discounts, which mainly replace cheap generic brands, FMCG companies should quickly occupy higher price points, but the window of opportunity is fleeting.
刘春雄Five Certain Trends in the FMCG Industry for 2024
Anxiety about the future stems not from economic growth or decline but from uncertainty. Certainty, whether positive or negative, allows for preparation, turning challenges into opportunities or difficulties rather than anxiety. After a transitional 2023, 2024 brings more certainty, with five definitive trends in the FMCG sector: the era of shrinking volume, the nearing end of the internet commercial revolution, the onset of supply chain revolution, brand going global as a growth path, and FMCG as a necessity that transcends economic cycles.
刘春雄Why Are Private Labels So Cheap?
Low price is the hallmark of private labels, which offer quality at a lower price compared to well-known brands. The price difference can be significant, as illustrated by Aldi's private-label ketchup costing €0.95 versus Heinz at €3.39. The low price stems from eliminating marketing and channel costs, and is enabled by scale, which allows retailers to source directly from manufacturers at lower costs.
刘春雄“Consumers Have Matured”: Brand Disenchantment Is the Key to the Era of Hard Discounts
The boom of snack discount stores has fired the first shot in the retail industry's comprehensive move toward discounting, ushering in a supply chain revolution—a major trend that will shape China for the next decade. The emergence of discount stores can be interpreted in two ways: one focuses on low prices and discounts, resonating with the current wave of consumption downgrading, but whether this short-term factor can sustain the long-term development of hard discount models is questionable. The other interpretation sees it as a historical inevitability, emphasizing the outcome of commercial concentration. Ultimately, the hard discount era has fully arrived in China, and the supply chain revolution has begun.
刘春雄The Supply Chain Revolution Has Begun!
At the current stage of China's commercial development, following the trends of the US and Japan, it is time for a supply chain transformation. The US supply chain revolution occurred from 1946 to 1964, and Japan's in the 1970s and 1980s. Due to the rise of the middle class, the popularization of mass consumer brands, and consumer confidence, a supply chain revolution characterized by 'brand disenchantment' has emerged. Currently, four forms of supply chain have appeared in the Chinese market: private labels, hard discount stores, platform distributors, and the chain-ization of BC stores. The supply chain revolution is unfolding.
刘春雄The Only Way for Distributors to Achieve 'Leapfrog Growth': Platform Distributors
Liu Chunxiong points out that the internet revolution is nearing its end, while the supply chain revolution is just beginning. The question is whether the internet, which claims to 'eliminate' distributors, or the supply chain revolution, which 'bypasses' them, has a greater impact. This article is based on Liu Chunxiong's sharing at the closed-door meeting of 'Anneng Zhilian Supply Chain' at the 5th China FMCG Conference in Shenzhen.
刘春雄Liu Chunxiong: Six Steps in the Digital Evolution of Traditional Enterprises
On October 10, at the 'bC Integration' parallel forum of the 2023 Fifth China FMCG Conference and the First China FMCG Distributor Conference, Liu Chunxiong, a channel digitalization expert, advocate of new marketing, and dean of the Marketing Digitalization Research Institute, attended as a guest. At the conference, Mr. Liu delivered a speech titled 'Six Steps in the Digital Evolution of Traditional Enterprises.' To this end, New Distribution has compiled the essence of Mr. Liu's speech (with deletions and modifications) for readers. How should we understand the current macro environment facing China's FMCG marketing? I...
刘春雄B Cold, C Hot: In 2023, Distributors Stole the Spotlight in a Tragic Way
In the first half of 2023, almost every business unit, including manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and platforms, was in a pessimistic atmosphere, full of difficulties and talk of consumption downgrading. This was especially true for the B-end. The B-end is truly cold, so cold that many distributors have lost confidence. In 2023, when it comes to business difficulty, the FMCG industry's distributor community takes the lead.
刘春雄The Surreal 2023 Chinese FMCG Market
This article focuses solely on FMCG. Although 2023 has not yet ended, I strongly feel the urge to label it as surreal. One moment we see side A of the market, then side B, then side C. Each side is different and can reverse. It is like blind men touching an elephant, each convinced they have grasped the truth. Because the market is multifaceted, trend judgment becomes harder and can even lead to errors. There are numerous theories and viewpoints explaining the current Chinese market. Each theory is self-consistent, all arguments have real-world basis, all viewpoints are supported by data, and all viewpoints have multiple counterarguments. This is an era lacking consensus, even an era that does not expect consensus. The fear of the surreal market lies in not knowing whether it is a post-pandemic aftermath or the new normal, and in the risk of misjudging trends or mistaking strong disturbances for major trends.
刘春雄Returning Offline in 2023: Channel Digitalization Takes Center Stage
After the 2023 Spring Festival, leading FMCG companies launched large-scale channel digitalization, becoming the most notable phenomenon in digitalization and marketing. Channel digitalization, also known as full-chain or long-chain digitalization, involves all four channel links: F (manufacturer), B (distributor), b (retailer), and C (consumer). The prerequisite for full-chain digitalization is deep offline distribution, a strength of FMCG leaders. This article explores the drivers, obstacles, principles, and best practices, including Coca-Cola's experience.
刘春雄From 0 to 1 Needs 2C, From 1 to 100 Needs 2b
This phrase was not coined by me but by Mr. Fan Zhaolin, General Manager of Six Walnut, during our conversation. It encapsulates the secret to launching new products, especially high-end ones, in the new environment. Traditional marketing relies on dual drivers: brand (2C) and channel (2b), forming a closed loop of cognition and transaction. However, with the disappearance of mass media and the rise of fragmented channels, the large closed loop is no longer viable, leading to a shift from explicit to implicit marketing, where small bC units (business-to-consumer relationships) become the foundation for scaling.
刘春雄