AUTHOR ARCHIVE
Articles by 周群
Browse 114 New Distribution articles by 周群.
Published articles
114 articles · Page 4 of 5
Why Distributors Struggle to Sell New Products?
Distributors often complain about thin margins, yet new products with better profit potential fail to sell well. The core issue lies within distributors themselves, specifically in their distribution and sell-through capabilities, as well as their sales teams' limited time and incentive structures.
周群From "Amateur" to "Professional": Where Does Distributor Growth Come From?
Distributors have evolved from amateur to professional players over three decades, transitioning through four stages: workshop, family, team, and enterprise operations. To achieve growth, distributors can expand channels, products, customers, regions, and refine pricing strategies.
周群In an Uncertain Market in 2022, Where Are the Opportunities for Distributors?
Despite market uncertainties caused by the pandemic, consumer demand remains unchanged, and distributors' core challenge is how to deliver products to consumers efficiently. Opportunities lie in omnichannel distribution that integrates online and offline, and in deepening engagement with community stores to find incremental growth.
周群What Does Digitalization Really Mean for Distributors?
Distributors need digitalization not as an option but as a necessity. Based on interviews with over 60 top distributors, New Distribution found that digital transformation is essential for growth, enabling better data-driven decisions and efficiency.
周群Master Kong's 'Space Strategy' Helps the Brand Cross Cycles and Continue to Lead
Less than two months after the successful return of the Shenzhou-13 crewed spacecraft, the China Manned Space Agency website announced that the Shenzhou-14 spacecraft was launched on June 5. 2022 is a busy year for China's space program and the fifth year that Master Kong has adhered to its space strategy. Since becoming a 'China Space Industry Partner' in 2017, Master Kong has integrated the space strategy into its business operations, holding itself to space standards and adhering to 'space quality.' This commitment is reflected in Master Kong's impressive market performance: according to Nielsen data, in 2021, Master Kong held a 45.7% share of the instant noodle market by volume and 48.0% by value, ranking first in both metrics.
周群Acting as Distributor for Yanghe, Uni-President, Want Want, JDB and Other Brands, Achieving Annual Sales of 80 Million in a Fifth-Tier City: How Did He Do It?
Recently, during market research in first-tier markets such as Henan and Hebei, we visited a number of distributors and city managers and walked the market. In the process, we found many points worth pondering. In the past, New Distribution has been reporting on outstanding distributors, including benchmark distributors with annual sales of 70-80 million in lower-tier cities, as well as excellent large distributors with annual sales of hundreds of millions or even billions in developed cities. These excellent cases have given us an illusion: the trading and circulation market environment seems not bad, and most distributors are doing well. But in fact...
周群Amid Recurring Pandemic, How Can Distributors Achieve Counter-Trend Growth Under Heavy Pressure?
The COVID-19 pandemic has entered its third year of recurrence, with outbreaks since mid-March affecting nearly 30 provinces, from Shenzhen and Guangzhou to Jilin and Shanghai, and now Beijing and Zhengzhou. In this normalized pandemic environment, distributors face severe challenges such as market disruptions, declining sales, and inventory backlogs. Without good experience sharing, many distributors struggle to find effective methods and strategies, leading to significant business losses.
周群How a Financial Elite Crossed into FMCG and Became a Leading Regional Dairy Distributor in Four Years
Even the strongest companies will struggle if they don't take action for the future. 2022 was tough, but no one expected it to be this tough. The recurring pandemic has lasted three years, impacting all industries to varying degrees. Facing this uncertain future, what should distributors do? There's no standard answer. For distributors, the core is to focus on the present, deeply cultivate regional markets, monitor competitors, and stay 'half a step' ahead. This 'half step' lead was mentioned by Mr. Liu Wanqing of Shenyang City Dairy Co., Ltd. during an interview.
周群Cross-regional Selling: Why Does It Persist?
A market survey in Henan and Hebei reveals that cross-regional selling remains rampant, undermining price systems and dealer confidence. The article analyzes the causes from channel differentiation and logistics evolution perspectives, and proposes solutions including technology, pricing strategy, and management.
周群From Frontline Salesman to Founder of a Trading Company: How Did He Achieve Over 100 Million in Sales in Just Seven Years?
“Business is tough, hard to do,” this is the current situation of some distributors seen during market research in Henan and Hebei provinces in the past two weeks. Indeed, the industry has changed significantly in recent years, with new business formats, models, and products emerging one after another. “Online intrusion, offline involution” has led to shrinking business year after year. Undeniably, the difficulty in doing business is partly due to market changes, but more so because the right direction has not been found in the face of change. We have seen some distributors actively trying to explore transformation in such an environment, and they have achieved good results...
周群Interview with Luoyang Rongcheng Yigou: What Has Digitalization Brought to Distributors?
“All business trends favor the leaders, and digitalization is no exception.” China's commercial circulation business has experienced several major dividends since the 1990s. The first was the product dividend, when goods were scarce and anything sold. The second was the channel dividend, as supply and marketing cooperatives gave way to private businesses. The third was the hypermarket dividend, with giants like Carrefour and Walmart showing the potential of single-store output. The fourth was the e-commerce dividend, which early adopters on Taobao and JD.com profited from. Now these are past, and the next 5-10 years will see digitalization become increasingly important, with distributors facing survival of the fittest. So how should distributors adapt? This article explores this through an interview with Luo Kai, general manager of Luoyang Rongcheng Yigou, a digitalization benchmark distributor in the PepsiCo 'Ru Hu Tian E' project.
周群Covering Over a Thousand Stores with Annual Sales Exceeding 100 Million: How Did This Traditional Snack Food Distributor Become a Regional Benchmark?
Recently, I visited Lao Wang (pseudonym), a snack food distributor in Hubei who covers over a thousand stores with annual sales exceeding 100 million yuan. When asked if distributors will always exist, he believes the market may not need distributors, but it needs intermediaries—whether as delivery agents or operators. His strategy is to focus on the present and solidify his base, as his business is still growing.
周群Traditional FMCG Brands Increase O2O Investment: Opportunities and Challenges Coexist
Compared with the volatile community group buying, O2O has maintained steady growth. Kantar Consulting's 2021 O2O report predicts that O2O sales will account for 8% of the overall retail market in 2021, with growth significantly outpacing overall online sales. Since 2020, FMCG giants like Mars and Coca-Cola have increased their O2O investments, highlighting the channel's vitality. However, as an emerging model, O2O faces issues such as collaboration among brands, retailers, and platforms, data application, fulfillment, and price balancing between online and offline.
周群Looking Ahead to 2022: 8 Changes Distributors Should Watch
As 2021 ends and 2022 begins, New Distribution reflects on visits with dozens of FMCG distributors over the past year, observing shifts such as the trend toward larger distributors, second-generation succession, digitalization, logistics specialization, private labels, private domain traffic, livestreaming, and community group buying. These insights aim to help distributors find direction in an uncertain 2022.
周群3%, 5%, 10%: The 'Three Stages' of FMCG Manufacturers' O2O Development
Recently, New Distribution hosted the '2021 First FMCG O2O Seminar', where brand owners, platforms, and operators discussed O2O topics. If O2O was once an uncertain trend, it is now a certain future. In the past year, accelerated by the pandemic, O2O has seen rapid growth, with major brands entering the field. From initial confusion, many brand owners now have clear organizational structures and strategies, making O2O a key part of their plans.
周群The "Leading by a Small Step" Methodology of the Largest Condiment Distributor in Southern Zhejiang and Northern Fujian, Representing Brands like Heinz Weishida, Lee Kum Kee, Totole, and Unilever
This article explores how Wenzhou New Era Food Co., Ltd., the largest condiment distributor in southern Zhejiang and northern Fujian, has maintained growth amid changing market conditions by adopting a "leading by a small step" philosophy, efficient management of over 200 brands and 5,000 SKUs, and strategic channel expansion and market penetration.
周群From Annual Sales of Over 20 Million to Hundreds of Millions in 7 Years: What Did This Trading Company Do Behind Its Rapid Growth?
This article explores the growth journey of Anhui Sulong Industry and Trade Co., Ltd., from annual sales of 20-30 million to hundreds of millions in seven years, highlighting the strategies of its chairman, Su Jiandong, including information flow, customer service, organizational management, and product selection.
周群Community Group Buying Arrived: My Business Declined! Community Group Buying Arrived: My Business Grew!
This article explores the impact of community group buying on distributors in East China, presenting contrasting cases where some distributors saw significant declines while others achieved growth. It emphasizes the need for distributors to adapt, innovate, and collaborate with platforms to survive and thrive amidst new retail models.
周群Big-box Retail Growth Slows: How Can Distributors in Modern Trade Stabilize Their Business?
Recent Q1 earnings reports from major retailers show significant declines, reflecting weak growth in big-box stores. Distributors relying on this channel face declining sales and profits, prompting a need for internal efficiency improvements and external innovation to find new growth.
周群Distributing Brands like Qiaqia, Xizhilang, and Dori, Achieving Annual Sales Over 100 Million in a Third-Tier City: What Innovations Did She Make?
In the face of a challenging market, distributor Kunshan Qianjing Commerce has maintained growth by focusing on internal management refinement and exploring new offline channels. Through strategic brand reduction, team performance reforms, and the development of a group-buying business, the company achieved annual sales exceeding 100 million yuan in a county-level city.
周群The Maker of Hit Products: 600+ Sales Assistants, Over a Dozen Non-Tier-1 Condiment Brands, Annual Sales Exceeding 300 Million RMB - How Did He Do It?
High costs, thin profits, and long payment cycles are why many distributors flee modern trade channels. Yet some distributors thrive there, quickly turning lesser-known brands into top sellers in key accounts (KA). At New Distribution's April conference, we met Qiu Xiaomin, chairman of Shanghai Rongjin Industrial Co., Ltd., who has built a 600-strong sales assistant team, operates over 100 SKUs across more than a dozen brands, and generates annual sales exceeding 300 million RMB in East China's modern trade channels.
周群Post-90s, Second-Generation Distributors Enter the 'Succession Wave'!
At the recently concluded China FMCG Channel Innovation Conference's 'Trade and Distribution Forum', an interesting phenomenon was observed: half of the distributors sharing on stage were young people, and nearly half of the audience were young faces. This suggests that a large wave of post-90s distributors are gradually stepping onto the stage of trade and distribution, becoming the main players in the business, with many being second-generation successors.
周群Founded 6 Years, Only One Brand, Becoming a Local Dairy Distributor Giant: How Did This Post-90s Achieve It?
From the rise of e-commerce to the outbreak of community group buying, the iteration speed of markets and channels is accelerating. Many older distributors are stuck in the past, while a group of post-80s and post-90s are rising rapidly, doing better business. Liu Fen, general manager of Hubei Quanjielai Trading Co., Ltd., is a post-90s distributor who started her business in 2014,代理蒙牛一个品牌, and in six years became a top dairy distributor in Hubei, winning the 2020 Mengniu Outstanding Contribution Award.
周群From Wholesaler to 160 Million Yuan Annual Sales in Snacks: How She Achieves 20% Yearly Growth
The article traces the evolution of a trading business from a supply and marketing cooperative to a wholesaler, then to a traditional distributor, and finally to a service provider. It highlights the transformation of Wuxi Dadexing Trading Company, which grew from 50 million to 160 million yuan in six years by focusing on imported snacks, building a robust organizational structure, and implementing strategic product selection and customer service.
周群