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Lightning Warehouses Won't Take Away Distributors' Business, But Will Eliminate Some Distributors
Since the second half of this year, the closure rate of downstream stores has been rising, and B2b businesses nationwide are struggling, mainly due to the significant impact of lightning warehouses on small stores. As internet platforms intensify instant retail, the density of lightning warehouses is increasing, causing many distributors to feel a sense of crisis. Some distributors are considering building their own warehouse stores, but most have not succeeded; instead, those supplying goods to lightning warehouses are doing well.
葛畅Ignoring Category Management Means Dealers Can Only Run Inefficient Businesses!
This article is a supplement and extension of a previous one, continuing to explore how dealers can do category management well in combination with the retail industry. Without category management, dealers' survival space will be locked down. The article proposes three core viewpoints: choose the right stores and sell the right products, optimize resource allocation to reduce operational risks, and increase volume and profit to enhance competitiveness. It also provides specific methods for dealers to implement category management, including deciding whether to prioritize category or brand, adapting to the retail trend of 'wide category, narrow product', and deeply binding category management with retail outlets.
高级研究员 海游The Faster You Distribute, the Faster You Die: It's Time to Upgrade Your Sell-Through Strategy!
During dealer visits, we often hear complaints: "Products reach the terminal, promotions are launched, but they just don't sell." In the past, products displayed in supermarkets with large displays and eye-catching promotions attracted consumers. Now, even with aggressive promotions, sell-through is poor, even for products from major manufacturers. Often, the product isn't the issue; competitors sell well. A key reason is the wrong operational sequence: building awareness before purchase is crucial.
金名Under 'Taste Marketing', Distributor Profits Have Been Halved
This year, I visited many distributors and found a general pattern: among large and medium-sized trading companies, distributors born in the 1980s and 1990s are significantly more profitable than those born in the 1960s and 1970s. The older generation's 'taste marketing' approach is a key factor. Times have changed, and if distributors don't adapt their business models, even a favorable environment won't help them. This article discusses this topic and offers suggestions for improving profits.
高级研究员 海游Zong Fuli Steps Down as Wahaha Chairman! Power Transition Reaches a Critical Moment
Wahaha has once again found itself at the center of public attention. On November 27, an announcement of business registration changes seemed to put a definitive end to the months-long internal turmoil at Wahaha: Zong Fuli officially resigned as legal representative, chairman, and general manager of Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co., Ltd. Her successor is not a traditional professional manager or founding veteran, but a 31-year-old legal background executive, Xu Simin. Although Zong Fuli still holds 29.40% of Wahaha Group's shares, remaining the second-largest shareholder, her retreat from the management core marks the end of the era of full control by the Zong family.
New DistributionRen Wenqing of New Distribution: Warehouse-as-a-Store Becomes the New Terminal, Brands Must Occupy Positions Early
On November 25, 2025, the '2025 Instant Retail Supply Summit and First Instant Retail Warehouse-Store Product Matchmaking Conference' was held in Hangzhou, where Ren Wenqing, CEO of New Distribution, delivered a keynote speech titled 'Viewing Supply-Demand Matching from Instant Retail: How Brands Grow in an Era of Surplus?' Core viewpoints: 1. Warehouse-as-a-store becomes the new terminal. 2. The logic of instant retail development is supply-demand matching. 3. Matching is the first growth law in the era of surplus. This article is a core summary of the speech. Instant retail has moved from traffic wars to supply wars. Today, brands...
任文青AndyAbandoning 150 Million P&G Business, B2b Startup Hits 6 Million Monthly Sales in Six Months! What Did Leguan Yigou Do Right?
In China's FMCG industry, the past three decades were a period of 'easy wins.' A generation of distributors once dominated channels thanks to a few major brand dividends. But today, that path is clearly no longer viable. After talking with many distributors, we found that brand dividends are gone, business growth is sluggish, and transformation seems to be the only consensus—but how exactly to transform? We've seen many successful cases, and we've been thinking: is there a more down-to-earth example that ordinary distributors can see themselves in and truly learn from? Yes! The story of Leguan Yigou is such a case.
张雨薇Traditional Distributors at Their Most Critical Moment: It's Not That Business Is Bad, It's That the Foundation of Business Has Collapsed
Over the past three months, I visited markets in Sichuan, Hainan, and Shaanxi, and what I saw was not a 'decline' but a cliff-like 'plunge.' Since August, the sales scale of numerous distributors has suddenly dropped by 30% or even more than 50%. Many who were barely holding on with thin margins and high pressure have now stepped into losses. You ask why? The consumption environment and weather certainly have an impact, but they cannot explain the speed and magnitude of this collective collapse. The real turning point is that the retail channel suddenly underwent drastic transformation after August, and this transformation directly targets distributors' livelihoods...
陈思廷The Next Five Years Will See a Major Shakeout Among Distributors
Based on recent visits to distributor businesses across the country, the author observes that the industry has reached a turning point. The biggest challenge distributors face is not market shrinkage but cognitive lag, and it is predicted that 80% of distributors will exit the market in the next five years. To survive, distributors must shift from a cost-saving mindset to a data-driven approach, using tools like product and customer quadrant analysis to illuminate their operations and build replicable growth capabilities.
杨博帆、张雨薇Brand Owners and Distributors: Don't Underestimate Lightning Warehouses!
Recently, the hottest topic in the retail industry is undoubtedly instant retail. Among all new formats in instant retail, lightning warehouses have seen rapid growth and expansion, but also sparked controversy. In recent visits to brand owners and distributors, everyone is asking whether lightning warehouses are viable and how to approach them. Clearly, when a format develops exponentially and impacts existing channel systems, it is not just a new channel but a business variable that must be re-evaluated. Why have lightning warehouses succeeded? What risks lie behind the rapid expansion? How should distributors and brands respond?
周群Inventory Devaluation Drags Distributors into Trouble
A leading liquor distribution company reported asset impairment provisions of about 329 million yuan for the first three quarters of 2025, with inventory devaluation provisions of 325 million yuan, highlighting the severe impact of falling liquor prices on distributor profits. Industry surveys show that distributor inventory turnover days have risen to over half a year, with average inventory devaluation exceeding 20%, forcing many to choose between selling at a loss or holding onto depleting stock.
打造酒业第一媒体Lightning Warehouses Change, Brands Panic
On October 31, Taobao Flash Purchase launched 'Taobao Convenience Stores', marking a shift in instant retail competition from traffic to supply. Brands must now focus on controllable supply, moving from 'goods suppliers' to 'brand service providers' to win in the new warehouse-store system.
任文青AndyMore New Products, Thinner Distributor Margins
New products are increasingly becoming a tool for squeezing distributors, as manufacturers cut promotional support and shift the burden of promotion and sell-through onto distributors, eroding their profits. To succeed, new products must offer differentiated value and be supported by sustained market penetration and consumer education.
金名Unmarried Youth and the Quiet Candy Market
Last year, the wedding candy business was unexpectedly sluggish, even during peak seasons, with some dealers noting orders couldn't fill a truck. This year, however, the market has rebounded, with sales up at least 30% as younger consumers drive changes in packaging, branding, and usage scenarios.
葛畅Distributors Who Make Money on Price Differences Have Reached the End of the Road
“SKUs are increasing, but money is getting harder to make.” This is the most common feedback heard while visiting distributors recently. Warehouses are full of goods, but accounts show no cash; salespeople run their legs off, but terminal sales don't rise. The old playbook has failed, familiar experience no longer works, and the era of making money by simply securing agency rights and laying out channels is gone forever. When slow sales become the norm and calls for disintermediation grow louder, many distributors are shrouded in unprecedented confusion and loss. Has the value of distributors truly reached its end?
张雨薇How Distributors Can Activate Their Sales Teams with a Six-Step Goal Management System
This article addresses the common problem of distributors failing to effectively manage sales team goals, leading to unpredictable performance. It introduces a six-step goal management system—goal setting, decomposition, coaching, motivation, tracking, and review—to create a scientific management loop that drives performance and team autonomy.
田沂桐“Clearing Out Big Brands”: A Break Between Manufacturers and Distributors
The relationship between manufacturers and distributors has changed dramatically in the past two years, with the model that lasted over 20 years now gone. I have a metaphor: 2024 was the “marriage-fearing year” for manufacturers and distributors, and 2025 is the “divorce year.” If we compare their relationship to a marriage, then in 2024, manufacturers couldn’t recruit distributors, and distributors wouldn’t take on brands. In 2025, it has escalated to a “divorce year,” with terminations of partnerships becoming very common. A particularly notable phenomenon, which I call “clearing out big brands,” is intensifying. Initially, I thought it was an isolated case, but as cases multiplied, it became a widespread trend, even signaling changes in brand and channel dynamics.
刘春雄Don't Doubt It: European Giant EDEKA Is What Chinese Distributors Will Look Like in Ten Years
The traditional business logic of distributors is collapsing. In the past two decades, Chinese FMCG distributors have almost all followed the same growth logic: take goods, distribute goods, and push inventory. As long as you have brands, channels, and relationships, you can scale up. This logic was correct in the 'era of growth.' At that time, channels were scarce, shelves were empty, and consumers were hungry. Whoever could deliver goods to the end terminal was the hero. But today, everything is reversing. The market has entered a zero-sum game, with saturated channels, homogeneous products, and shrinking profits. Most importantly...
陈思廷Half the Difficulty in Business Is Caused by Office Staff
At a meeting, functional departments discussed how to push work forward, proposing stricter assessments for salespeople. Companies are imposing more and heavier assessments on frontline sales, making it harder for them to earn money even when they meet targets. Salespeople are increasingly burdened with endless forms, complex evaluations, meetings, and rules, leading to the sentiment that salespeople suffer under office staff.
金名Wide Categories, Narrow SKUs: The Weapon of Self-Harm in Inefficient Retail
In today's retail industry, every move by ALDI is a focus of attention, especially its 1,000-square-meter store with 1,500 SKUs achieving daily sales of 1 million yuan, creating an industry myth. After successive new stores hit record highs, curious visitors revealed its extreme cost-performance products, silencing all doubts. The minimalist product assortment became a hot topic, and the concept of wide categories with narrow SKUs became the hottest professional term in 2025.
零售荆言Zhao Bo of New Distribution: Why Is the More Useless, the More Valuable?
Usefulness is a way of thinking. I've noticed that people born in the 1980s and earlier tend to evaluate products by their practical utility, a mindset rooted in growing up in material scarcity. However, today's younger consumers, who have never experienced such scarcity, are willing to pay a premium for 'useless' items that provide emotional or symbolic value. This shift from functional to meaningful value marks the beginning of a new era in consumption.
赵波Shan Hai Xian Hits the Market: Using Natural Umami to Open a Second Growth Curve for Condiment Distributors
Condiment distributors are facing a growth dilemma: from 'goods not moving' to 'category dead ends.' In the long boom cycle of China's condiment industry, distributors were once the luckiest group, riding the wave of MSG, chicken essence, soy sauce, and compound seasonings. But today, the industry has entered a stage of stock competition, and distributors face the triple dilemma of 'too much inventory, too thin profits, and indifferent consumers.' Especially in the umami-enhancing track, products like MSG, chicken essence, and yeast extract can no longer meet consumers' rising expectations. Distributors are trapped in a structural dilemma: 'It's not that we can't sell, but that there's nothing worth selling.' The launch of Shan Hai Xian (Mountain and Sea Fresh) appears at this moment, offering a new direction that can continue channel experience and regain profit thickness.
陈文石Lay's Innovates 'Open Bag, Win Prize' with Star Meet-and-Greet Grand Prize, Igniting Year-End Sales
New Distribution has learned that Lay's recently launched a new 'Open Bag, Win Prize' campaign—'Eat Lay's, Win Cash, Weekly Draws to Meet Stars.' Unlike previous campaigns, this year Lay's integrates the 'star meet-and-greet' experience into the activity, replacing a single reward model with a dual-track grand prize of 'cash red packets + star meet-and-greet,' giving consumers the chance to have a unique face-to-face experience with celebrity figures. With the unique combination of millions of cash red packets and star meet-and-greet grand prizes, Lay's has created a distinctive, brand-differentiated campaign that stands out from numerous promotions...
冯瑶National Benchmark Distributor In-depth Study Tour - Station 10: Zibo Haochunte Trading, a Complete Success!
On October 24, the 'National Benchmark Distributor In-depth Study Tour - Station 10: Zibo Haochunte Trading, Shandong' concluded successfully. Distributor owners from across the country, through a full day of in-depth theoretical sharing, on-site inspections, and face-to-face exchanges, comprehensively analyzed how Haochunte Trading successfully transformed from a single beer agency to a 'trading + full-category B2b platform', achieving break-even within two years with low investment. They discussed Haochunte's business model, development path, and current business strategies. More than 120 distributor owners from across the country...
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