NEW DISTRIBUTION RESEARCH TOPIC
How can brands grow beyond price competition?
Evidence and cases on product strategy, category innovation, marketing, and channel coordination in China’s consumer market.
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4701 articles · Page 2 of 196
Brand Owners Create Hit Products, Retailers Create Private Labels: Private Labels Are Rewriting Shelf Rules
The aggressive rise of private labels in recent years is an unstoppable industry trend. For brand owners aiming for growth, understanding the logic behind retailers' private label development is an unavoidable topic. Retailers with scale advantages are almost all venturing into private label development. Product brands deliver good products through keen consumer insight and innovation, while private labels deliver good products through cost-effectiveness, based on observed data performance of product brands. Anyone who has built a brand knows that creating a hit product is extremely difficult and involves a great deal of luck...
张振宇Private Label Is Not a Mandatory Question
In recent years, a phrase has become increasingly common in the retail sector: 'Private label is not a choice, but a mandatory question.' The author argues this oversimplification is dangerous, as private label success depends on enterprise stage, supply chain management, product capability, and organizational strength, not a one-size-fits-all mandate.
任文青Winning the Shelf May Mean Losing the Business
In recent conversations with brand owners, the topic quickly turns to retail transformation. They are watching Sam's Club, Hema, Aldi, discount stores, supermarket overhauls, and instant retail, and they are anxious. They ask how to protect share in these channels and whether retailer private labels will squeeze them off the shelf. But they are still using an old framework: they see the shelf changing and worry about losing space, while the real shift is in consumer purchase paths.
任文青Yanjing Beer's Second Transformation: Product, System, and Partner Growth
After five years of profit expansion and the rise of U8, Yanjing Beer entered its next strategy cycle with a national growth plan centered on product structure, operating reform, digital capability, and distributor profitability.
New DistributionThe Era of Private Brands: Major Reshuffling of Leading Brands
China's retail industry's 'Pang Reform' and private brands are just the trigger, initiating a reverse integration of retail, distributors, and brand owners, with greater impacts to come. For retail, it will drive consolidation, especially the growth of retail chains, leading to the disappearance of many independent stores. For distributors, the new supply chain bypasses them, causing their share to decline, and they must transform into category operators, B2b platform operators, or scenario operators. For brand owners, private brands will trigger a major reshuffling of leading brands, as the 'wide category, narrow product' strategy reduces shelf space for many SKUs, and only national brands that represent the top of their category and have emotional connections through brand narratives will survive.
刘春雄Brand Owners and Distributors: Stop Obsessing Over Coverage
In a recent discussion with an FMCG company about channel transformation, a very practical question was raised: how to continue increasing coverage in first- and second-tier cities? This question sounds familiar. For many years, FMCG companies have talked about channels in terms of coverage: covering more blocks, covering more outlets, and as long as you occupy enough shelf space, growth will naturally follow. But in that discussion, we formed a sharper judgment: the word 'coverage' may already be a product of the previous era. The current situation is likely that the more you think about 'coverage', the harder it is to truly 'cover'.
任文青Brands Are Losing the Shelf
Last week, I spent nearly an hour in a Hema store in Hangzhou, not shopping but observing products. The trend was clear: branded standard products on Hema's shelves are decreasing, replaced by private labels, co-branded items, and customized products. This is not unique to Hema; over the past three years, the retail industry has seen snack discount stores redefine price bands, Pangdonglai become a model for supermarket overhauls, and Sam's Club and Aldi gain popularity through exclusive products. Retailers are increasingly allocating shelf space to products they can define, control, and differentiate, signaling a shift in how brands access shelves.
任文青"3.9 Yuan, 6.8 Yuan, 9.9 Yuan" – Don't Price Your Private Label Arbitrarily!
Private label products are booming, but many retailers are pricing them without a clear strategy, leading to confusion and missed opportunities. This article analyzes common pricing pitfalls and introduces the GOOD-BETTER-BEST framework, along with five actionable rules for building a coherent private label pricing architecture.
薛文发FIFA World Cup is coming: How can snack shelves capture the viewing traffic?
The FIFA World Cup comes once every four years, but this edition is different. Football is no longer just for fans; it has become a mass phenomenon, as seen in the popularity of local tournaments like Guizhou's 'Village Super League' and Jiangsu's 'Su Super League'. With the 2026 FIFA World Cup approaching, Lay's, as an official sponsor, is rolling out limited-edition products and channel empowerment initiatives to help distributors turn this viewing craze into tangible sales growth.
冯瑶Self-Hotpot, "Can't Get Excited" Anymore
In May 2026, Hangzhou Golden Antelope Enterprise Management Consulting Co., Ltd., affiliated with the self-heating food brand Self-Hotpot, entered bankruptcy liquidation. Once a viral brand that sold 5 million cups in 10 minutes and was valued at 7.5 billion yuan, it now faces over 140 million yuan in enforced payments, with founder Cai Hongliang subject to 17 consumption restriction orders. From its launch in 2018 to its decline in 2026, Self-Hotpot lasted only eight years. The era of "half the entertainment industry eating Self-Hotpot" seems like yesterday, yet now the Taobao flagship store offers clearance prices of 24 yuan for 3 boxes, and the comment sections are filled with complaints about "bad taste," "small portions," and "foreign objects."
葛畅Annual Reports of 16 Snack Food Companies Including Weilong and Three Squirrels: 60% See Revenue and Profit Declines
Recently, listed snack food companies have released their 2025 annual reports, revealing that many are struggling. While some like Weilong and Yanjinpu have grown through categories like konjac, and Youyou Foods relies on pickled chicken feet, others such as Qiaqia and Ganyuan face pressure in mature categories, and Liangpinpuzi and Three Squirrels deal with store adjustments, online traffic changes, and pricing strategies.
王一杰FMCG AI: A Severely Underrated Sector
The FMCG industry is often perceived as traditional, low-tech, and digitally lagging, but this impression is only partially correct. While many distribution channels remain analog, giants like P&G and Coca-Cola have invested billions in digitalization, and the sector's complex decision chains and high trial-and-error costs present a massive, underappreciated opportunity for AI.
戚特Shisheng's “Live Soy Sauce” and the Search for a New Premium Standard
After zero-additive and organic claims became crowded, Shisheng used long fermentation, membrane filtration, measured enzyme activity, and export credentials to propose a differentiated premium soy sauce category.
New DistributionFirst-Tier Brands Should Step Out of Their Comfort Zone!
The mediocrity of first-tier brands is highlighted by two abnormal phenomena: the popularity of private brands (PB) without a corresponding rise in national brands (NB), and the fact that Pangdonglai's private brand quality surpasses that of first-tier brands. This reflects the overall mediocrity of first-tier brands, which have failed to upgrade quality and lead the industry, instead focusing on maintaining volume, leading to consumer dissatisfaction and a decline in brand affinity.
刘春雄Forget 0 Sugar, 0 Fat—This Generation of Consumers Prefers 'Floral-Scented Bottles' That Please the Eyes, Palate, and Nose
From '0 sugar' to 'smells good,' water substitutes are quietly upgrading. In recent years, '0 sugar' water has been the most sought-after category on beverage shelves, appealing to consumers' obsession with health through clean labels and low-calorie promises. But this generation of young people wants more: they want it to look good, taste good, and smell good, ideally offering a moment of healing when they twist off the cap. This spring's market response confirms the shift: Hema's Morning Dew Sakura Water and Jasmine Water sold out within two days of launch, and sakura water remains the top new beverage on Hema's charts with over 5x month-on-month sales growth.
LabuThe Next Super Blue Ocean Market: Halal Market Going Global
When Chinese brand exporters talk about the Middle East, Southeast Asia, or the Muslim market, few truly study Halal as an independent topic. Yet this super blue ocean market, spanning 57 countries, serving 2 billion people, and valued at $2.4 trillion, is keeping many Chinese brands out—not because they lost to competitors, but because they never even got a ticket in. This article explores the market size, opportunities, and challenges for Chinese brands.
戚特Is Pop Mart Replicating Hello Kitty's Global Expansion Path? Selling Refrigerators Is Just the Beginning
On April 24, Pop Mart officially unveiled its first home appliance product—the THE MONSTERS Lifestyle Series Cooler (LABUBU-themed refrigerator), available in Home and House of the Monsters versions, uniformly priced at 5,999 yuan, with a global limited release of 999 units scheduled for 10 PM on April 30. Pre-sale reservations exceeded 3,000. The author found on second-hand platforms that, before the release, the LABUBU refrigerator had already appeared at a price of 92,300 yuan, a premium of about 15 times.
王军FMCG Brands Can No Longer Guess Their Consumer Profiles!
A marketing director presented a consumer profile based on industry assumptions rather than actual data, highlighting a common problem in FMCG. The article argues that inaccurate consumer profiles lead to wasted marketing spend and missed product opportunities, and presents a solution using data-driven insights, as exemplified by Dongpeng's success with 'Bushuila'.
任文青From Brewing Beer to Brewing Life Scenes: China Resources Snow's 'Play Beer Market' Officially Opens on May Day
This May Day, a striking slide appeared in Bao'an, Shenzhen—not in an amusement park, but in a beer town. Sliding down it, you're greeted by a 1,000-square-meter open market, over 30 craft beers, 50+ curator brands, Cantonese music live performances, and swing dance experiences. This is the 'Play Beer Market' launched by China Resources Snow Breweries at the BREWTOWN Beer Town in Shenzhen, officially opening on April 30. But if we only see it as a holiday promotion, we underestimate its strategic significance.
New DistributionHow Can FMCG Brands Enter the North American Mainstream Market?
The U.S. market is attractive for Chinese FMCG brands due to its size, consumer spending, and mature retail system, but it is also easy to overestimate. Entering the mainstream market requires more than just selling products; it means crossing ethnic channels to reach mainstream American consumers and surviving on shelves long-term. Before discussing scale, brands should first test products online and in Asian-focused channels, then expand to regional mainstream supermarkets and other ethnic channels, and only then consider major retailers like Walmart, Sam's Club, or Costco.
CFC出海Luckin Coffee Launches Bottled Coffee, Offering a New Affordable Alternative to Starbucks
Luckin Coffee's first batch of bottled ready-to-drink coffee is set to launch at the end of April, featuring three store bestsellers—Classic American, Yuzu C American, and Coconut Latte—priced at 6-7 yuan, distributed across convenience stores, regional supermarkets, and vending machines. The company has completed provincial agency recruitment, with campus agents at universities like Wuhan University starting market entry, marking a strategic move to extend its brand into the RTD segment.
RBF团队When 'User Needs' Disappear, Is Marketing Still Marketing?
Recently, marketing expert Miao Qingxian asked when evaluating marketing theory: if marketing doesn't talk about needs, what else can it talk about? The answer is Clayton Christensen's 'Jobs To Be Done'. If we continue to ask: if marketing has no users (consumers), what else is there? The answer is scenarios. If we ask again: if user needs 'disappear', is marketing still marketing? That's hard to answer. User needs are the root of modern marketing. Uprooting the root of a theory is a serious problem. 'Market orientation...'
刘春雄Young People Won't Take Over, Baijiu's 'Old Story' No Longer Works
A recent news item about the decline in personal housing loans at major banks signals a deeper issue: assets are being de-financialized. This applies to baijiu as well, which has long been more than a consumer product, serving as a social, gift, and quasi-financial asset. The real problem is that the financial attributes of baijiu are receding, and the old narrative that someone will always take over is collapsing, as younger generations no longer buy into the old stories.
赵波National Warmth + Hardcore Quality: Want Want's 56-Ethnic-Group Milk Continues a Classic, Want Soy Milk Makes a Strong Debut
At the FBIF expo, a distributor finished a sample of Want Soy Milk and asked, "Is this soy milk? It's so rich and tasty." This new product, launched in March, impressed with its high protein and smooth texture, while the 56-Ethnic-Group Want Want Milk showcased the classic's renewed appeal. Want Want strategically presented both lines to reinforce its dairy portfolio and expand into plant-based beverages.
冯瑶