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 27 of 196
Brand Owners Should Take the 'Second-Generation Distributors' Seriously!
At a recent distributor symposium organized by a brand company, nearly one-third of the distributors sent their children instead of attending in person. These second-generation distributors, mostly born in the 1990s, surprised the author with their insightful comments, highlighting the need for brand owners to actively support and cultivate them as successors.
邢仁宝Yakult: Can't Win the Race, Can't Afford to Stay Idle
Yakult, known for its laid-back approach, is now feeling the pressure. Within just one year, it launched a 500 billion low-sugar 'Little Gold Bottle' and its first fruit-flavored (peach) product, and even printed scenic spots from various Chinese provinces on its packaging. These moves suggest the company is anxious about its performance, as its daily sales in China dropped 23% year-on-year to 2.53 million bottles by September 2023, down from a peak of 7.609 million.
陈静2 Closed-Door Salons for Brand and Channel Matchmaking; 4 In-Depth Research Reports on Hard Discount, Distributors, B2b, and O2O — All Here!
The 'Brainstorming Feast' and grand gathering of a thousand attendees will be held from August 20 to 22. The 2024 6th China FMCG Conference, along with the 3rd China FMCG Hard Discount Conference and the 3rd China FMCG Distributor Conference, will grandly open in Shanghai, China. The conference will bring together all roles in the FMCG industry chain, including brand executives, top national distributors, traditional retail representatives, discount retail founders, and industry research experts, to engage in in-depth discussions and exchanges on topics such as the essence, direction, and solutions of transformation, and to efficiently connect cooperation opportunities.
New DistributionFMCG Distributor: Cash Settlement, 5,000 SKUs, Whole-Store Model for Daily Chemicals Achieves 50% Annual Growth
In recent years, distributors have faced tough business conditions, especially in snacks and daily chemicals. One daily chemical distributor, Henan Shirui Trading Co., Ltd., has bucked the trend with 48% growth in 2023 and a 50% target for 2024, using a 'whole-store output' model with cash-only transactions and 5,000 SKUs.
袁来This Generation of Young People Is Abandoning Sugary Drinks
Xiao Zhang, a small supermarket owner, has seen his shelves' prime cold-display spots taken over by sugar-free products from major brands like Master Kong, Uni-President, Oriental Leaf, Suntory, and Guozishule. Sugary drinks that once sold well are now relegated to corners. "No choice, most young people now want sugar-free tea, it's like following a trend," Xiao Zhang explains. Young people who once relied on "adding sweetness to life" are now quitting sugar, and even tea shops are launching sugar-free options. On June 3, 2024, Heytea introduced new low-burden drinks and announced a "fruit tea sugar control plan." According to data, the sugar-free ready-to-drink tea market share nearly doubled from 16% to 32% in 2023, with a growth rate of 110%. By 2024, sugar-free tea has surpassed sugar-free soda to dominate the sugar-free beverage market.
林小白Serving Top Snack Stores like Mingming Busy and Hao Xiang Lai, Lemeng Helps Community Retail Return to Retail Essence
The wave of hard discount has begun and won't stop. Over the past year, New Distribution has published a hard discount white paper, held the FMCG Hard Discount Conference, written in-depth industry insights, and shared discount retail cases. Recently, I had an in-depth exchange with Zhang Haibo, co-founder of Lemeng, whose insights on the industry's development and future changes are highly valuable. For the FMCG industry, Lemeng may not be well-known, but in the discount retail sector, especially the snack store industry, Lemeng is a household name.
任文青AndyDiscounts Are Fierce, but Brands with Dreams Must Maintain Strategic Focus
No brand can ignore the rise of discount retailing unless it turns a blind eye to huge sales volumes. But the problem now is not ignoring it, but not knowing how to take it seriously. Through frequent market visits, New Distribution has found that brands are highly concerned about discount retailing. Within just six months, New Distribution organized two China FMCG Hard Discount Conferences, each with packed forums and matchmaking sessions. How much traditional sales will discount retailing replace? What strategies and tactics should be used to face the fierce development of discount retailing? Can discounts build or harm brands? This article aims to partially answer these questions.
陈思廷Frozen Food: How Much Do Chinese People Love It?
A salesperson from a frozen food brand joked, "When the whole market is cutting prices and engaging in price wars, is it a 'crime' not to follow?" An industry consultant told the author, "2024 will be a turning point for the entire frozen food industry. To be blunt, the impressive achievements of companies in the past were more about being 'pigs on the wind' than their own strength. When the industry runs fast, no one in this circle is slow." Frozen food and Chinese people seem to have an inseparable connection...
不旧"Generic" Snack Discount Stores Sweep Townships
Wang Hua, a former designer, opened a snack discount store in a small township in Shandong, but business has been poor, with daily sales around 700 yuan and a 16% gross margin, leading to losses. He regrets joining the franchise, as the initial investment was nearly 90,000 yuan, and the prices are not competitive compared to county-level stores. The article also discusses the rapid expansion of snack discount stores in county towns and townships, their low-price strategies, and the challenges they face.
晴山Another UK Internet-Famous Juice Brand Exits China Market
In 2020, innocent, a UK-born internet-famous juice brand, was brought to China by Coca-Cola. With its health-focused selling point of 'no additives except fruit', it was once seen as a rising star in China's juice market. However, within just four years, the brand has quietly retreated, closing its official stores on Taobao and JD.com and disappearing from offline retail channels. After ending its foodservice business with Starbucks China in March, innocent has officially concluded its 'China journey'.
联商网编辑部9.9 Yuan a Bottle: Aldi Exposes the Truth About Baijiu
Baijiu is now selling for 9.9 yuan. Recently, amid falling Moutai prices and stock value, a 9.9-yuan baijiu newly launched by German supermarket ALDI was snapped up by young consumers. The 52-degree liquor, made from five grains using traditional solid-state fermentation, sells for just 9.9 yuan per 500ml, and Aldi says it still makes a profit at this price. Not only baijiu, but a bottle of yellow wine at Aldi costs only 5.9 yuan. Aldi has been promoting low-priced private labels this year, such as its own milk brand 'Youbai' with a low-temperature pasteurized fresh milk at just 8.5 yuan.
沥金Internal Competition and Upgrading: Fighting on Two Fronts
Shrinking volume is a reality that cannot be denied. Since 2013, the FMCG industry has experienced over a decade of volume decline. In 2023, almost all major FMCG categories, except beverages, have fallen into contraction. The key is to recognize that the era of shrinking volume is irreversible, and the only path to growth lies in product structure upgrades, particularly through new mainstream price-band blockbusters.
刘春雄Birch Tree Juice: Quietly Making Big Money
The health trend has become an unavoidable topic in the consumer market, with almost every category emphasizing functionality and health attributes to boost their value. Beverages are no exception, from low-calorie, zero-sugar teas to the increasingly popular health waters. Taking it a step further, from beverages to concentrates, goji berry and sea buckthorn juices have been hot since 2023. Now, birch tree juice has exploded on Douyin, with sales exceeding 100 million yuan in the past year, a year-on-year increase of nearly 600%. What is the current market status of birch tree juice, and how did it become so popular? With an average price per bottle of over 20 yuan, why are consumers willing to pay?
沥金Six Walnut Fires First Shot in Olympic Marketing, Signs Table Tennis World Champion to Cheer for Chinese Athletes!
Recently, the 2024 Olympic marketing battle has begun, with major brands gearing up to enhance their influence through sponsorships and marketing activities. According to foreign media reports, the 2024 Paris Olympics will be the first since 2016 to have full venues and will be one of the largest Summer Olympics to date. Sports marketing has always been a key focus for FMCG companies, and this year, leading companies have not diminished their enthusiasm for Olympic sponsorship. For example, Junlebao announced its partnership as the official partner of China's top ten national teams; Yili held a themed event 'Double Olympic Yili, Together to Paris' and invited several renowned athletes; Mengniu, as a global Olympic partner, covers multiple Olympic events, showcasing its global vision.
冯瑶Brand Owners, Stop Forcing Inventory on Distributors!
The FMCG market's dismal Q2 2024 performance has left many unprepared brand owners, including major ones, in a growth dilemma: products aren't moving at the terminal, sales teams are exhausted, and to meet KPIs, they're forcing inventory on distributors. This only worsens the situation, as distributors already struggle with retail discounting, leading to a vicious cycle that ultimately reduces revenue. The article argues that in a shrinking market, brand owners must adapt to new retail realities, focus on product innovation, and avoid extreme inventory pressure to survive.
张振宇At 3.5 Yuan a Liter, This 'No-Name' Brand That Beats Iced Tea Is Being Hailed by Workers as the New 'Loser Drink'?
Last summer, the term 'loser drink' went viral to describe budget-friendly 1L beverages. Now, the little-known brand Yineng has been crowned the new 'king of loser drinks' for its ultra-low prices, often below 2 yuan per liter, despite being a copycat of Suntory's flavored waters. As prices of other drinks rise, Yineng's affordability has made it a favorite among students and workers, though experts question its long-term viability.
嘴嘴Nongfu Spring's 'Ice Cup' Goes Viral, Boosting Its Niche Products and Revealing New Offline Marketing Strategies
In 2024, Nongfu Spring has made headlines three times: first, a dispute with Wahaha caused its stock price to plummet; second, it launched green bottled purified water, drawing criticism; third, its new ice cup went viral in convenience stores, restoring some brand reputation. The ice cup, a summer staple, has driven sales of other Nongfu Spring products like Tanbing and NFC through DIY beverage trends on social media, highlighting the importance of experiential marketing and packaging in offline retail.
MorketingThe Trend of 'De-branding' Emerges in the FMCG Industry
A founder recently asked if I had seen any promising new FMCG brands this year. I said none had launched successfully, but some white-label products looked okay. Over the past year, branding in China has suffered a catastrophic setback, with the budding brand-building efforts of previous years not only extinguished but also showing a trend of 'de-branding'.
戚特Aiming at the Trillion-Yuan Market, Lai Yifen Launches Channel-Customized Brand 'Jicui' to Enter the Distribution Track
As the era of linear growth in FMCG comes to an end, distributors are under immense pressure from brands to increase sales targets. Lai Yifen, the 'first snack stock,' is responding by launching a new channel-specific brand 'Jicui' at its partner conference, aiming to empower distributors with a 'champion product' and achieve win-win growth.
田静One Key Upgrade to Boost Your Freezer Sales by 20% This Summer!
For beer, beverages, dairy, and ice products, freezers are the most critical sales channel. If you lose the freezer war, a summer failure is almost inevitable. With over 20 million freezers deployed in retail and foodservice outlets, brands like Kangshifu, Uni-President, Nongfu Spring, and Genki Forest are investing heavily. However, traditional freezer management relies on periodic visits, leading to issues like impurity, untimely restocking, and hidden losses. The Xuanwu Cloud Xuantong AIoT Smart Freezer revolutionizes this by using AI vision to monitor and manage freezers in real time, boosting sales by over 20% and purity by 17%.
陈思廷Global $21.39 Billion! Who Made A2 Milk Popular?
In recent years, the dairy industry has gradually entered a downturn, with sluggish product sales and upstream farms experiencing a 'cold winter.' However, among various market segments, A2 milk has stood out. As an emerging high-end market track, A2 milk is in the early stage of rapid growth, with major dairy giants accelerating their布局 to use A2 dairy products as a differentiation breakthrough. While jointly expanding the A2 dairy cake, how to maintain differentiated competitive advantages and gain industry discourse power remains a topic that every dairy company needs to address.
追光Head Snack Chains Expand Aggressively: Should Regional Players Advance or Retreat?
On June 12, Mingming Henmang Group announced surpassing 10,000 stores, becoming the first local snack chain to achieve this scale. Since 2020, snack discount stores have entered a rapid expansion era, with head players expanding nationwide and consolidating through mergers. According to NielsenIQ, the snack discount store sector grew by 75.8% in 2023. In early 2024, Henmang introduced a 'zero franchise fee' policy, driving its store count from 6,000 to 10,000. Regional players face intense competition but are finding survival strategies such as product differentiation, fee waivers, alliances, and transitioning to discount supermarkets.
汪海Dayao Invades Bingfeng's Home Turf: Can the Large Bottle Help Bingfeng Defend the Shaanxi Market?
This summer, the Shaanxi market has become a battleground for soda brands. Chinese food industry analyst Zhu Danpeng commented, 'Xi'an, as the starting point of the Belt and Road and a key logistics hub for Asia, Africa, and Europe, will take on more Belt and Road and internationalization missions in the future, which is conducive to overall capacity expansion and future international layout.' Thus, brands entering Shaanxi have deeper significance. Domestic soda brand Dayao and international brand Pepsi have both invested in production in Shaanxi, prompting the long-established local brand Bingfeng to respond by launching a 460ml large bottle at 4.5 yuan per bottle.
张子涵Why Juice Is Becoming Increasingly 'Fresh'
Juice is returning to the public eye in a form that caters to health trends. After 2021, the shrinking domestic demand for juice gradually recovered. According to data from the '2022 China Shopper Report, Series II' jointly released by Bain & Company and Kantar Worldpanel, juice became the fastest-growing beverage subcategory in sales during the first three quarters of that year. Under this growth trend, the popular form of juice products on the market has shifted from the previously popular FC (From Concentrate) to NFC (Not From Concentrate). The biggest difference between the two lies in the processing technology; the latter reduces the concentration and reconstitution steps, preserving the original flavor and nutrition of the fruit to the greatest extent.
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