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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 3 of 196
The Next to Eliminate FMCG Companies May Not Be Competitors, but AI
During this year's Spring Festival, a war without gunfire changed China. Doubao, Yuanbao, and Qianwen flooded Spring Festival Gala, elevators, and social media, bringing AI to every family's New Year's Eve dinner table with billions of red packets. Data shows that in March 2025, domestic AI app downloads exceeded 160 million, with about 200 million daily active users. Doubao's daily token calls surpassed 50 trillion, a tenfold increase year-over-year.
陈思廷China Brand Going Global: Global Retail 50 Reordered
The National Retail Federation (NRF) and Kantar have released the 2026 Global Retailer TOP 50 list. According to NRF/Kantar criteria, companies must be retailers selling consumer goods to the public and have direct sales operations in at least three countries, with at least one country not bordering their home market; the list also calculates retail-related revenue, excluding non-retail income such as finance, cloud services, and logistics. So, if you break down these 50 companies, you'll find that the mainstream of global retail...
王军Private Label: No Retreat for Brand Owners
In recent years, Sam's Club's Member's Mark and Pangdonglai's DL have popularized private labels, prompting almost all retailers with regional or larger scale advantages, whether KA, CVS, or snack channels, to push forward their own private labels. This has created a direct conflict: private labels and branded products compete for limited shelf space. Balancing the proportion between private labels and branded products is a complex issue for both retailers and brand owners. For brand owners, OEM private label production neither enhances brand value nor earns brand premiums, but retailers inevitably tilt resources toward private labels. This is an unavoidable trend, forcing brand owners to make painful choices.
张振宇From "Self-Procurement" to "Private Brand": Pangdonglai's Path Is Hard to Replicate
Driven by the "Pangdonglai renovation" of supermarkets, China's supermarket sector has seen a boom in private brands. Many see Pangdonglai's results but not its growth history. With over 20 years of private brand history, Pangdonglai's journey is difficult to replicate quickly. Without knowing its history, one cannot grasp its essence or learn from its present. Having followed Pangdonglai for over 15 years, I have witnessed its complete transformation from "self-procurement" to "private brand." Reviewing this history may help companies learning from Pangdonglai find their own path.
刘春雄7 Sourcing Models Behind Private Labels of Sam's Club, Aldi, and Trader Joe's
As I've traveled recently, I've found that the debate over whether to pursue private labels has ended, and the focus has shifted to how to do it. The key is not product selection or pricing, but sourcing: where your products come from and how you obtain them. This article breaks down seven sourcing models identified by Kearney, from OEM to joint procurement, and argues that true differentiation comes from control over the supply chain, not just the model chosen.
袁来Private Labels Rise, New Brands Divert, Big Brands Get Stuck in the Middle
On April 8, McKinsey released a report titled "The State of Food and Beverage: How Consumer Companies Can Restore Growth." Many cases and key data in the report are more US-centric, but it takes a global perspective, with one underlying sample being a survey covering 10 markets and 15,169 consumers. After reading it, I felt that many of the issues discussed are highly relevant to the current situation in the Chinese market. New Distribution has been focused on changes in China's FMCG industry, and some of our viewpoints and perspectives, such as...
任文青AndyA Comprehensive Overview of Key Marketing Moments in Southeast Asia: How Can Brands Going Global Hit the Right Beat and Boost Sales?
By 2026, Southeast Asia is no longer the wild west where simply listing products could make money. With Shopee and Lazada locked in fierce battles, TikTok Shop wielding the sword of content commerce, and Temu disrupting the scene, traffic costs and conversion barriers are visibly rising. Many Chinese bosses, accustomed to the saturation tactics of Double 11 and 618, transplant these strategies to Jakarta, Bangkok, and Ho Chi Minh City, only to suffer heavy ad losses and dead inventory. This article provides a year-round calendar of marketing moments in Southeast Asia, explaining what to sell, the underlying consumer psychology, stocking strategies, and pitfalls to avoid.
戚特Benchmarking Against Sam's Club Member's Mark: China's Private Label Lags by at Least 9 Years
After systematically reviewing the development histories of Sam's Club's Member's Mark and Costco's Kirkland Signature, I believe most Chinese retailers' private label efforts are still at the stage Sam's Club was in around 2017—brand consolidation and quality standard definition. Member's Mark has evolved over 28 years, with its true rise occurring in the last decade, offering valuable lessons for Chinese retailers.
袁来Most Private Brands Will Die from the Lowest-Price Mentality
Recently, Discount Ox was publicly reported by its Xi'an franchisee over food safety issues with its private brand products. This is not just a problem for Discount Ox but a spreading industry crisis rooted in the 'lowest-price mentality.' Retailers must shift from price-only procurement to Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) thinking to avoid catastrophic quality failures and brand erosion.
陈思廷Agentic Commerce Takes Off: 2025, the Last Year Humans Shop Online Themselves
Visa's announcement that the 2025 shopping season marked the end of an era signals the rise of Agentic Commerce, where AI agents autonomously complete purchases. By 2026, AI agents will not only recommend products but also execute purchases, reshaping retail and requiring brands to adapt to AI-driven discovery and decision-making.
戚特The Core of Scene Marketing: Creating Rituals with Products
Rituals are the social expression of emotions, transforming abstract feelings into tangible, observable moments. By embedding products into these rituals or creating new ones, brands can tap into the emotional core of scenes, turning personal emotions into collective experiences and driving engagement.
刘春雄No Advertising, No Sales Team, No Display Fees: How Can Retailers Succeed with Private Labels?
This article originates from a conversation with a brand executive. After hearing my view that private labels are a trend and brands should proactively co-create with retailers, he retorted: 'The logic seems off. We spend over a year on R&D, hundreds of millions on advertising, and deploy thousands of stores, distributors, and promoters to launch a new product, yet the success rate is less than 10%. How can retailers, with nothing, succeed with private labels?' This article explores why retailers can succeed and what it means for brands.
袁来Going to Africa: It's Not About Whether You Dare, But Whether You Know How
As the global market landscape reshapes, many companies are seeking new growth opportunities. For FMCG companies, Africa is gaining attention not just for its large and fast-growing population, but because it is still in the early stages of brand, channel, and supply chain restructuring, leaving many opportunities unclaimed. Africa is worth exploring, but not as a monolithic market; success requires careful country selection, understanding the dominance of wholesale markets and small shops, and leveraging digital distribution and localization.
王军Private Labels Are Phasing Out Retailers That Merely Rent Out Shelf Space
Private labels are being both mythologized and underestimated: the hype is high, but the difficulty is lowballed. This article argues that success requires whole-chain collaboration, not just a retailer's effort, and announces the first China Private Label Industry Chain Conference in Hangzhou on June 4-5, 2026.
袁来A Small County, 130 Billion Yuan a Year: The Underestimated Bulk Snack Business
The Chinese people's obsession with snacks underpins a market exceeding 1.4 trillion yuan. Despite claims of snacks being unhealthy, consumption remains high, and the industry, after two years of low growth, is again experiencing rapid growth in both volume and price. In 2024, bulk snack stores surpassed supermarkets and e-commerce with a 37% share, becoming the largest sales channel for snacks.
快刀财经编辑部5000 Words to See Clearly: Super Hema NB's Bold Gamble on Franchising
In November 2025, Hema's budget community supermarket Super Hema NB announced its first batch of franchising, targeting Shanghai, Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Huzhou, with a cumulative investment of about 2.65 million yuan for a 600-square-meter standard store. The industry generally sees this as a positive signal, but this view warrants deep scrutiny. Franchising is a double-edged sword in retail, and Super Hema NB's unique model—high fresh food ratio, private label dominance, and rapid franchise expansion—has no successful precedent globally.
陈思廷Flash warehouses don't lack goods; what they lack is 'new supply' that solves pain points
In a price war, price matters, but how to gain reputation and attention is the real way to break through. What we aim to be is not necessarily the highest in order volume or gross margin, but the instant retail brand with the best reputation. At the CFC conference held in Chengdu on March 16-18, 2026, Da Zheng, founder of Zhaixiaoxiong, delivered a keynote speech on flash warehouse operations and hit product creation, sharing insights on supply logic and hit product rules in the context of intense competition.
大郑Homogenization and Price Wars? FMCG Innovation Isn't About Breaking Out—It's About Riding the Wave!
This article is adapted from the keynote speech by Hu Qiaosong, founder and general manager of Badaoniang Food Co., Ltd., at the CFC2026 11th Fast-Moving Consumer Goods Conference. Badaoniang is a startup brand focused on the Huadiao cooking wine segment, ranking first on Douyin's cooking wine chart for five consecutive months. All consumer goods face the fate of commoditization. The theme of today's sharing is: Innovation also requires seizing the momentum.
胡峤松Zhao Bo of New Distribution: In the Post-Truth Era, No Narrative, No Brand?
What is narrative? Let's start with a story. Wan Weigang, in his course 'Modern Thinking Tools,' shared a case: In the 1980s, Texas had a serious highway litter problem. The state government tried fines and campaigns, all to no avail. The main culprits were young men aged 18-35 who drove pickups and listened to heavy metal, priding themselves on rebellion. An advertising agency came up with a brilliant slogan featuring a football star and a blues singer, which solved the problem: 'Don't mess with Texas.'
赵波Channel Private Label: Build Private Brands Like a Brand Owner
At the 2026 China FMCG Conference, Guan Xue, General Manager of Jiuan Gaosheng Group, shared insights on private labels, emphasizing that channels should develop private brands with a brand-owner mindset. The core issue is not whether to enter but how to implement scientifically, avoiding common pitfalls such as blind imitation, superficial rebranding, and lack of systematic operations.
关雪Consumers 'Win Again and Again': Master Kong Green Tea's 'One More Bottle' Promotion Goes Viral
Recently, New Distribution noted that Master Kong Green Tea's 'One More Bottle' promotion, which once created phenomenal sales in China's beverage market, was fully relaunched nationwide in March this year, quickly sparking a market craze. This classic IP, which once achieved phenomenal sales, has once again become the focus of the beverage market after many years. This is not a 'rehashing old ideas' brand marketing, but rather proof that truly vibrant promotional tactics, even today, can reignite consumer enthusiasm and terminal sales if the mechanism is right and the experience is smooth...
周群Supply Chain Companies Want to Build C-end Brands: A Tough Road Ahead
In recent years, with the rapid development of tea, coffee, and bakery chain formats, as well as the acceleration of private label strategies by leading supermarkets like Sam's Club, Hema, and Pangdonglai, a large number of supporting supply chain raw material and ODM companies have emerged, preparing to move from behind the scenes to the forefront. Unlike the B2B large-customer model that relies on orders and is constrained by others, every supply chain company boss harbors a dream of owning a brand—truly mastering market discourse and securing a place in the C-end market. However, transitioning from a supply chain company to a C-end brand is not just a step away; it's essentially starting a new race on a different track.
陆兴元Why Did Over 40 Retail Leaders 'Vote' for Master Kong Beverages? Insights into Category Opportunities from the Ideas Innovation Product Competition
Distributors fear choosing the wrong new product. At this year's Spring Sugar & Wine Fair, Master Kong's three products stood out in the official Ideas Innovation Product Competition, winning two gold awards and two special awards. These products, backed by systematic innovation from formulation to marketing, offer distributors long-term business opportunities in health, experience, and precision nutrition.
冯瑶In the Era of Channel Fragmentation, FMCG Brands Need to Grow Like Liquid
Channels are fragmenting, and so are consumers. For FMCG brands, the old approach of using one brand language, one product logic, and one sales playbook across all channels is becoming increasingly untenable. Sam's Club, Pinduoduo, Xiaohongshu, Douyin, convenience stores, snack collection stores, and mom-and-pop shops all sell goods, but the consumer psychology, sales dynamics, and decision-making behind them are no longer the same. At the 11th China FMCG Conference on March 17, Liang Jiangjun, founder of Jiangyi Consulting and Chief Strategy Officer of Zan Yi Growth Network, shared insights on liquid brands, channel narratives, and building a C-end command center.
梁将军