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 32 of 196
When 'Low Price, High Quality' Becomes Industry Consensus, How Can Snack Brands Win Over Consumers?
As the year-end approaches, the annual 'New Year goods competition' is about to begin, especially with 2024 being the first Spring Festival after the pandemic. Young people, who have purchasing power but are tired of traditional New Year gifts, are key to brands' success. According to JD Super's 2023 report, the post-90s and post-00s generations have become the main consumers, searching for 'cost-effective New Year goods' over 30 million times. This aligns with the snack industry's trend of 'low price, high quality,' but as this becomes a consensus, brands need new strategies to resonate with young people.
财经新媒体A 1-Yuan Small Fish Generates 1 Billion in Revenue
Recently, the performance forecast for 2023 released by Jinzai Food, the 'first listed company in fish snacks,' shows that the company expects to achieve a net profit of 201 million to 213 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 61.00% to 71.00%. The announcement also stated that the company's operating revenue exceeded 2 billion yuan in 2023, with dried small fish as the core product accounting for over 60% of the performance. This means that Jinzai's dried small fish has grown into a billion-yuan-level single product. How did Jinzai Food turn a pack of dried small fish into a 1-billion-yuan product?
沐九九Low Prices, Discounts, Retail in Flux: What Should Brands Do?
In 2023, discount stores were extremely popular, but this is not an easy business. With no consumption growth and oversupply, businesses are forced into harder ventures. The article explores the future of snack discount stores, the development of discount supermarkets, and the implications for FMCG brands, predicting continued growth but at a slower pace, with more players entering the discount track and intensifying price competition.
任文青AndyWanglaoji Trapped in Brand Licensing
Agents who invested heavily in Wanglaoji-branded products, expecting high returns, found themselves unable to protect their rights or get refunds. This article exposes the chaos in Wanglaoji's brand licensing, which has led to disputes and losses for many agents.
陈晓京Five Successful Ventures in a Row: The Secret Is Using Product Thinking for Marketing
Du Guoying, a name unfamiliar to many post-90s and post-00s but known to post-80s, has created products like Back-Back Jia, Haojixing, E-ren E-ben, 8848, and Xiaoguan Tea. In marketing circles, opinions about him are mixed: some despise him for what they see as 'cutting leeks' (exploiting consumers), while others admire his marketing prowess and secretly learn from him. This article explores whether he is a 'leek master' or a 'product manager', and reveals his entrepreneurial and marketing methodologies.
梁将军The Incremental Growth Model: A Brand Methodology for the Digital Age
This article presents the author's comprehensive brand marketing methodology, the Incremental Growth Model (STAG Model), which centers on creating new consumption scenarios and using tags to drive growth. It argues that true growth comes from expanding consumer scenarios and building brand associations, rather than merely occupying existing categories.
空手Qiaqia and Weilong Both Need a 'New Story'
In today's rapidly changing business environment, the ability of companies to sustain growth and successfully transform is increasingly important. For consumer goods companies, finding a reliable 'second growth curve' in saturated markets with intensifying competition has become a key proposition determining their future. However, discovering a second growth curve is as challenging as starting a new business, and even industry leaders like Qiaqia and Weilong face this dilemma.
关注消费品的Bulk Snacks Enter '10,000-Store Competition' with Intensifying Rivalry
As 2024 begins, discussions around bulk snack stores are non-stop, and one thing is certain: the competition in this sector will intensify this year. Over the past year, bulk snack stores have proliferated nationwide, with major brands expanding aggressively, especially in lower-tier markets. The top two brands, Snacks Busy and Wanchen, have rapidly scaled through mergers and integration, now targeting national expansion.
零售商业评论Distributors: Brand Agency is 1, Store Service is 0, and How Big Your Business Depends on Stores!
Hello friends. I'm Yuan Lai from New Distribution. Recently, I met with several distributor friends to discuss current business difficulties and ways to break through. Combining these discussions with past exchanges, I observed that many distributor bosses spend their time and energy on brand owners rather than store customers. This article explores this issue and offers advice on refocusing on store service.
袁来Four Decades of Retail-Supplier Dynamics: How Brands Navigate Cycles
Discounting has become the dominant theme in retail, affecting both brands and channels. As a process that squeezes out residual value from the value chain, it requires brands and channels to operate with lower margins, ultimately benefiting consumers through lower prices and better value. This has sparked a new round of brand-channel conflicts, exemplified by disputes between JD.com and Haishi, Xinba and DeRUCCI, and Hema and Wangxiaolu.
窄播Baijiu Inventory Pressure Mounts: After Reaching 10 Billion Scale, 1919 Unveils Two Retail Innovations to Disrupt the Industry
1919's 'Kuaihe' and 'Chihe' digital empowerment of tobacco and liquor stores and restaurants aims to solve the challenge of baijiu sales. As the industry faces inventory pressure and internal competition, these innovations represent a significant opportunity for local FMCG distributors to transform and upgrade.
陈思廷Annual Revenue Exceeds 28 Billion! Liby, the OEM Detergent Giant, Aims Higher with New Chairman
Some may overlook small profits, but certain enterprises thrive on everyday consumer goods. Daily necessities are the most frequently used and replaced products; despite low unit prices, they enjoy high repeat customers, akin to small profits but quick turnover. Detergents, laundry liquids, powders, shower gels, shampoos, toothpaste—these are all daily chemical products, and giants like Liby, Nice, Blue Moon, and foreign brands Unilever and P&G have been quietly profiting for decades. Many assume these old brands have faded, but they are actually still making money quietly.
曾有为In an Era of Slowing Growth, Why Can Meituan Flash Delivery Create Incremental Growth for Brands?
With the deep integration of people, goods, and scenes, Meituan Flash Delivery is leading instant retail toward new growth. In recent discussions with brand partners, the common feedback is that growth has become difficult in the past two years, and sustained growth even more so. For brands, growth is an unavoidable topic, but now it has become a challenge. In fact, over the past decade, the total market volume for most FMCG categories has not seen significant growth.
周群Coffee Freedom Is Really Here: Carbon 900ML Large-Pack Black Coffee Priced at 9.9 Yuan
Good coffee can also be affordable, ushering in an era of cost-effective bottled coffee! On January 19, Nongfu Spring officially launched its 900ML Carbon classic black coffee product, priced at only 9.9 yuan, nearly setting a new price floor for bottled black coffee. More importantly, this 900ML large pack still uses selected Arabica coffee beans, self-roasted and self-extracted, adhering to the "0 sugar, 0 calories, 0 fat, 0 flavoring, 0 instant coffee powder" route. This signals that in 2024, bottled coffee is expected to follow the path of freshly ground coffee, embracing affordability and cost-performance competition.
孟芸Beverage Price Hikes Draw Backlash? You're Thinking About It Wrong
Lifu noticed that beverage brands are doing something clever: changing packaging. For example, Hawangshui quietly launched a small 125ml hawthorn drink for office snacking, and Lemon Republic introduced small Tetra Pak juices under the brand Guoxi. Apple's philosophy is 'bigger than bigger,' but why are hawthorn and lemon going smaller? Packaging changes are just the surface; brands are finding a golden ratio between face and substance. On one side is brand tone (value and experience), on the other is cost-effectiveness and profit margin. By using attractive small packaging, they maintain value perception, satisfy consumer and brand face, while lowering production costs and prices, benefiting both sides. In the current consumption environment, this trend will grow. Soft drink packaging, like 'affordable housing' in beverages, is becoming more practical and mutually beneficial.
立夫Why Are Young People No Longer Willing to Enter the FMCG Industry?
A notable phenomenon has been observed: frontline sales in the FMCG industry have not attracted high-quality talent for a long time. Even companies like P&G find it very difficult to recruit graduates from Tsinghua or Peking University, let alone frontline staff for Coca-Cola or Master Kong. A brand owner friend complained about massive turnover among their salespeople. I said, 'Your products are harder to sell than insurance, and they earn less than food delivery or courier services, so how can you retain salespeople?' Many frontline brand managers and supervisors earn only 4,000-5,000 yuan upon joining, while food delivery and courier incomes have reached 10,000 yuan in the current market. The FMCG industry cannot retain people under these conditions. The lack of excellent talent entering is a surface phenomenon; on one hand, the field is not cool or leading enough, but more importantly, it cannot pay higher wages to excellent talent!
New DistributionSnacks: A Microcosm of the Discount Evolution
Snack discount stores are a rare bright spot in the sluggish consumer venture capital market. From the merger of industry leaders Snacks Busy and Zhao Yiming, to Bestore's lawsuit and price cuts, to investments from Haoxiangni and Yanjin Shop, the industry is fiercely competing on low prices and channel building. Since 2020, these stores have compressed gross margins from 50% to 30% or less, rapidly expanding from 2,000 stores in 2020 to over 22,000 by 2023, but now face homogenization and slowing growth.
窄播Involution Creates Giants
Involution is an inevitable phenomenon in the evolution of most industries and a necessary process of competitive rivalry. It occurs in stages: price, channel, supply chain, and brand, ultimately leading to industry concentration and the emergence of giants. To escape involution, one must compete at a higher dimension.
刘春雄Brand Factory 'On-Site Procurement Fair': Top Distributors Across the Country, Take Action!
The deep distribution model faces marketing dilemmas: manufacturers struggle with new products not being sold, while distributors find big products unprofitable. To address this, New Distribution launched the 'Extreme Supply Chain' Brand Factory On-Site Procurement Fair, which proved successful with over 4 million yuan in orders, and plans to scale it up at the 9th China FMCG Innovation Conference in March 2024.
陈思廷Chengde Lulu Trapped by Almonds
Chengde Lulu, a leading Chinese plant-based beverage company, has seen stagnant revenue for a decade despite profit growth, and is now pushing into southern markets through new products and distribution expansion, but faces challenges from high prices and regional brand perception.
付艳翠The Brand-Dominated Channel Distribution System Is Collapsing!
In 2023, low prices and discounts became the industry's mainstream topics. Recently, while discussing industry changes with friends, I noticed that different people see completely different things in the same event. For instance, some believe discount stores are the future of retail, while others think they are a flash in the pan. We say the industry is undergoing a supply chain revolution, but some say it's exaggerated and we're creating anxiety. What changes are happening in the industry? What is hard discount? What challenges and opportunities do brand owners and distributors face?
任文青AndyWhy Are Snack Busy and Its Peers So Eager to Dump Bestore?
Snack Busy has been very busy this year. In February, Bestore announced a joint investment in Zhao Yiming Snacks with Black Ant Capital, with Bestore investing 45 million yuan for a 3% stake. By October, Bestore sold that 3% stake for 105 million yuan, citing operational needs. Shortly after, Zhao Yiming merged with Snack Busy, making Snack Busy the largest player in the bulk snack industry. In December, Snack Busy accepted investments from Haoxiangni and Yanjin Puzhu, valuing it at 10.5 billion yuan, but Bestore, feeling sidelined, filed a lawsuit against Zhao Yiming for concealing major matters. This article analyzes why Snack Busy Group is so eager to replace Bestore with Haoxiangni and Yanjin Puzhu, citing business model conflicts, supply chain advantages, and the need for capital in a fiercely competitive market.
薛向Once You Pass 50 Million in Sales, Stop Working for the Brand
Hello friends. I'm Yuan Lai from New Distribution. Recently, I visited over a dozen distributor owners, and as the year ends, we reflected on our experiences. I'd like to share some insights: many distributors still have a 'working for the brand' mentality, but the real core competency lies in distribution and sell-through capabilities based on store control. Growth comes from where you invest your time, and even single-category distributors can succeed in B2b platforms by starting with their existing resources and building stable relationships with retail stores.
袁来Snack Hard Discount Fires the First Shot of the Supply Chain Revolution—When Will the Second Shot Be Fired?
Behind hard discount is a supply chain revolution. Snack hard discount has fired the first shot, and hard discount and private labels will penetrate from snack categories to other vertical and comprehensive categories. The supply chain revolution, by re-channeling distribution, will redraw the spheres of influence among factories, brands, distributors, and retailers, particularly across price bands.
刘春雄