NEW DISTRIBUTION RESEARCH TOPIC
How can distributors keep growing across fragmented channels?
Front-line analysis of product selection, organization, channel strategy, profit models, and business transformation for FMCG distributors.
Related research and analysis
4620 articles · Page 10 of 193
2 People Run It, First Month GMV Exceeds 11 Million, Distributors Flock to New Blue Ocean
Distributors are facing high risks and thin margins, but many are finding new growth on Dewu, a platform with over 500 million young users. With low entry barriers, low return rates, and high growth, even small teams can achieve significant sales, making it a promising new channel for FMCG distributors.
汪海Zhao Bo of New Distribution: Emotional Awakening, Supply-Demand Restructuring and Business Breakthrough in the Third Consumption Era
Zhao Bo, founder of New Distribution, discusses the shift to the Third Consumption Era, where emotional value and identity drive consumption. He proposes a PEST strategic model (Position, Emotion, Scene, Tribe) to help brands navigate supply-demand mismatches and achieve growth in an era of overcapacity.
赵波Zhao Bo of New Distribution: PEST Market Growth Strategy in an Era of Surplus
In the current Chinese market environment, consumption is undergoing a structural shift: the dominant reason for purchase is moving from 'physical value ranking' (function, performance, price, availability) to 'psychological value ranking' (relative position, identity narrative, meaning of recognition). This article proposes a systematic framework—four logics and two structures—to explain the current economic and market issues, and offers strategic solutions for enterprises to adapt.
赵波The Channel Distribution Dividend in FMCG Has Completely Ended!
Nestlé Greater China's H1 2025 results show a 4.2% organic growth rate, prompting management to rethink its strategy. They acknowledge that past growth relied on pushing products into distribution channels, leading to high inventory, and are now shifting to a consumer-pull model. This signals a fundamental change in FMCG sales logic, with three key signals: supermarkets moving from selling shelf space to selling products, the rise of private label brands, and widening market stratification.
袁来Inventory Overhang, Shrinking Profits: Distributors Must Abandon the Extensive Approach or Risk Being Replaced!
Distributors are facing tough market conditions with stagnant sales, mounting inventory, and shrinking profits. The traditional business logic is failing, but opportunities still exist for those who adopt refined management, explore new channels, and collaborate closely with brands.
何雯6000 Mom-and-Pop Stores Franchised: Both Retailer and Distributor, the Practice of Chicheng Supply Chain
Chicheng, a low-profile company, operates 6,243 franchised convenience stores under the brands Zuolin Youshe and Shenghuo Yizhan, ranking 7th in CCFA's 2024 Top 100. It acts as both a retailer and a distributor, supplying over 400 brands and 9,000 SKUs to its stores, with annual sales exceeding 1.2 billion yuan. The company's success hinges on a 'market lowest comprehensive price' strategy and a growth flywheel that attracts more franchisees.
袁来Without a Well-Organized 'One Inventory', Distributors Won't Profit No Matter How Big They Get
This article discusses the concept of 'one inventory' (一盘货) as the essence of a distributor's business, arguing that success depends on organizing this inventory efficiently rather than on labels like 'brand distributor' or 'B2b platform'. It explains how to restructure procurement and sales systems around this concept to solve the contradiction between scale expansion and profit margin decline.
云川Cutting Off Distributors Below 3 Million: Is Wahaha Wrong? The Life-and-Death Game of FMCG Under the Efficiency Revolution
This is not an isolated case but a sweeping industry-wide circulation integration. Recently, Wahaha's move to cut distributors with annual sales below 3 million yuan has become a hot topic. The public focuses on emotional details, but the key issue is that channel consolidation is an inevitable trend in China's FMCG distribution, driven by the shift from scarcity to surplus and the efficiency revolution at the retail end.
陈文石Distributors: The Current Market Is Not About Earning More or Less, but About Losing Money If You're Not Careful!
Recently, the author visited over a dozen distributors and heard about their operations and market challenges. One distributor's remark stood out: "The current market is no longer about earning more or less, but about losing money if you're not careful!" Distributors have become a high-risk business, burdened by heavy assets, upstream constraints, and downstream restrictions. Now, with naked procurement and direct supply advocating 'de-intermediation,' they risk elimination at any moment.
张雨薇“Incomprehensible” Businesses Are Being Reshaped by Post-90s Distributors
A 70s-born distributor admitted, “I can’t understand today’s business,” reflecting a generational shift. Post-90s and even post-95s distributors are using data-driven decisions, proactive channel expansion, and innovative team management to reshape the traditional FMCG distribution industry.
张雨薇The Retail Logic Has Really Changed! One Operator Achieves Monthly Sales of 10 Million, How Do Distributors Find New Growth?
In recent years, the retail sector has undergone dramatic changes, but for many distributors, this 'retail revolution' has made business harder. However, some distributors have found new growth by shifting their focus to understanding specific consumer groups and leveraging platforms like Dewu, where they achieve high sales with low costs and high efficiency.
AmyDistributors Have Lost Their Sense of Security
Distributors are feeling increasingly insecure as market growth stagnates while manufacturers continue to raise sales targets, terminal stores show little loyalty, and talent becomes hard to attract and retain. The industry faces intense competition, fragmented channels, and shrinking offline share, forcing distributors to adapt or risk being eliminated.
周群Zhao Bo of New Distribution: Moving Beyond the Wholesale Era, Reconstructing China's Commercial Circulation Industry
Starting from the 'Engel coefficient turning point,' this article examines the transformation of consumer society and its impact on retail and wholesale industries. It analyzes how developed markets have responded to retail restructuring and outlines four paths for China's wholesale sector to evolve from a relationship-based to a system-driven model.
赵波Distributors Need to Rethink Their Channels
Emerging channels such as convenience chains, snack systems, and online platforms are significantly cheaper than traditional supermarkets, eroding sales for traditional distributors. Most distributors complain and worry but take no action. To thrive, they must correctly understand new trends, embrace new opportunities, and focus on key links in the sales chain.
金铭Why Are Distributors 'Losing More the More They Do'?
A recent field survey reveals that many distributors are anxious and tend to seek external solutions, but the key to success lies in 'seeking inward'—consolidating existing business before expanding. Through contrasting stories of two distributors, this article outlines five directions for internal optimization: organization, business processes, warehousing, product mix, and channel focus.
张雨薇New Distribution Zhao Bo: The Era of Selling Shelf Space Is Over, Distributors Must Reclaim 'Product Selection Power'
Distributors are caught in a dilemma: hot-selling products yield thin profits, while high-margin new products struggle to move off the shelves. This article analyzes the root causes—role misalignment, information gaps, market involution, and capital occupation—and outlines five future supply chain models and three strategic paths for distributors to regain product selection power and thrive in the new retail landscape.
赵波"Megabrands × Mega Platforms": In Times of Change, Budweiser China and Distributors Build a Resilient Growth Path
In the first half of 2025, New Distribution visited over a hundred distributors and observed that the distributor community is generally in a state of confusion. In the past, distributors built moats for local distribution networks through deep cultivation of regional markets. But today, channel fragmentation, declining offline store traffic, and low-price competition have brought increasing uncertainty to distributors' businesses. This trend is especially evident in the alcoholic beverage market, where market stratification and demographic segmentation are widening demand differences. In this context, Budweiser China's "Megabrands × Mega Platforms" strategy, which leverages brand power and platform resources to empower distributors, offers a systematic response and a sustainable growth path.
AsherFMCG frontline salespeople are anxious
“Business is tough now; upstream manufacturers increase targets year by year, but downstream customers can't move goods. I don't know how long this consumption situation will last!” Last week, the author followed several FMCG salespeople on field visits to dozens of terminal stores, and on the way, salesperson Sister Liu lamented this. In the dealer team, salespeople are not only the vanguard of sales but also direct observers of market dynamics; their feelings directly reflect market conditions. This article will take the perspective of dealer salespeople, go deep into the frontline, analyze the internal and external factors causing their anxiety, and reveal the true state of the market.
何雯The Distributor Business That Can't Be Transferred
A second-generation distributor says, "For a business with 60 million in sales, I'd hand it over for 2 million." Many distributors find that despite apparent profits, most money is tied up in warehouse stock. They want to exit but can't find buyers, and lack motivation to continue. This article explores why the distributor business has become so challenging.
何雯Proven Hit: Lay's Honey Butter Flavored Fries Launch Nationwide, Distributors Get Ready to Take Orders!
There are many new snacks, but few truly win over young consumers and let channels reap the rewards. Lay's latest new product—Lay's Honey Butter Flavored Fries—has successfully captured young consumers. With a delicious product, attractive giveaways, and fun interactions, it quickly ignited the market through channel placement and content marketing. Before the nationwide launch, it already showed 'blockbuster' potential: consumers actively buy and share, sales move fast, and stores reorder enthusiastically. Lay's Honey Butter Flavored Fries will launch nationwide on August 1st. Next, it's the critical moment for channel partners to drive sell-through.
AmyThe Historical Mission of Distributors Has Changed!
Distributors' businesses are increasingly difficult. Some distributors say, "Goods are placed at terminals but don't sell; after more than a decade, I don't know whether to persist." Even top regional distributors report rising sales but sharply declining profits. From B2b to various e-commerce, from community group buying to hard discount, distributors are the most affected in every industry change. Voices like "de-distributorization, no middlemen to earn the difference" and "90% of distributors will die in the future" are everywhere. But is it really so?
任文青Andy"Hold on for two more years; if it really doesn't make money, I'll close the shop."
A small supermarket owner and his wife are struggling with declining foot traffic and profits, facing competition from convenience stores and snack shops. Distributors are also affected, but some are finding success by deeply integrating with small stores and offering category management and operational support.
何雯The Era of Retail Shelf-Selling Is Over
In the past two years, retail has undergone dramatic changes: snack stores and wholesale supermarkets have sprung up everywhere, engaging in successive low-price bombardments. Pangdonglai and Sam's Club have popularized 'divine service' and the 'warehouse membership model.' Yonghui and Jiajiayue have loudly advocated 'cutting out middlemen' and 'naked-price direct sourcing.' Aldi and Hema have prompted retail peers to follow suit with 'private labels.' Retail changes come one after another, leaving distributors deeply anxious. A boss who has been an agent for leisure snacks for 15 years told me: 'Some businesses are gone, some are barely surviving, but in the end, inventory still piles up! Payments still come in slowly! We middlemen, squeezed between brand pressure to stock up and terminal slow sales, are about to be dragged down...'
任文青AndyThe Distribution Business Must Change
Recently, we have intensively visited multiple wholesale markets, reinforcing our earlier perception: the distribution business is becoming increasingly difficult, and this difficulty is structural. Traditional channels are declining, while new retail channels are expanding, squeezing distributors' profit margins. This trend indicates that distributors relying on inertia are being phased out, and they must adapt to the changing retail landscape to survive.
张振宇