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.
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4620 articles · Page 11 of 193
The FMCG Industry Has Completely Changed
If one word were to sum up this year's FMCG industry, it would be 'difficult.' Retail channel transformations have come one after another, with intense competition both online and offline, including supermarket overhauls and the aggressive expansion of snack stores. Brand owners are struggling with declining financial reports, having been held hostage by e-commerce in the past and now by new retail. Distributors face even greater hardship, squeezed by upstream and downstream players, and many are being abandoned, with the trend of big fish eating small fish becoming increasingly evident. However, 'difficult' is the current state, behind which lie changes in the underlying survival logic of retailers, the severe weakening of brand owners' market influence, and the need for distributors to redefine their roles.
周群Zero-Yuan Cola, One-Hour Clearance! In the Fiercely Competitive Instant Retail Market, Should Distributors Jump In?
Recently, 'zero-yuan purchases' and 'one-cent flash sales' have frequently topped search trends, with one platform claiming daily orders exceeding 200 million, nearly 20% of which come from essential FMCG products like rice, flour, oil, beverages, and frozen foods. 'Zero-yuan cola' sold out within an hour of launch, and amid the subsidy frenzy, inventory cleared faster than during the 618 promotion. In the past, instant retail was more of an 'icing on the cake' option for distributors, but now platforms are directly competing for terminal business, eroding the share of offline stores, leaving distributors with no choice but to seriously consider whether to enter this business.
张雨薇Distributors Need to Not Only Sell Products, but Also Learn to 'Sell Themselves'
In 2025, short videos are rapidly reshaping the traffic logic of business. More and more brands and retailers are using short videos to promote products, showcase stores, and even build personal IPs. However, distributors remain relatively silent, with many still relying on traditional sales paths and failing to connect short videos with their own business. This article explores the external and internal value of short videos for distributors, emphasizing that being 'seen' is itself a competitive advantage in an era of scarce attention and overwhelming choices.
葛畅Price System Collapsed, Even Dogs Despise It!
In frontline research, distributors and terminal stores complain most about the price system, with top brands unable to find buyers due to price inversion. Why is the price system problem so severe now? White liquor marketing expert Niu Enkun says: policy escalation is poison. Overuse of tiered policies affects the price system. Combined with excessive inventory pressure, it leads to channel dumping, accumulating to a critical point and causing channel collapse. Policy escalation is poison, hitting the nail on the head. Scenario Research Institute Secretary-General Fang Gang says: online communication is fine, but chasing volume online is suicide. Short-term online volume chasing has a greater impact on the price system, even being the last straw for price collapse.
刘春雄One Person, 30 Days, 10 Million in Sales: A New Wave of FMCG Distributors Flock to a Lucrative New Track
Distributors are struggling in a shrinking market, with traditional channels squeezed and online ventures often losing money. However, some are finding success on Dewu, a platform with low entry barriers, low customer acquisition costs, and low return rates, where one operator can achieve over 10 million in monthly GMV.
张博The Unchanging Distributor Is Being Eliminated
Distributors are facing a market that no longer feels directional, as traditional channels shrink and new ones rise. The old model of moving goods from brands to stores is failing, and distributors must adapt by mastering new channels, data-driven product selection, and agile supply chains to survive.
何雯Brand Owners, Stop Forcing Inventory on Distributors!
The FMCG market's dismal Q2 2024 performance has left many brand owners, especially those unprepared, in a growth dilemma: products aren't moving at the terminal, and sales teams are struggling to meet KPIs, leading to the counterproductive practice of pushing inventory onto distributors. This article analyzes the root causes—a fundamental shift in supply-demand dynamics—and offers both strategic and practical advice for brand owners to navigate the shrinking market, emphasizing product innovation, channel adaptation, and avoiding extreme inventory pressure.
张振宇The Ten Commandments of Opening Stores—Dealer Store Success Rate Below 10%
Before sharing, let me introduce my situation. Tangshan Yihe Service Provider was founded in 2011. Before starting the business, I worked as a factory manager at Yili Dairy, then started a dairy distribution business covering local supermarkets and small stores in Tangshan. In 2019, I began exploring a local B2B supply chain platform, now covering 4,000+ stores with 6,000 SKUs. In 2021, I extended based on the B2B supply chain to open discount retail stores, and now I have opened 32 community discount supermarkets. Invited by Yuan Lai from New Distribution...
于秀伟Why Young Talent Is Leaving Front-Line FMCG Sales
The talent problem in FMCG sales is not only about pay. It reflects an outdated field-sales system that monitors people instead of equipping them to sell with greater precision and productivity.
New DistributionIn the Future, Only These 3 Types of Distributors Will Survive!
As the retail landscape undergoes drastic changes, distributors must transform into operators. The future belongs to three business models: regional category operators, retail channel operators, and B2b platform operators. This article explains these models and urges distributors to adapt strategically.
袁来In the FMCG Industry, the Answers to Market Problems Are on the Frontline
A beer distributor with over 20 years of experience shared his journey, emphasizing that market opportunities and solutions are found on the frontline. By staying close to the market, he successfully launched a new product, but later lost momentum after delegating to managers. The article argues that true insights come from direct market engagement, citing examples like Wahaha and Feihe, and concludes that adapting to new cycles requires rebuilding frontline connections.
金名New Demand Forces Dealer Transformation: Where Is the Future Path?
The 7th China FMCG Conference, themed 'New Demand, New Supply', will be held in Shanghai from August 19-21, 2025. As old demands based on survival and safety shrink, new demands for happiness, individuality, social interaction, and values are booming, driving a revolution in the supply system. The conference will gather key players in the FMCG industry chain to discuss the essence, direction, and solutions for industry transformation.
New DistributionWhich Growth Path Fits an FMCG Distributor?
Regional B2B, category management, retail operations, and instant-retail supply each require different capabilities. The right choice begins with a distributor's local advantages.
New DistributionDistributors Lose Their Sense of Direction
Distributors are losing their sense of direction as traditional methods fail and new paths remain unclear. The shift from inertial to capability-driven operations is essential for survival and growth.
周群From Brand Promoter to Retail Buyer: 2025 Is the Golden Window for Distributor Transformation!
The 7th China FMCG Conference and the 5th China FMCG Retail Innovation Conference & the 5th China FMCG Distributor Conference, themed 'New Demand, New Supply', will be held in Shanghai from August 19-21, 2025. The event will gather key players in the FMCG industry to discuss the transformation of the supply system driven by shifting consumer demands.
New DistributionRaising a Glass for Thirty Years: The 30th Anniversary Series of China Alcoholic Drinks Association Officially Launched
Thirty years marks the journey of an industry from infancy to maturity, and for China's alcoholic drinks circulation sector, it has been a profound transformation from chaos to order. In 2025, the China Alcoholic Drinks Association celebrates its 30th anniversary, having witnessed and driven the industry's shift from planned allocation to market allocation, and from channel dominance to consumer sovereignty. The association has been both a recorder and a promoter, guiding the industry onto a path of high-quality development.
杨玉琳New Distribution Zhao Bo: It's Not That Consumers Have No Money, But a Supply-Demand Mismatch
Is consumption really 'downgrading'? Or are we 'asking the wrong question'? Over the past year, 'sluggish consumption' has become a high-frequency term in observations of China's economy. From statistics to the streets, from national consumption-boosting policies to the performance anxiety of companies and brands, almost everyone is asking: 'Do consumers have no money?' But if we broaden our perspective and look at it from a more systematic angle, the answer may not be so simple. We observe a more fundamental trend: it's not 'no money,' but 'no feeling.'
赵波In 2025, Only These 3 Types of Distributors Will Survive: Which One Are You?
A "brain-burning feast" for a thousand attendees. Conference Name: [New Demand · New Supply] The 7th China FMCG Conference & The 5th China FMCG Retail Innovation Conference & The 5th China FMCG Distributor Conference. Conference Time: August 19-21, 2025. Conference Location: Shanghai, China. Over 40 years of reform and opening-up, China's economy has grown from weak to strong, shifting from supply shortage to oversupply. Old demands based on survival and security values are shrinking, while new demands based on spiritual values such as happiness, individuality, social interaction, and values are flourishing. These changes are driving a revolution in the supply system.
New DistributionLiu Chunxiong: New Channel Players Align with Retailers—Who Are Brand Owners' Channel Allies?
Business has a stance, and so does business theory. Distributors and deep distribution align with brand owners, while B2b platforms and supply chains align with retailers. Shared stance makes allies. As more channel players side with retailers, who are brand owners' allies? Without allies, how can brand owners operate channels and users?
刘春雄On July 13, the 'National Benchmark Daily Chemical Distributor Deep Study Tour' visited Henan Shizhirui Trading, and the event was a complete success!
On July 13, the 'National Benchmark Daily Chemical Distributor Deep Study Tour' visited Henan Shizhirui Trading, and the event was a complete success! From announcement to execution in less than half a month, registrations far exceeded expectations, with over 150 on-site sign-ins and no empty seats, showing the high interest in 'how to do daily chemical whole-store output' well. The study tour focused on four core topics: business development guide for urban daily chemical distributors, breakdown of the daily chemical whole-store operation model, live-streaming operation logic for trading companies, and digital transformation solutions for distributors. More than 150 distributor owners from across the country gathered for in-depth exchanges with New Distribution's Chief Content Officer Yuan Lai, Henan Shizhirui Trading General Manager Zhang Wenhai, Henan Shizhirui Trading Live-streaming Head Yang Ning, Zhengzhou Jiahexin Supply Chain General Manager Zhang Yanjie, and the Zhoupu Data team, with non-stop insights and inspiration.
New DistributionZhao Bo of New Distribution: In the Era of Emotional Consumption, Reshape Product Definition in the Third Consumption Era with 'Multi-Axis Value'
In the third consumption era, emotions can instantly ignite consumers' purchasing enthusiasm, but relying solely on emotional value makes it difficult for brands to retain users long-term. Emotions are merely the trigger point in the product consumption decision chain, a key moment of truth (MOT) for sparking interest and word-of-mouth, but not the entirety of the consumption decision. To truly capture and retain users, brands must shift to a 'multi-axis value' strategy, embedding emotional, experiential, exploratory, health, asset, algorithmic, and ethical value elements on top of functional satisfaction, based on users' real Jobs-to-be-Done.
赵波Distribution: No Longer a Business for Everyone
“Our business is down 30% this year. If we don't develop more new channels and open more new customers, we won't even be able to pay salaries!” This is the real feedback from a distributor boss during our field research. During the day, he visits customers; at night, he livestreams. Facing declining sales, he works harder than ever. But the problem is: more investment, worse results, and less certainty in the business. This is not an isolated case. In our research, we found that despite widespread pressure, many distributors are not slowing down: adding staff and vehicles, expanding customers, launching new products, and investing more effort than ever, but returns are increasingly unstable.
张雨薇Is the Traditional FMCG Model Really Beyond Saving? The Answer Is Here
If you're still using 10-year-old methods to do FMCG business in 2025, your customers are leaving, your profits are evaporating, and your competitors are eating your market. If you're pondering what consumers really want, how to shift from production-oriented to demand-driven, which channels still have dividends, how distributors can transform, and how to use digitalization and AI to rebuild supply chains, the 7th China FMCG Conference in Shanghai from August 19-21 will provide answers.
New DistributionWhy Are FMCG Manufacturers Increasingly Preferring Female Sales Representatives?
This year, while visiting the market, I noticed an interesting phenomenon: in frontline FMCG sales roles, which were once teased as 'better suited for men due to sun and wind,' the proportion of women around 30 years old is increasing. These women, neither fresh graduates nor pre-retirement 'stable employees,' have become 'hot commodities' for manufacturers. Their emergence reflects the industry's changing talent demands. Amid poor performance, how should manufacturers correctly select and use talent? This article explores this topic.
邢仁宝