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 12 of 193
The FMCG Industry Is in Chaos Right Now
Recent visits to multiple regional markets reveal widespread anxiety across the FMCG industry, affecting brand owners, retailers, and distributors alike. Since 2024, over half of listed food and beverage companies have seen declining revenues, while retail is being reshaped by new formats and online channels, forcing a fundamental redefinition of roles and collaboration.
周群Businesses Distributors Can't Do Anymore, Retailers Are Grabbing!
In the past, the FMCG market had competition, but each party—manufacturers, distributors, and retailers—stuck to their own business. Recently, the industry trend has changed drastically: terminal stores are shrinking, and distributor inventories are high. The traditional division of production, supply, and sales is being broken. Manufacturers are directly connecting with retail terminals, and traditional retailers are building their own supply chains, internalizing distributor functions. Retailers are increasingly taking over distributors' business.
汪海Distributors' Business Depends Not on Upstream Manufacturers, but on Downstream Stores
If you're still using 10-year-old methods for the 2025 FMCG business, your customers are leaving, profits are evaporating, and competitors are eating your market. The 7th China FMCG Conference (August 19-21, Shanghai) will explore new demand and supply, retail innovation, and distributor transformation.
New DistributionSelling 60,000 Orders and Generating 11 Million in Revenue in the First Month: FMCG Distributors Flock to the Next New Opportunity
A dairy distributor noted that while his monthly purchases have tripled over the past decade, his net profit has halved. In an era of overcapacity, traditional distribution channels are losing their edge, and distributors are finding new growth on the Dewu platform, which offers low barriers to entry, high efficiency, and access to young consumers.
汪海The More Brand Owners Manage, the Harder It Is for Distributors to Do Business
When I first entered the consulting and training industry, I was often asked by brand marketing teams how to manage distributors. I personally dislike the term 'management' because distributors and brand owners are partners; mutual empowerment and win-win cooperation are key. They play different roles and functions in the channel chain (brand owner-distributor-operations team-outlet-consumer), being merely upstream and downstream, with no issue of who manages whom. Upstream brand owners need to achieve their own success through the success of downstream distributors, create value for them, and grow together with them...
高级研究员 海游Competing on Low Prices Is Not the Way Out
A veteran FMCG distributor in South China laments that prices have never been lower, yet sales have never been worse. This reflects a broader industry dilemma where price wars are failing, and the real need is to shift from competing on price to mastering the ability to aggregate consumer groups, understand their needs, and match supply precisely.
任文青AndyIn the First Half of 2025, New Distribution Continues to Reward Readers with Professional, In-Depth Content
Since its inception, New Distribution has been dedicated to providing in-depth interpretations of the distribution channels in the FMCG industry. We hope our content can influence more industry practitioners and drive positive changes in the FMCG sector. Today, we take this opportunity to share our thoughts on content creation and our achievements with our readers. Professional content is scarce. In the past six months, New Distribution published 162 original articles, including one with over 900,000 views, one with over 400,000 views, 15 with over 50,000 views, 30 with over 30,000 views, 54 with over 20,000 views, and 94 with over 10,000 views, with an average of over 17,000 views per original article.
New DistributionThe More Distributors Strive, the Worse the Results
In the past two years, FMCG industry growth has slowed, but the variety of products displayed at retail terminals has increased. During a recent market survey, a brand was found to have placed over 10 products in one store (normally 3-5), and when asked if they could sell, the owner seemed indifferent, saying unsold items would be exchanged. This reflects a common issue where distributors' efforts are not yielding expected results.
金名More and More Distributors Are Turning to Beverages to Stay Afloat
“I’ve started selling beverages too.” When I heard this, I was taken aback. The speaker was a traditional household goods distributor who had focused on supermarket channels for over a decade, selling groceries, paper products, and kitchen cleaners, never touching beverages. Logically, such low-frequency, long-tail category operators have nothing to do with water drinks. But recently, this kind of feedback is becoming more common. Seasoning, daily chemical, and household goods distributors are all proactively adding water drinks, especially high-frequency SKUs like bottled water. They put it bluntly: “Beverages don’t make money, but they help move my original stock.”
张雨薇Last Day for Early Bird Tickets! Price Increase Imminent!
The 7th China FMCG Conference, themed 'New Demand, New Supply', will be held in Shanghai from August 19-21, 2025. The event includes a main forum, retail innovation conference, distributor conference, and more, focusing on the deep restructuring of the FMCG market driven by new consumer demands.
New DistributionFMCG Channel System Shows Signs of Collapse!
The FMCG channel system is on the brink of collapse. Major brands are finding it increasingly difficult to replace distributors, as many distributors are voluntarily exiting or shrinking operations. The root cause is the loss of new product launch capabilities and over-reliance on channel push, leading to a systemic crisis that requires collective transformation.
刘春雄Dealer's Product Selection Ability Is Ten Times More Important Than Before
When visiting dealers, I often ask them, 'What is your competitive advantage locally?' Two years ago, common answers were 'I have many top brands,' 'My compensation and performance are good,' 'My team is strong,' 'My store coverage is extensive,' etc. Since last year, I frequently hear a new answer: 'My product selection ability is strong' and 'My category management is good.' I've noticed that many dealer friends are beginning to realize that finding good products is also a core competency. Why did dealers overlook product selection in the past? Why has it become extremely important today?
周群Zhao Bo of New Distribution: What New Capabilities Do Brand Managers Need in the Third Consumption Era?
The evolution of the consumption era and the new requirements for brand management roles. We are in an unprecedented consumption era. Looking back over the past forty years, the evolution of China's consumer market can be divided into three distinct stages: the first consumption era, centered on product scarcity and meeting basic needs, with consumption behavior dominated by functional utility; the second consumption era, with rapid economic development and abundant goods, upgrading consumer needs from mere functional satisfaction to the pursuit of quality and brand, with more refined and stratified consumption behavior; and now, we have entered the third...
赵波Why Are Sales Representatives Increasingly Unwelcome?
Sales representatives are increasingly unwelcome in the channel, a norm for both small and large enterprises. This is not due to individual incompetence but because the role itself has become one that only God could perform, as Peter Drucker noted. The issue lies in the job design and the actions required, which have become ineffective in the era of shrinking volumes.
刘春雄Early Bird Tickets: Last 5 Days! Price Increase Imminent!
The 7th China FMCG Conference, themed 'New Demand, New Supply', will be held in Shanghai from August 19-21, 2025. The event addresses the deep restructuring of China's FMCG market, where traditional channels are shrinking while niche segments grow, and explores how to rebuild growth paths by meeting new demands and building efficient supply systems.
New DistributionDaily Chemical Distributor's "Whole-Store Output": Price Reduced by 20%, Gross Profit Increased by 10%, Sales Increased by 30%
Henan Shizhirui Trading, founded by Zhang Wenhai in 2015, operates a "whole-store output" model for daily chemical products, supplying nearly 200 brands and 6,000 SKUs to supermarkets. By optimizing product mix, pricing, and supply efficiency, the company has achieved cash settlement with retailers, reducing retail prices by 20%, increasing gross profit by 10%, and boosting sales by 30%.
张文海New Distribution & Tameng Distributor Retail Supply Chain Japan Deep Study Tour Concludes Successfully
From June 22-26, 2025, the 'New Distribution & Tameng Distributor Retail Supply Chain Japan Deep Study Tour' was successfully held. The tour focused on Japan's distribution industry transformation, major distributor (shosha) operations, retail formats, supply chain systems, and product development synergy. It was New Distribution's first Japan distribution industry visit, with over 20 participants from national distributors and the New Distribution team, visiting facilities like Kobe Bussan's third-party logistics ACCESS center and various retail stores.
New DistributionInside Bairong
A sign reading "Prime location transfer, no transfer fee" outside a liquor store in Bairong marks a cooling period for the wholesale market, once known for high fees. Despite a quieter atmosphere and lower foot traffic, over 1,000 liquor vendors remain, adapting through livestreaming and logistics advantages, reflecting the industry's shift from scale to efficiency.
备受酒商关注的B2B Platform Operators: Don't Bleed Out Just Before Victory
The Liberation War lasted 4 years and 10 months, with the People's Liberation Army eliminating 8.07 million enemies. The three major campaigns marked a turning point: before them, 2.64 million were eliminated over 3 years; during the 142 days of the campaigns, 1.54 million; and after, 2.4 million in 11 months. This article draws parallels to B2B platforms, arguing that their real competitors are traditional distributors, and that the strategic opportunity point will arrive when B2B's share reaches around 30%, after which the industry will consolidate into oligopolies.
刘春雄Inventory Overload in Anime Merchandise: Who Created This 'Mass Overproduction'?
Passive upstream, blind expansion and fragmentation among midstream and downstream players constitute a systemic crisis in anime merchandise retail, making a shakeout inevitable once market fluctuations occur. After the boom of the 'merchandise元年' faded, the anime merchandise business quickly entered a cooling-off and adjustment period. The author learned from multiple channels that since late last year, inventory backlog has become an industry-wide problem, affecting chain brands, wholesalers, and terminal stores, leading to varying degrees of financial losses. 'Inventory is the worst problem in this business now...'
新声Pro「经销商转型“商贸+B2b供应链”实操大课·洛阳站」圆满结束！
On June 19-21, the practical training course for dealer transformation to 'Commerce + B2b Supply Chain' in Luoyang concluded successfully. The 3-day, 2-night intensive program systematically covered six modules: startup rhythm, sales management, platform operations, warehouse and distribution management, product management, and organizational management, with a visit to the Luoyang Hecai Commerce practical base, providing dealers with a clear transformation blueprint. Over a hundred dealer owners from across the country attended.
New DistributionFrom a 1 Billion Yuan Single Product to a 10 Billion Yuan Category: Man Xiaobao Aims to Be the 'King of Rice Noodles'
A distributor in Wuhan shared with New Distribution that he placed an order for Man Xiaobao's new product before even tasting it, based on trust built over years of cooperation, and the product sold so well that it was out of stock again. Man Xiaobao, a brand founded in 2020, has become a leader in instant rice noodles, launching three new products that each exceeded 10 million yuan in monthly sales within a year, and is now expanding its product matrix to solidify its position in the 100-billion-yuan category.
AsherThe "Second-Tier Distributors" That Brand Owners Both Love and Hate: How Should They Be Managed?
In the FMCG distribution chain, second-tier distributors act as both a "reservoir" for sales and a "time bomb" for pricing. They operate outside the manufacturer's management system yet directly influence terminal sell-through. Facing market pressure in an era of shrinking volumes, brand owners urgently need to reassess this group—rather than passively guarding against them, they should proactively empower them and turn them into an engine for incremental growth.
邢仁宝Dealer Exits: 80% Are Caused by Manufacturers
“We spent the money, but the manufacturer said it couldn't be reimbursed. We faced various inspections and fines, worked hard all year, and still lost money,” complained a former dealer of a major manufacturer. Over the past year, I visited many dealers who gave up their brand agency rights, and most exits were caused by the manufacturers. Manufacturer policies are not tailored to local conditions, and a slight change can severely impact dealers in weak markets, even fatally.
金名