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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4623 articles · Page 163 of 193
Ten Major Obstacles to the Development of Chinese Distributors
This article outlines ten major obstacles hindering the development of Chinese distributors, including poor product mix, sales incentives replacing management, imbalanced treatment of large and small customers, price wars in a low-margin era, using common channels for different products, individual heroism in market operations, weak corporate brands, management not matching development speed, high costs, and outdated mindsets.
徐应云Winning at the Point of Sale: The Mouth Is Productivity
In Anhui and Machang townships, our brand once dominated with annual sales exceeding a thousand tons. However, a distributor and his salesman defected to a competitor, spreading rumors and offering incentives to replace our products, nearly wiping out our presence. After a week of strategic countermeasures, including discrediting the defector, exploiting jealousy, and offering better terms, we successfully regained most of the market.
陈波7 Solutions to Dealers' Capital Chain Problems
External factors mainly refer to the occupation of dealers' funds, including: 1. Retailers' occupation of dealers' funds. With the development of new retail formats, especially the rapid rise of chain retail enterprises, these terminal retail enterprises have gained increasing bargaining power and firmly control suppliers. Foreign retail giants like Carrefour and Walmart have gradually increased their stores in China, while local retail giants are also expanding rapidly, such as Shanghai's Nonggongshang and Lianhua, and Wuhan's Zhongshang Group and Zhongbei Group. These retail enterprises are expanding rapidly, and where does the expansion capital come from? To a large extent, it comes from occupying suppliers' funds.
New DistributionStandard Solutions to 24 Common Refusal Reasons in Terminal Distribution
During FMCG terminal distribution, especially when launching new products, salespeople often encounter customer objections they cannot answer, hindering communication and deals. This article provides standard responses to common customer resistance points, distinguishing between genuine and false objections.
刘利民Reference: 2014 Beverage Brand Terminal Distribution Report
No matter how good the product or how much advertising, if the terminal channels are not stocked or are poorly stocked, all marketing efforts will be in vain. This statement may seem traditional and conservative in today's Internet-thinking era, but it still applies to FMCG companies and will continue to apply for a long time, especially for 'super' FMCG products like beverages. In August-September 2014, Digital 100 conducted a terminal outlet sample survey in 10 cities across China, checking over 800 outlets for categories such as drinking water, juice, carbonated drinks, tea drinks, herbal tea, milk tea/coffee, and plant protein drinks.
New DistributionThe Core Value of Sales Personnel: Beyond Customer Relations, It's Display
Many companies assess sales personnel based on sales commissions, but some, like food company Orion, only assess display. For salespeople, having good customer relations and excellent product displays is crucial, as sales volume may not be entirely within their control, relying instead on brand, advertising, promotions, and pricing to attract consumers. The following article from Dealer's Home discusses the importance of display in the sales process.
New Distribution“Tricked” Without Negotiation: An Overview of Manufacturers' “Trickery”
In casual chats with distributors, one often hears that business is getting tougher. The days when distributors could act like “bosses” in front of manufacturers are long gone. When selecting brands and products, they must keep their eyes wide open, or they may end up wasting time and money, losing both the bait and the fish. Nevertheless, many distributors, who became wealthy in the 1980s and 1990s through courage and opportunity, still cling to past glories in the 21st century. When dealing with manufacturers armed with new ideas, they often react passively, and some even fall into traps set by unscrupulous manufacturers (especially in the liquor industry, where new brands and tricksters abound each year), ending up like ST stocks with little hope of recovery. To help more distributors avoid these pitfalls, the author analyzes various manufacturers' tricks for reference.
唐江华Distributors: How to Succeed in the Banquet Market?
As everyday consumption among the general public remains sluggish, baijiu companies are seeking new consumption outlets, making the mass banquet market increasingly valuable and a hotly contested arena for distilleries, distributors, and terminals (mainly circulation terminals). It has also become a core channel for cultivating baijiu consumers. The banquet market offers five key values: short-term volume growth, brand influence and driving power, substantial profit margins, marketing certainty, and a differentiated channel for new product launches.
朱志明10 Practical Methods for Distributors to Hone Salespeople's Selling Skills
Excellent selling skills are not flashy tricks but joyful expressions based on a thorough understanding of the product. A salesperson who knows little about the product cannot meet customer needs, making formalistic skills useless. Therefore, the first step is to master product knowledge, including features, selling points, functions, and differences, to guide customers effectively.
New DistributionThe Dilemma: How to Handle Channel Dilemmas for Distributors
This article discusses the importance of channel planning and addresses common dilemmas faced by companies when planning their distributor channels, such as whether to focus on a regional strong brand or expand broadly, whether to start from rural or urban markets, and whether to use one distributor or multiple distributors for different products. It provides strategic considerations and practical advice for resolving these issues.
李政权How Should Distributors Operate OEM Products?
Mr. Xu from Hebei, a general distributor of a well-known liquor brand, decided to launch his own OEM liquor brand to reduce dependence on the manufacturer. However, after six months, he faced issues such as low brand awareness, insufficient market funds, and unclear product selling points. This article analyzes the key factors distributors should consider for successful OEM operations, including market segmentation, positioning, product strategy, pricing, channels, promotion, and product lifecycle management.
王立岩10-Minute Interview to Hire Core Employees!
This article discusses how to efficiently interview and hire core employees during peak recruitment season, proposing a 10-minute interview method consisting of four steps: chat, presentation, questioning, and answering. It also reveals three interview secrets: early disclosure of compensation, avoiding braggarts, and not hiring the 'best' candidates.
景素奇Several Links Within the Distributor's Operations That Can Increase Profit
This article is reprinted from FMCG Distributor Professional Consulting Management (kxpjxszyzxgl). As modern commercial retail systems continue to expand downward, traditional distributors generally feel the pressure of thin margins, making profit maximization the core of their competition with both the market and manufacturers. The article provides a framework for distributors to think about profit-generating links within their own operations, including product mix, delivery combination, personnel integration, and channel relationships.
舒春昭Six Honest Truths About Product Selection for Distributors
This article is reprinted from FMCG Distributor Professional Consulting Management (kxpjxszyzxgl). Regardless of what you currently do or how successful you are, when selecting products, you should neither follow old thinking nor blindly follow trends. Instead, choose products or projects based on your channel network, financial strength, team, social connections, marketing experience, and relevance to existing projects. Otherwise, the only outcome awaiting you is failure. 1. Opportunities always belong to those who are prepared. Opportunities always belong to those who are prepared, whether in work, study, or life. The same applies to product selection and investment. Only with keen business awareness and economic acumen can you discover business opportunities before others and seize them. Even following trends requires strategy; timing is crucial, and most trend-followers end in failure. Take the solar industry: selling solar products now is clearly less profitable than five years ago, as sales have been declining.
童庆德Six Statements You Should Never Trust from Distributors
Although manufacturers and distributors are partners, they each have their own interests. In business, one must see through appearances to discern true intentions. This article helps new sales representatives avoid blindly trusting common distributor claims, such as 'your product doesn't make money' or 'let me be exclusive and I'll meet any sales target.'
陆和平Five Ways for Distributors to Make More Money
Distributors primarily profit from the price difference between buying and selling, but in the information age, this margin is shrinking. To maintain sufficient profit, distributors must explore other avenues, such as utilizing manufacturer credit lines, leveraging bank acceptance bills, partnering with complementary businesses, creating cash-collection platforms, and focusing on volume rebates.
黄润霖34 Laws of Life and Death for Distributors
Growth Law 1: The main obstacle to a distributor's development is the 'founder trap.' In the early stages, the founder's courage and determination are the primal forces that sustain the fledgling enterprise in harsh conditions. At this point, the company's growth hinges on the boss's whim; 'I' (the boss) is greater than 'we' (the company and its people), and 'we' is determined by 'I'. The boss's consciousness, style, and charisma decide everything, and the company's development relies on the boss seizing opportunities on the front lines, which in a sense is 'playing speculation' and 'playing tricks.' When a distributor reaches a certain scale, they fall into the 'founder trap,' where the very spiritual strength that once supported growth can become an obstacle to continued development.
New DistributionRaise Prices and Die, Don't Raise Prices and Die Too: 4 Tasks and 5 Processes to Guide Your Price Increase
With rising labor and raw material costs in China, especially under inflationary pressure, corporate profits are razor-thin, and businesses teeter on the brink of losses. Therefore, how to raise prices to steer clear of the loss cliff and build strength for future development is a pressing issue for every enterprise. Core viewpoints: 1. Consumers are not interested in cheap products but in those that make them feel they've gotten a bargain; the cheaper the product, the less likely consumers are to get a real deal. 2. Channels and terminal stores are not interested in low-priced products but in those that yield higher profits. 3. A successful price increase policy should use post-increase measures to let consumers 'get a bargain' and terminals earn profits, ensuring the increase succeeds.
伯建新Scientific Task Setting: The Prerequisite for Win-Win Cooperation Between Manufacturers and Distributors
A case study: A well-known second-tier brand's energy drink developed a new distributor in City A. After a year of cooperation, the distributor successfully met sales targets, and the market performed well, giving the manufacturer 'hope.' As a result, the second-year task volume increased by 60% over the previous year, which the distributor found hard to accept and refused to sign the contract. To secure the contract, the manufacturer induced the distributor to sign temporarily by downplaying the contract's enforceability. The distributor reluctantly signed, but in practice, the distributor used the high task volume as an excuse, leaving the manufacturer passive. Monthly targets were missed, and a heavy push led to near-expiry products and excessive returns, straining the relationship and pushing the market to the brink of collapse.
刘雷Basic Operational Techniques for Distributors' Quick In-and-Out
Distributors engage in short-term product operations for profit, competition, and sales volume. They select products with good appearance, low price, brand association, and channel fit, and use rapid distribution, shelf placement, and consumer promotion to execute quickly.
王同、唐江华Merchandising: The Catalyst for Beer Sales Growth at On-Premise Outlets
Merchandising, especially in restaurants, has become a top priority for beer companies in recent years. Market research shows that markets with active on-premise outlets and strong sales performance often have excellent merchandising, such as Jinxing in Zhengzhou and Kunming, Kingway in Shenzhen, Snow in Hefei, and Liquan in Guilin. This article explores how to implement effective merchandising in restaurants.
马奔How Beer Distributors Can Successfully Operate the Food Stall Channel
Manager Yuan, a small distributor of mid-to-low-end alcoholic beverages, found the traditional restaurant channel too costly and risky due to credit sales, high fees, and low profits. He instead targeted popular food stalls and roadside stands, implementing a comprehensive strategy combining material and spiritual incentives, daily delivery, and frequent reward payouts, which proved successful.
吕谏The Weaknesses of Strong Brand Distributors
Strong brand distributors are often the most glamorous group in the distribution sector, dealing primarily with powerful brands, achieving large sales volumes, and possessing strong company capabilities. However, beneath their impressive exterior lie hidden weaknesses, such as imbalanced terminal networks, neglect of small and medium brands, and over-extended product lines, which can lead to significant risks and even failure.
刘雷Who Really Made the Distributor's Belly Big?
A humorous story about three brothers and a sex worker in a jail cell is used to illustrate the point that distributors' inventory problems are often self-inflicted. The article argues that distributors who act on impulse, seek small gains, or delegate purchasing decisions to manufacturers' salespeople are the ones who end up with bloated stock, not the manufacturers or their sales staff.
黄润霖