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 30 of 193
Everyone Calls for Distributors to Communicate and Learn More, But What Exactly Should They Learn?
The first step in my consulting work is always market research, and a key part is in-depth interviews after visiting distributor markets. In the past year or two, I've noticed an interesting phenomenon: distributor bosses born in the 1980s and 1990s have deeply realized that learning ability is the primary productive force, and they are willing to invest time and money, but the results are often unsatisfactory. As one post-90s second-generation distributor said: "I want to change the status quo, increase sales and profits. I've bought many books, attended many courses, and participated in many study tours organized by brand owners. It's not that they have no effect, but I always feel that fragmented knowledge points cannot be condensed into more valuable things for practical implementation and monetization." Today, I will briefly sort out the logical framework for distributor learning, focusing on the business and operational issues that distributors care about most.
高级研究员 海游Peak Season Sales Cool Again: High Inventory Plagues Baijiu Despite Mid-Autumn and National Day
As Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day approach, the baijiu industry's September is unusually busy, with online sales booming (e.g., JD.com's liquor sales up 180% year-on-year) but offline channels facing sluggish demand, high inventory, and price inversions, leading to a cold peak season.
杨欢Rethinking the Logic of the Shelf
The article discusses how the logic of shelves differs between online and offline retail, emphasizing that offline shelves must be adjusted by time and customer group, while online platforms use algorithms to offer personalized product combinations. It introduces the concept of three generations of retail models in China and argues that the emergence of the third generation (e.g., community group buying, discount stores, interest e-commerce) has fundamentally changed the value chain, transaction logic, and the importance of scenarios, requiring brands and distributors to adopt a three-dimensional channel perspective.
赵波The New Battlefield of Instant Retail: Is Lightning Warehouse a Good Business?
After a recent visit to lightning warehouses organized by the New Distribution Dealer Member Club, many have asked about this business model. This article examines two cases—a traditional convenience store transformation and a B2B entrepreneur's venture—to illustrate the profitability and rapid growth of lightning warehouses, which are an extension of instant retail. It analyzes the model's advantages, such as low cost, high turnover, and broad coverage, and discusses implications for brands, retailers, and distributors.
周群20 Business Insights from Meeting Over 100 Distributors in Six Months
Over the past six months, I've engaged with over 100 distributors, leading to the formation of a distributor member club with 205 members and annual revenues exceeding 30 billion yuan. This article distills the 20 most critical business insights from these exchanges, covering challenges, core competitiveness, efficiency, team management, and future directions.
袁来In the Deep Water and Hot Fire of the FMCG Market, How Can Distributors Make Money?
In the challenging FMCG market, distributors can improve their situation by following five principles: letting go to make money (doing subtraction), improving human efficiency through digital management, learning to make money through diversified exchanges, and more. The article details these strategies and announces the upcoming Fifth China FMCG Conference and First China FMCG Distributor Conference.
高级研究员 海游Replacement Bottle Liquor, Opened Bottle Liquor, Bare Bottle Liquor... What Lies Behind the Chaos in the Baijiu Industry?
Amid the reality of inventory backlog, quick shipment is a common goal for baijiu manufacturers and distributors, but their approaches diverge in practice. Manufacturers focus on strengthening consumer guidance to drive channel sales, while distributors, pressured by costs and cash flow, resort to cross-regional selling, leading to price inversions and various market irregularities.
吴哲Dealer Business: Scale First, Then Efficiency!
Hello friends. I'm Yuan Lai from New Distribution. This year, dealers are clearly feeling that business is getting harder. In the first half of the year, sales volume dropped by 30% and net profit fell by 50% year-on-year, according to feedback from many dealers. Facing this reality, many are confused and anxious, unsure how to proceed. After 10-20 years in trade, why has everything changed? We survived three years of pandemic, and now that people are moving again, why is business getting even harder? It's hard to understand...
袁来Is Offline Business Getting Harder? Has 'Terminal is King' Failed?
Many distributors are asking how to manage outlets to achieve 'terminal is king'. The answer lies in eight characters: outlets, display, visits, and sell-through. This article elaborates on these four extremes, covering strategies for outlet management, display optimization, visit excellence, and sell-through maximization, and discusses the interplay of 'dao' and 'shu' in execution.
高级研究员 海游Golden Seed Liquor: A Pit-Opening Festival Stirs a City
On September 16, the 4th Golden Seed Fuhexiang Handcrafted Pit-Opening Festival and Distillery Open Week kicked off at Shuangqingwan Park in Fuyang, attracting nearly a thousand participants. General Manager He Xiuxia invited Fuyang citizens to explore the 70-year-old state-owned enterprise's new look, chat about daily life, and taste the newly brewed 'first-row fine liquor.'
New DistributionTax Risks and Responses for Distributors under the Fourth Phase of Golden Tax
In the past, distributors focused on the market, but in the new environment, we believe that distributor owners should place compliance management and tax planning on par with sales growth. The core of the Fourth Phase of Golden Tax is 'governing taxes with data.' The requirements for compliant operations have never changed; only the regulatory means have changed. Therefore, operational methods you previously thought were 'not a big deal' are now risk points that must be avoided, such as issuing false invoices.
蔡艳富What I Fear Most Is 'No Middlemen Taking a Cut'
Many people complain about middlemen taking a cut, but as a business consultant, I've seen their true value. Middlemen shield you from upstream complexity, enable small-scale low-cost purchasing, and guarantee quality and safety. Without them, transactions become inefficient and risky.
刘润Three Major Judgments for This Year's Mid-Autumn Festival Market! How Should Distributors Respond to the 'Cold B, Hot C' Situation?
As the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, the market is experiencing changes due to increasingly diversified and fragmented channels, leading to a 'cold B, hot C' phenomenon where distributors and retailers face challenges while consumer demand remains strong. This article provides three key judgments for the festival season and suggests strategies such as reversing the traditional sales order and emphasizing scenario-based marketing to adapt to the new market dynamics.
李锋、刘春雄Is the Relationship Between Salespeople and Store Owners Worth Anything?
Stores are where products are sold, serving as the link between products and consumers, and are the most critical link in product distribution. Winning stores means winning the market, and seizing stores has become a key to marketing success. However, stores require good relationships (keqing), and with strong relationships, greater sales can be achieved. In past reports by New Distribution on distributors, especially during the three years of pandemic lockdowns, many distributors who invested in relationship-building saw positive results, avoiding losses and even growing against the trend. China is a society that values personal connections, so in terms of salesperson skills, they are divided into three categories: attitude skills, relationship skills, and business skills. Among these, relationship skills are considered the most important, accounting for 80% of the factors in closing deals.
高级研究员 海游How Partnership Models Help Distributors Scale
A distributor partnership model can align managers, employees, and owners around long-term profit—but only when the business is profitable, transparent, and willing to share real upside.
New Distribution2023, Did the 'Ice Cream Bodhisattva' Defeat the 'Ice Cream Assassin'?
Recently, discussions about affordable alternatives to mid-to-high-end ice cream have surged on social media. Consumers are praising cheap ice cream as 'ice cream bodhisattvas' that offer great value, while high-priced 'ice cream assassins' are losing favor. In 2023, the market has shifted towards affordable options, with wholesale stores and discount retailers thriving, and even premium brands launching lower-priced products to adapt.
FBIFThe Agency Model of Making Money from Backend Fees Has Reached Its End
The author recently visited distributors in Southwest and South China to discuss their business situations. These influential distributors shared their feedback and feelings, which are recorded for discussion. Cases include a leisure food distributor in Southwest China with annual sales of 130 million yuan, who relies on backend rebates for profits and has exited the KA system, and a top distributor of a famous liquor brand in South China facing severe price inversion and high growth targets.
赵波National Benchmark Distributor Study Tour Phase 4 - Visiting Jiangxi Bajie Trading, Successfully Held!
On September 8-9, the fourth phase of the New Distribution National Benchmark Distributor Study Tour visited Jiangxi Bajie Trading and concluded successfully. The tour focused on practical sharing and in-depth discussions on how to capture seasoning category share by focusing on BC-class stores, how to design internal organizational structure and compensation performance for 80+ seasoning brands, and how seasoning distributors can grow their local business. Following the popularity of previous sessions, the event was well-attended, with more distributor owners registering on the day.
New DistributionB Cold, C Hot: In 2023, Distributors Stole the Spotlight in a Tragic Way
In the first half of 2023, almost every business unit, including manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and platforms, was in a pessimistic atmosphere, full of difficulties and talk of consumption downgrading. This was especially true for the B-end. The B-end is truly cold, so cold that many distributors have lost confidence. In 2023, when it comes to business difficulty, the FMCG industry's distributor community takes the lead.
刘春雄Three Types of Distributor Growth—and Why Only One Builds Durable Profit
Distributor growth can come from a temporary market dividend, additional labor across more brands, or a structural efficiency advantage. Only the third creates a reinforcing system of profit, service, scale, and lower cost.
New DistributionInstead of Letting Others Steal 30% of Their Business, Why Don't Distributors Open Their Own Snack Stores?
A distributor once asked me if he should open his own snack store after seeing snack stores cause 30-40% sales declines in their vicinity. Rather than letting others take the business, why not do it themselves? They already have supply chain advantages. This article explains three concepts—hard discount, chain franchising, and distribution-retail integration—to help distributors understand the industry transformation and decide whether to open stores.
任文青AndyDeep Cultivation of Offline Channels, Covering 6,000+ Restaurant Outlets and 4,000+ Traditional Stores: The 26-Year Business Wisdom of a Traditional Distributor!
From the 1990s to today, the trading and distribution business has undergone tremendous changes, from the early dividends of information asymmetry to the rise of hypermarkets, the impact of internet e-commerce, and now the proliferation of fragmented channels. Distributors have continuously evolved with these changes; those who adapt grow larger, while those who don't are gradually eliminated. Recently, New Distribution interviewed Huang Silong, chairman of Guiyang Lingyun Trading Co., Ltd., who has been in the trading business for 26 years. Starting his business in 1997, he has grown from wholesale to a regional leading distributor, covering over 10,000 stores.
周群Fan Shikai: Jinsha Distillery Integration Proceeds Smoothly, Will Achieve Set Goals as Planned
On September 2, the third 'Celebrate Harvest, Promote Harmony: Jinsha Red 2023 Harvest Celebration' was held in Jinsha County, Guizhou Province. Since 2021, Jinsha Distillery has held this event for three consecutive years, making the 'Jinsha Red Sorghum Festival' a unique annual brand IP event. In the afternoon, Jinsha Distillery also held a symposium with nearly a hundred media representatives. This year, after China Resources Beer officially took over Jinsha Distillery, the industry and media have paid close attention, with various opinions circulating. At the symposium, Fan Shikai, Vice President of China Resources Beer and General Manager of Jinsha Distillery, responded positively and in depth to many industry concerns for the first time.
陈思廷From Zero to 100 Million in Six Years: The Growth Story of a Distributor Representing 80+ Brands Including Lee Kum Kee and Totole, with 5,000+ Stores
Despite the general downturn in distribution, some distributors still find growth opportunities by seizing market share. Bajie Trading, a seasoning distributor in Nanchang, Jiangxi, achieved over 100 million yuan in sales within six years of its founding in 2014, by focusing on fine management and adapting compensation models to different stages of growth.
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