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 43 of 193
Kotler's Cao Hu and Zhao Bo in Dialogue: From a Marketing Perspective, How Will Channels Evolve in the Future?
This article is a transcript of a live-streamed dialogue between Dr. Cao Hu of Kotler Consulting Group and Zhao Bo, founder of New Distribution, on the topic of channel evolution in 2022, covering trends such as channel fragmentation, digitalization, and the shift toward omnichannel strategies.
科特勒增长实验室Wholesalers/Distributors Will See a Wave of Transformation to B2B
Wholesalers/distributors are the smallest operating units in the commercial circulation field in China, supplying goods to millions of mom-and-pop stores. They face increasing difficulties due to rising labor costs, thin margins, and intense competition, but they hold unique value in proximity and customer relationships. The article argues that a wave of B2B transformation is inevitable, driven by brand digitization and platform education, and provides guidance on how wholesalers can adapt.
赵波Raw Material Prices Are Soaring: Should Product Prices Follow? And How?
During recent market visits, conversations with distributors, wholesalers, and retail outlets inevitably turned to the increasing difficulty of doing business, compounded by rising product prices. Three scenarios emerged: some brands haven't raised prices but are threatening to; some price increases failed due to consumer resistance and squeezed channel profits; and some succeeded without losing market share. This article discusses how brands should approach price increases, covering pre-increase preparation, execution, and post-increase monitoring.
高级研究员 海游FMCG Distributors Are 'Quitting the Group' in Droves—Is Group Buying 'Killing' Traditional Channels?
FMCG companies now have too many channel options—traditional distributors, e-commerce, and emerging community e-commerce, community group buying, and livestream e-commerce—like five horses pulling a chariot. But if the horses pull in different directions, the chariot may be torn apart. A report on January 11 highlighted a franchisee's losses due to high channel prices, and many distributors in 2021 faced similar issues, leading some to 'quit the group' as emerging channels undercut prices and disrupted the traditional system.
李振兴Looking Ahead to 2022: 8 Changes Distributors Should Watch
As 2021 ends and 2022 begins, New Distribution reflects on visits with dozens of FMCG distributors over the past year, observing shifts such as the trend toward larger distributors, second-generation succession, digitalization, logistics specialization, private labels, private domain traffic, livestreaming, and community group buying. These insights aim to help distributors find direction in an uncertain 2022.
周群What Is the Relationship Between Distributors and Manufacturers?
As the new year begins, many manufacturers and distributors are concerned about the economic outlook. However, the wise adapt to changing times, and the future demands the ability to respond calmly to change rather than waiting passively for fortune. For distributors, the most readily available resource for support is the brand manufacturers. Although there is a certain conflict of interest in their roles, under the 'profound changes unseen in a century,' major brands are also facing internal and external pressures and urgently need to integrate more forces to build their own united front.
邢仁宝Digitalization: Different Paths, Same Destination
Alibaba's former CEO Wei Zhe noted that e-commerce has entered an era of stock. The search for new digital battlefields is everyone's expectation. Digitalization has multiple paths, but they all converge on the same road: F2B2b2C, or bC integration.
刘春雄Upstream Manufacturers Raise Prices, Downstream Dares Not, Terminal Sales Sluggish: Frozen Food Distributors Face the Hardest 'Peak Season'!
In early December, at the Zhongyuan Siji Aquatic Products Logistics Port in Zhengzhou, the largest cold-chain logistics hub in central China, loading worker Lao Zhang basks in the sun with little work, as the market is unusually quiet. Distributors are squeezed by upstream price hikes and downstream reluctance to accept increases, leading to sluggish sales and heavy inventory pressure, making this the toughest peak season they've ever faced.
头条君Human Efficiency Will Be the Biggest Bottleneck for FMCG Enterprises in the Future
This article discusses the issue of human efficiency in FMCG enterprises. Low human efficiency is manifested in three ways: low output, low work efficiency, and high interpersonal costs. The key to improving human efficiency lies in managing both the number of personnel and their average efficiency, with innovative solutions such as crowdsourcing and shared labor models.
高级研究员 海游Why Are Second-Tier Distributors Getting More Exhausted but Earning Less?
As a crucial link in the distribution chain, second-tier distributors have for the first time drawn attention and reflection from industry insiders. This article argues that their role has long been overlooked and undervalued by brand owners and marketing scholars, resonating with many dealers and wholesalers. In fact, the fate of one million FMCG second-tier distributors is now a concern for both themselves and the entire FMCG industry. Hence, this article, "Why Are FMCG Second-Tier Distributors Getting More Exhausted but Earning Less?", is the second piece in the "Focus on Second-Tier Distributors" series.
陈思廷Key Account (KA) Management System: A Comprehensive Guide
This article introduces the Key Account (KA) management system, covering its five modules and five key performance indicators (KPIs), and explains how it helps companies achieve profitable growth and improve management efficiency.
曹扬The Dance of the Elephant: Three Key Moves to Help Distributors Win the Spring Festival Battle
The Spring Festival is the most important peak season for consumer goods, with Chinese consumers spending about a quarter of their annual consumption during this period. However, many brands are seeing declining sales due to fragmented channels, over-reliance on channel stuffing, and price wars. This article uses Lee Kum Kee's 'Follow the Chef' campaign as a case study to illustrate how a century-old brand successfully engaged consumers through a compelling theme, creative chef recipes, and integrated online-offline execution.
文石The 'TOP1' Strategy for Distributors in 2022
As 2022 begins, distributors face a tough market where maintaining sales is already a challenge. This article argues that in the current zero-sum market, distributors must adopt a 'TOP1' strategy—striving to become the number one in a specific store, channel, or region—to gain bargaining power and access to resources. It advises starting with becoming the top supplier in individual stores, treating each store as a fortress to conquer.
袁来Traditional Distribution: How to Achieve 5,000 Monthly Transactions and 200 Million Annual Sales with 10 Field Promoters?
This case study explores how Xiaocan Frozen Food, a Guangzhou-based frozen food distributor, achieved 200 million RMB in annual sales within two years using only 10 field promoters. By leveraging WeChat mini-programs and enterprise WeChat, they digitized their entire sales process, enabling efficient customer acquisition and management without traditional sales representatives.
任文青Xi'an Distributors Fight the Epidemic: Every Crisis Is an Opportunity for Growth
History does not simply repeat itself, but it often rhymes. On January 23, 2020, Wuhan was locked down. On December 23, 2021, Xi'an was locked down. Through the perspectives of three Xi'an distributors, this article captures not only their vulnerability but also the resilience that history has planted in them, offering insights for those in similar situations.
冯瑶FMCG Manufacturers Need More Than Just a System—They Need a Great Coach
A recent visit to an FMCG brand revealed that while SaaS vendors pitch powerful features, brands often remain confused about their own needs. The article argues that brands require not just a system but a coach who understands their operational pain points, and as dealers increasingly become the end users, vendors must also grasp dealer economics to ensure successful adoption.
高级研究员 海游Understanding Their Needs and KPIs Better Than KA
As offline foot traffic declines, it's crucial to maintain and optimize offline channels through professional management. This article, part of a series by New Distribution with former Coca-Cola China executive Cao Yang, emphasizes that understanding customer KPIs is essential for effective KA management, moving beyond mere relationship-building to achieve mutual business goals.
曹扬Five Ways Brand Owners Empower Distributors to Grow Their Business
At year-end, many brand owners are trying different forms of empowerment for their distributor partners, hoping for closer cooperation and business growth in the new year. In 2021, New Distribution's internal team participated in several brand-distributor empowerment training projects, and this article reviews and summarizes how current brand owners (mainly leading brands) empower distributors.
袁来A Billion-Yuan Market Awaits: What's the Business Logic Behind Doudouben's Premium Upgrade?
A question on Zhihu asks: What do consumers pay for? The top answer: Users don't buy the product itself, but your solution. More precisely, consumers value whether the logic behind the product meets their needs. From the 50s-60s generation who grew up in famine, to the 70s-80s generation in an era of wealth disparity, to today's 90s-00s generation, the first to grow up in a prosperous and connected era, the shift from survival to quality, from scarcity to abundance, reflects an upgrade in the underlying logic of consumption: from having more to wanting better, from functional satisfaction to emotional drive. For companies, this is a process of winning the market by creating demand, putting people first, and uncovering hidden consumer needs to make them explicit.
田静The Sharp Tool for Extracting Digital Oil: Intelligent Image Recognition Systems
This article discusses the concept of digital transformation in the FMCG industry, using Liu Run's analogy of oil extraction to explain the process from data collection to wisdom. It emphasizes the importance of accurate data collection and introduces image recognition technology, specifically Baidu's EasyDL retail version, as a key tool for precise data extraction in various retail scenarios.
高级研究员 海游Upgrading Deep Distribution: The Digital "Six Doubles" Operating System
Transformation is not a simple individual change but a systemic one, requiring a shift from the old system to a new one that matches the new environment. This article proposes a "Six Doubles" digital operating system—dual paths, dual private domains, dual scenarios, dual shelves, dual delivery, and dual middle platforms—based on three principles: bC integration, online-offline integration, and the integration of manufacturer, distributor, and store. It also discusses the technical, organizational, and process guarantees needed for implementation.
刘春雄 刘馨忆The Changing and Unchanging Impact of Internet E-commerce on Offline KA
KA is not just hypermarkets; it is a collection of the most important customers across various channels. Consumer behavior has given rise to different channel types, and key accounts are the most important customers selected from each channel, including hypermarkets, supermarkets, convenience stores, etc. Only by fully understanding the differences and connections between KA and hypermarkets can we further discuss how to respond to the impact of the Internet on KA. Sometimes it's easy to blame the Internet for declining hypermarket sales. If we ask corporate managers about the problems in cooperating with hypermarkets, the answers are roughly as follows.
曹扬The Flip Side of Distributor Profits: Internal Friction
A distributor reveals that despite high gross margins, profits can vanish due to internal inefficiencies. The article outlines how mismanagement of people, money, and goods leads to hidden costs, and emphasizes the importance of controlling internal friction to maintain profitability.
调料人都在关注的Distributors: Is E-commerce a Good Way Out?
As offline business becomes increasingly difficult and stagnant for two or three years, many distributors are turning to e-commerce, with some bosses even overseeing it personally. Frankly, I do not recommend distributors to enter e-commerce, because the logic of online and offline operations is completely different. However, despite this advice, many distributors are eager to try, as the entry barrier is low: a couple of people can run it, register a Tmall or JD exclusive store, and with existing products and a warehouse near a courier station, the business can start operating.
袁来