NEW DISTRIBUTION RESEARCH TOPIC
What structural changes are reshaping China’s FMCG channels?
Analysis of distribution restructuring, channel economics, and the changing roles of brands, distributors, and retail outlets in China.
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2301 articles · Page 3 of 96
Retailers Without a Private Brand Strategy Have No Future
In recent years, competition in the retail industry has intensified, and the traditional 'rent-collecting' model is being phased out. For retailers, how to navigate the cycle and become the true 'survivor' or even 'winner'? Developing private brands is becoming the strategic direction and core weapon for more and more retail enterprises. Private brands: a century-old path, but also a strategic choice. As early as 1924, UK's Tesco began selling private label products, a century ago. On this path, there are both successful examples like Costco's 'Kirkland Signature' growing into a global brand, and countless failures that faded away.
薛文发The Underestimated Women's Alcohol Market Is Redefining the Second Half of China's Alcohol Industry
In the grand narrative of Chinese business history, some changes are thunderous, like the impact of e-commerce on brick-and-mortar stores, while others are quiet and deep, such as the explosion of the women's alcohol market. For a long time, the industry's interpretation of this phenomenon has been filled with arrogance and prejudice, defining it as a supplementary market or a marketing gimmick. However, this shift represents a historic transfer of power in alcohol consumption, moving from patriarchal social tools to humanistic lifestyles, and signaling a second enlightenment for China's alcohol industry.
戚特2025 Consumption Review: 10,000 Stores No Longer Rare, 100 Billion Just Passing Grade
In 2025, China's consumer market saw moderate growth in total retail sales of consumer goods, while the baijiu industry underwent deep adjustment. Despite this, sectors like trendy toys, ancient gold jewelry, and 4-yuan lemonade attracted capital attention, with Pop Mart, Laopu Gold, and Mixue Bingcheng collectively surging in Hong Kong. Amidst this ice and fire, consumer companies are undergoing a quiet evolution.
杨硕In the Next Five Years, Distributors Will Have Only One Lifeline: 'Extreme Efficiency'
In the past two years, New Distribution has heard the most common refrain in market visits: business has become difficult. Both brand owners and distributors feel the same, even if they maintain or slightly grow. Facing this sustained downturn, many distributors are lost, wondering if their product selection is wrong, if they should wait for the next trend, or if the market will recover after this period. The problem is often not a lack of effort, but that the old map in hand fails in the new world. Past experience gradually becomes a burden; the more skilled, the easier it is to misapply effort.
AsherBrand Globalization: Scenario Insight and User Research
Going global is a hot topic, with more companies targeting overseas markets. Despite trade frictions, globalization is irreversible. China's complete industrial system and advanced marketing methods position it to create world-class brands. This article explores how to understand overseas consumers through scenario-based insights, using Cargo Bike and Haidilao as case studies.
空手After Deep Distribution Loses Control, Channel Digitalization Cannot Follow the Old Path!
With the rapid rise of new retail formats such as snack discount stores, instant retail, and transformed supermarkets, there is a common feeling that the deep distribution model is losing control. What is out of control is not just the tactics themselves, but the underlying structure of 'brand-led, distributor-coordinated, terminal-passive execution.' Today, brands, distributors, and terminal stores are all undergoing new role changes. Where is channel digitalization heading, and how should it proceed?
JackHeavyweight | Latest 2026 Lightning Warehouse Brand Inventory
If before 2025 the industry was still debating what lightning warehouses are and how to operate them, then standing at the crossroads of 2026, when we examine the latest industry data, a brutal and clear reality has emerged: In 2026, instant retail has completely bid farewell to the era of 'burning money to tell stories' and completed an evolution from 'new and fast' to 'real and accurate.' The so-called shift from 'new' to 'real' means the industry no longer believes in the myth of scale through land grabbing, but instead focuses on 'true density'—only with sufficient regional density can logistics costs be minimized and store profits be real.
汪海From Distribution to Sales: Dali Gift Boxes Crack the 'Logic of Certainty' in the Spring Festival Market
Every Spring Festival, the gift box market is the most certain and most competitive battlefield. In the Nanjing market, distributor Mr. Li describes the sales pace before this year's Spring Festival: although the peak sales season is still over ten days away, Dali's Spring Festival gift boxes have already 'heated up' in multiple channels based on current distribution completion and terminal feedback. Through visits to multiple markets, New Distribution observed that Dali Food's Spring Festival gift boxes are becoming one of the key promoted brands among many distributors and stores.
田静Being an Outlier Who Respects Common Sense: 2026 Pop Mart Narrative White Paper
Pop Mart is the most surreal company of 2025: LVMH's Greater China president joined as a non-executive director, and revenue doubled with net margins over 30% while the stock price plummeted. This paper argues that Pop Mart, like Moutai, is an outlier that respects common sense, and that misperceptions about its business model—from 'non-essential' products to Labubu dependence—stem from applying outdated logic to a new species of IP company.
梁将军The Survival Rule for Enterprises in 2026: No C-end, No Future
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos once said: "I often get asked, 'What will change in the next ten years?' But I rarely get asked, 'What will stay the same in the next ten years?' I think the second question is more important than the first, because you need to build your strategy on the things that don't change. All in on the things that don't change—what an exciting principle." For the FMCG industry, this 'unchanging thing' is the deep cultivation of C-end user value. No matter how difficult it is to advance now, it is urgent to deploy on the C-end.
朱朝阳293 Prefecture-Level Cities: How Many B2B Platforms Are There in China?
In March 2024, Retail Link announced adjustments and gradually suspended related businesses, leading some in the industry to declare that winter had arrived for B2B. As industry observers, our judgment at the time was that the retreat of giants precisely proved the complexity of FMCG channels, which cannot be easily flattened by burning money or subsidies. The exit of Retail Link actually returned the space once occupied by giants to local markets. Looking back from 2026, our judgment has been confirmed. We see a large number of regional B2B platforms, transformed from major distributors or evolved from unified warehousing and distribution, quietly rising.
New DistributionDistributors: Grab Share, Grab Terminals, Don't Get Left Behind!
At a manufacturer's meeting, a business manager said, 'Local consumers have a special attachment to competing products and only buy them.' The leader retorted, 'If that's the case, we might as well give up on this market.' The reality is that consumer loyalty is not as high as we think. If they only buy competitors' products, it's because your competitive strategy is flawed. Strategically, companies should avoid homogeneous competition, create new categories, and pursue differentiation, especially for SMEs.
金名The Next Five Years: Who Will Survive and Who Will Be Eliminated?
China's baijiu industry is bidding farewell to high-speed growth and entering a deep adjustment phase of 'stock competition plus structural upgrading,' with volume declining and prices rising. The industry is undergoing comprehensive restructuring in ecology, marketing, and distribution channels, with consolidation accelerating toward leading players and digitalization disrupting traditional models.
思考派Dialogue with Chen Liping: 'De-intermediation' Is a False Proposition!
In the winter of 2025-2026, China's FMCG and retail industry seems to be in a collective 'confusion'. On one hand, there is visible involution: e-commerce platforms compare prices, livestream e-commerce breaks prices, and hard discount stores slash prices. On the other hand, there is a panic spreading deep in the channels—de-intermediation. Platforms shout 'direct sourcing from the source', various new retail models shout 'direct supply from manufacturers', and brands ponder DTC (Direct to Consumer). It seems that overnight, distributors, agents, and wholesalers who have been struggling in this industry for decades have become redundant roles hindering efficiency.
任文青AndyFarewell to Blind Distribution: How to Make Consumers 'Choose You' in an Era of Oversupply?
The 11th China FMCG Conference will be held in Chengdu from March 16-18, 2026, under the theme 'Advance Toward the C-End.' As the market shifts from incremental growth to an era of oversupply, the industry must redefine the role of intermediaries and build a unified supply-demand loop centered on consumers, making it the key to the next round of growth.
New DistributionNew Retail Trends Hidden in the 'Hema Zone'
Hema, which has been quietly surging ahead, is increasingly showing its 'Hema Zone effect.' A recent report vividly illustrates the symbiotic relationship between new retail enterprises and urban commercial districts. It's time to redefine the 'lower-tier market' and let the 'emerging market' take center stage. The demand for quality consumption in emerging markets is strong and rising, narrowing the physical and psychological distance between new retail brands and consumers, fostering mutual growth among brands, commercial districts, and other stakeholders. Behind this trend, the era of super-strong retail brands has arrived.
吴文武In the Next 10 Years, It's Not About Eliminating Middlemen, But Eliminating 'Movers'!
The 11th China FMCG Conference, themed 'Advancing Toward the C-End', will be held in Chengdu from March 16-18, 2026. As the FMCG market shifts from incremental growth to an era of surplus, the industry must focus on the consumer side to redefine the supply chain. The conference will explore how brands, distributors, and retailers can build a unified supply-demand loop around the C-end, with key topics including redefining middlemen, instant retail supply, and overseas expansion.
New DistributionDecoding Crayon Shin-chan's Pioneer Gene: An 'Innovative Living History' of the Jelly Industry
In the fast-iterating snack food market, leading a trend is already difficult. However, one company has defined and reshaped the boundaries of the jelly category three times over more than two decades. The development history of Crayon Shin-chan Leisure Food Group is a veritable innovation evolution history of China's jelly industry, making it a true pioneer and game-changer. Its innovation journey has not been achieved overnight but is a systematic transformation that starts with form, matures with value, and looks to the future. Let's use three key years as anchors to decode how this company, as a 'thinker' and 'strategist', has built a cross-cycle 'product innovation chronicle'.
New DistributionMajor Release | Essential for New-Quality Distributors: 2025 New Alcoholic Beverage Industry Development Report
China's alcoholic beverage industry is entering an unprecedented structural cycle. While traditional alcohol faces overall pressure, new alcoholic beverages are surging with a compound annual growth rate of 37.18%, expected to reach 135.1 billion yuan by 2025. This dramatic contrast is not a simple category shift but a migration in the logic of alcohol consumption.
周群Innovation Logic Still Being Rewritten: Reviewing Over a Thousand New Products, We Distill 6 Major Food & Beverage Innovation Directions for 2025
Based on public information about new product launches in the global food and beverage industry in 2025 (covering China, Europe, the US, and Japan), the author reviewed over 1,000 new products and identified 6 major trends: Trend 1: Supplements as Snacks; Trend 2: Mild Stimulation; Trend 3: Convenience Without Compromise; Trend 4: Everyday Stress-Relief Ingredients; Trend 5: Tangible Regeneration; Trend 6: Developing Fan-Oriented Products.
FBIFReviewing 2025: Top Ten Keywords in the FMCG Industry
In 2025, changes in the FMCG industry are no longer about 'a certain channel being hotter' or 'a certain category being more competitive,' but a more fundamental shift: the sources of growth, the distribution of profits, and the threshold of capabilities are all changing. On one hand, consumers are more cautious, more fragmented, and more in pursuit of certainty; on the other hand, platforms, retailers, brands, and distributors are accelerating cross-border role swaps, rewriting the previously clear division of labor into new forms of collaboration. We see instant retail moving from accelerated growth to ecosystem warfare, private brands evolving from supplementary items to strategic pillars, and major players entering the fray, integration of supply and retail, emotional consumption, going global, AI implementation... These changes are not isolated but collectively drive the reconfiguration of the industry's value chain. Based on continuous observation of industry trends, New Distribution has compiled the 'Top Ten Keywords for the FMCG Industry in 2025' for practitioners' reference.
刘珍Heavyweight | First Batch of TOP Daily Chemical Flash Warehouse Distributors Inventory
In 2025, instant retail competition shifted from consumer traffic to supply chain restructuring, making flash warehouses the new terminal. Brands must partner with professional flash warehouse distributors who possess product assortment, warehousing, distribution, and operational capabilities. This article profiles the first batch of TOP daily chemical flash warehouse distributors, highlighting their regional concentration, scale, and evolving role, and advises brands on how to leverage them.
袁来Master Kong Warm Drinks: Capturing Every Warmth-Seeking Moment in Winter
As winter sets in, the demand for warm beverages rises, driven by Chinese consumers' deep-rooted belief in health and wellness. Master Kong has launched its warm drink series in November, targeting young consumers and office workers with a range of products and strategic channel placements to make warmth accessible anytime, anywhere.
杨玉琳Alibaba P8 Enters Lightning Warehouse for Three Years: It's an Opportunity, but 90% Will Be Cut (Pitfall Checklist at the End)
In the past six months, 'lightning warehouses' have become a hot topic among distributors. Many are anxious about missing the next growth wave, but the reality is that lightning warehouses are a high-barrier opportunity, not a simple 'put goods online and sell' business. This article, based on a three-year veteran's experience, reveals the true thresholds and provides a practical checklist to avoid common pitfalls.
陈思廷