NEW DISTRIBUTION RESEARCH TOPIC
How is instant retail changing stores, platforms, and supply chains?
Coverage of flash warehouses, front warehouses, discount stores, supermarket transformation, and local commerce platforms in China.
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2996 articles · Page 39 of 125
From the Nationwide 'Little Apron' Initiative: Jinmailang's New Path to Public Welfare
Recently, Douyin has been flooded with videos of children wearing red aprons cooking noodles at home, making the 'Little Apron' a viral hit. These videos come from the 'Little Apron Plan' jointly launched by Xinhuanet and Lamian Fan, which gave children a meaningful 'homework' this summer. The initiative's public welfare value and food education significance have boosted Jinmailang's brand power.
New DistributionA Tale of Two Extremes: The Brutal Business of Pre-Made Dishes
The pre-made dish industry, a trillion-yuan market with vast potential, is experiencing a boom-and-bust cycle. While giants like Hema, Dingdong, and Qian Dama are entering the sector, many early players have already failed, highlighting the industry's brutal realities.
湃动研究院What Gives Sam's Club the Confidence Behind Its 'Sky-High Priced Instant Noodles'?
Sam's Club is a massive buying system that precisely provides members with products within their needs. Recently, its giant instant noodle bucket, priced at 168 yuan, was resold by scalpers for 1999 yuan, yet the company's value-for-money strategy has proven successful both legally and logically.
王识钦What Should Discount Stores Learn from Japan's Don Quijote?
Wang Shiqin: "Buy cheap, sell high; buy expensive, sell low." When discussing the recent boom in hard discount stores, Don Quijote is unavoidable. As a veteran Japanese hard discounter with 27 consecutive years of profitability, and given the similar retail formats between China and Japan, the author believes it can serve as a benchmark for China's retail trends. From a 'thief market' to a leading discount retailer, Don Quijote has clearly taken the right path. With compressed displays and employee purchasing, how did it build its commercial empire?
王识钦Why Can Pinduoduo Keep Prices Low and Still Profit?
Pinduoduo's low-price e-commerce ecosystem is decentralized, anti-brand, and centered on single-product hits. This article analyzes how Pinduoduo maintains profitability through a cycle of supply, user expansion, algorithm-driven traffic, ecosystem control, and supply chain optimization.
窄播Hema, in Charge of Its Own Destiny, Accelerates Its Quest for Survival
Hema, now in charge of its own destiny, is accelerating its quest for survival. According to Hema's official Weibo account, the company plans to open up its fresh produce supply chain this year, delivering its fresh products to corporate cafeterias. Currently, Hema has partnered with two companies in Shanghai to test the business, starting with meat and eggs. Hema stated it will optimize ordering and delivery processes, focus on high-frequency ingredients, and collaborate with cafeteria chefs to develop a 'weekly menu' to plan ingredients in advance. Earlier, Ctrip and Meituan also announced B2B strategies, as the C-end market becomes saturated.
归去来Selling Snacks for 50 Cents Each: Are Bulk Snack Stores the New Favorite or Cannon Fodder?
Bulk snack stores, offering low-priced snacks in a self-service warehouse format, have become a popular retail trend since 2022, attracting consumers and capital. However, despite the allure of low prices and high volume, the model faces challenges such as thin margins, intense competition, and potential conflicts with traditional channels, raising questions about its long-term viability.
付艳翠The Biggest Obstacle to Channel Digitalization: Once Aiming to Eliminate the Middleman, Now Demanding Their Cooperation with Confidence
Liu Chunxiong's digitalization once advocated disintermediation, eliminating middlemen, and no middlemen taking a cut. This was a detour in digitalization that lasted a long time. Now it's clear that middlemen are indispensable, and disintermediation is a wrong move. For top FMCG companies, offline channels account for over 90% of sales. I don't believe that missing 90% of the market can be called a successful digital transformation. The main theme of 2023 is returning to offline, with full-chain channel digitalization, where middlemen must also participate and cooperate. In the past, the goal was to eliminate them, but now we confidently demand their cooperation.
刘春雄Are the Dominant Hypermarkets Failing?
The era of housewives stocking up in bulk is over. With convenient logistics and increased retail coverage in communities, people now prefer buying only what they need for a day or two, leaving hypermarkets struggling. Declining sales lead to more near-expiry goods and piled-up inventory, while the next batch of supplies arrives on time. Over time, they can't afford rising operating costs or high rents. In the first three quarters of 2022, Carrefour's stores in mainland China dropped from 205 to 151, closing 54 stores.
王识钦Heyin Network Founder Bei Nianjun Invited by CCTV 'Credit China' for Special Interview: Exploring Omnichannel New Retail
The interview explores the trends and opportunities in omnichannel new retail, and introduces Heyin Network's Omni dual-wheel drive strategy. From O2O operations to an omnichannel system, Heyin Network explains why it chooses to tackle challenges head-on.
New DistributionThe Secrets, Controversies, and Barriers of Discount Stores
As the times change, the decline of one industry often mirrors the rise of another. While hypermarkets and convenience stores have waned, membership stores and discount stores for near-expiry goods have boomed. This new species, still evolving, responds to conservative consumption and high brand inventory. Key players like HotMaxx and Hi-TGO are expanding rapidly, but their profitability, supply sources, and barriers remain under scrutiny.
孙静Co-creating a New Growth Anchor for Instant Retail | Meituan Flash Shopping x Kimberly-Clark x Happygo Digital Launch the Shining Stores Project
On July 12, 2023, Meituan Flash Shopping, Kimberly-Clark, and Happygo Digital successfully held the kickoff meeting for the Shining Stores project in Shanghai. Attendees included Ryan, Senior Client Business Director of Kimberly-Clark's Commercial and Category Strategy; Tim, Brand Lead at Meituan Flash Shopping; Timon, Brand Development Lead at Meituan Flash Shopping; Baopu, Chief Product Architect at Happygo Digital; and Daoxuan, Digital Business Strategy Director at Happygo Digital. Ryan delivered the opening remarks on behalf of Kimberly-Clark, stating that the Shining Stores project will become a milestone starting point, and that the company will explore operational efficiency improvements in instant retail with Meituan through multi-strategy departmental collaboration.
New DistributionConsumption Has Not Downgraded; It's Just a Lack of Scenes to Awaken Desire
Liu Chunxiong comments: 1. While many debate consumption downgrade versus upgrade, few notice that consumption frequency has been declining since 2013. 2. The decline is due to a drop in consumption desire, which is unrelated to purchasing power. 3. The concept of 'scene' is valued because 'scenes create demand' and can awaken consumption desire. 4. Scene-oriented marketing may replace user-oriented marketing. As China's consumer market changes, if you're watching 2023, you'll see that consumption hasn't weakened; it's just that consumer needs have shifted.
全食在线The First Wave of Expiry-Date Discount Store Pioneers Have Already Gone Their Separate Ways
Today, stepping into any HotMaxx or Hi-Tech Go, the impression differs from the memory of "expiry-date food discount stores": "expiry-date" items are now rare, and "food" is no longer the sole主力 on the shelves. Apart from discounts, it is almost indistinguishable from an ordinary department store. Since the expiry-date food boom in 2020, the industry has evolved for three years, and change is inevitable. Or rather, such observation is hardly new. Three years may not be long, but as a track that precisely rode the wave of era dividends and consumer sentiment, it has been enough for players to complete a survival-of-the-fittest reshuffle, entering an era where the strong get stronger.
王明雅Convenience Stores 'Sink Further': He Who Wins the Central Plains Wins the World?
An investor focused on the retail sector noted that while retailers once favored first-tier cities and coastal areas, true competitiveness now lies in winning the Central Plains, especially the four populous provinces of Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, and Hebei. The reasons are simple: these provinces have huge consumption potential and a geographical advantage connecting north and south. The key is to continuously 'sink' and deeply penetrate these markets.
东方Online Platforms Push for Price Cuts While Offline Stores Urge Price Hikes
Li Jie, co-founder of a high-end consumer goods brand, faced a dilemma: online platforms constantly demanded price cuts, while offline stores urged price increases. After leaving a major platform's self-operated mall, Li Jie's products sold well offline, even reaching Qinghai at higher retail prices. However, the platform later invited them back with improved terms, reflecting a shift in platform strategies. This story illustrates the broader trend of new consumer brands returning to offline channels due to rising online costs and the need for diversified distribution.
谢璇Sprite's '82 Vintage' Joke Becomes Reality: The Brand's Urgent Bid to Win Over Young Consumers
The '82 Sprite' meme, originating from a popular internet joke, has been turned into a real product by Sprite. This 'meme marketing' move is seen as a strategy to resonate with and leave a lasting impression on younger consumers, as the brand faces intensifying competition in China's carbonated beverage market.
New DistributionThe Essence of Instant Retail Is the Delivery-ization of Retail
Food delivery has become a part of daily life, and retail delivery is no exception. This article explores the essence of instant retail, arguing that it is fundamentally the delivery-ization of retail, driven by changing consumer habits and social trends.
陈维龙I Opened a Lawson in a Fifth-Tier City, Earning Up to 50,000 Yuan a Month
Convenience store chains are expanding into lower-tier markets. A Lawson franchisee in a fifth-tier city saw peak daily sales of over 40,000 yuan, while another franchisee in Shijiazhuang faced losses after a promotional partnership ended, highlighting the risks and rewards of franchising.
张雪梅Ten Judgments on the Explosively Popular Bulk Snack Stores
The track will inevitably differentiate, but opportunities always exist. This article offers ten judgments on the development of bulk snack stores, covering their impact on traditional retail, the challenges for distributors and B2B platforms, the fate of small enterprises, and the keys to success in this competitive landscape.
赵波 王识钦Why Do Local Retailers Repeatedly Fail in Online Channels?
Only retailers that achieve online-offline integration can truly succeed in online business. Local retailers in lower-tier markets face multiple pressures and often struggle with online expansion due to issues like disconnected online and offline operations, lack of online expertise, limited incremental growth, and insufficient capital.
明聪After 6 Years in Trade, Annual Sales of 1 Billion, Covering 15,000 Local Small Shops: The Development History of Jiayun Yunshi
This article introduces Jiayun Yunshi, a distributor in Xi'an that achieved annual sales of 1 billion yuan within six years of founding, covering over 15,000 mom-and-pop stores with 6,000 SKUs. Founder Fan Qi shares the company's business model, operational principles, and philosophy of doing 'one meter wide and ten thousand meters deep' in local supply chain services.
袁来Can Snack Discount Stores 'Revolutionize' Convenience Stores?
Snack discount stores, as a force to be reckoned with, are growing rapidly and causing concern among traditional 'small but refined' formats like convenience stores. With chains like Snack Busy surpassing 3,000 stores, the anxiety deepens, but the future may see integration rather than outright replacement.
阳子A Guide to In-Store Online Business (O2O) Collaboration
As offline foot traffic continues to decline, it's crucial for brands to defend their offline channel fundamentals through professional management. This article, part of the Key Account (KA) Management series by New Distribution and former Coca-Cola China executive Cao Yang, outlines the essentials and steps for brands to collaborate with modern trade retailers on O2O, including preparation, promotion planning, and strategic considerations.
曹扬Geoffrey Cao