NEW DISTRIBUTION RESEARCH TOPIC
How can supply chains and digital systems improve real operations?
Research on B2B, supply-chain efficiency, operating data, and digital transformation across China’s FMCG market.
Related research and analysis
713 articles · Page 13 of 30
Catering B2B: The Matching Model Is More Likely to Produce a Super Unicorn!
If B2B is stripped of transactions, it is essentially a wholesale business, not a high-sounding logic. The essence of wholesale is saving, variety, quality, and speed. To win customer recognition, you must secure cheaper, better, and more diverse products, which requires sufficient procurement scale upstream in the supply chain. Only with sufficient procurement scale can you have enough bargaining power. In the past, the industry often compared platform and self-operated models, finding that the platform model is hard to sustain in FMCG. However, after recent exchanges with Gong Yanbin, founder of Tongying Tianxia, it appears that the platform model is viable in the catering industry and could even give rise to a super unicorn.
赵波Mars China Appoints New President, Digital Transformation Becomes Key Focus
Mars China has appointed Clarence Mak as the new president, succeeding Bo Yian who is retiring. The move is seen as an effort to accelerate the company's digital transformation in China.
李振兴Do FMCG Companies Need a Middle Platform?
Currently, it is mainly the large internet platforms that discuss middle platforms; without them, they would fail. Whether to adopt a middle platform depends not only on its effectiveness but also on whether the company has the need, or admits it has a problem. FMCG companies' existing systems do not require a middle platform, but if they transform to new marketing, especially B2B digitalization and B2C community-based approaches, a middle platform becomes necessary. The middle platform for FMCG marketing should combine business and data middle platforms, and it requires organizational changes to support front-line independent business units.
刘春雄B2B is Not About Eliminating Distributors, But Empowering Them!
This article discusses the various models of B2B in the Chinese FMCG industry, emphasizing that B2B should empower channel partners rather than replace them. It analyzes the differences between Chinese and American marketing channels, and explores the logic and future of brand, third-party, retailer, and distributor B2B models.
刘春雄What Are Distributors Doing Wrong in Third-Party Urban Distribution?
Many distributors transitioning to urban distribution platforms are losing money and feeling lost. This article analyzes the reasons behind these failures and presents a successful case study from Zhisheng Group, highlighting the importance of trust, professional operations, and digital transformation.
任小东If the Logic of Self-Built B2B Doesn't Hold, What Should Brand Owners' Channel Digitalization Strategy Be?
This article discusses how FMCG brand owners can build a digital supply chain, totaling 7,800 words and about 20 minutes to read. It argues that channel digitalization is inevitable, but brand owners often lack systematic design for the entire channel, leading to digitalization for its own sake. The author proposes that brand owners should focus on two cores: diverse consumer demand and fragmented retail scenarios, and reconstruct the distribution channel using digital technology to build an efficient digital distribution network.
赵波Half Sea, Half Flame: How Will Third-Party Urban Distribution in FMCG Move Toward the Future?
The most painful thing about entrepreneurship is not failure, but seeing the future while being unable to cross the present. Today, urban distribution market entrepreneurs face this dilemma. Numerous proofs point to a bright future for urban distribution, yet the collective difficulty in profitability is disheartening. The market seems easy to enter—just people and vehicles—but profitability and good financial returns seem out of reach in the short term. Internet-based urban distribution, software service providers, and city distribution service providers—all players have entered with high hopes, but the current reality is mostly bleak and harsh.
文石Disrupting Prices, Ruining the Market: Can Distributors Transform into Regional B2B Platforms?
In recent years, more distributors are transforming their businesses due to sluggish growth and external changes. One distributor, Wang Hua (pseudonym), who transitioned to a regional B2B platform in 2018, found that after a year, he lost profits and disrupted his market. The key to successful transformation lies in the category structure, with a focus on non-head brands and diversified categories to maintain profitability.
袁来Why Do All Brand Owners Want to Jump into the Pit of Self-Built B2B?
Recently, the news of Mengniu acquiring Huidanxia was denied, but it sparked industry-wide discussion. Many brand owners are building their own B2B platforms, but the author argues this may be a pitfall due to low single-store penetration, misaligned needs, and difficulty attracting other brands. Instead, brands should focus on digitizing their distribution networks.
赵波Uncovering the Truth in Warehouse and Distribution Gold Mining!
The article explores the true value of warehouse and distribution services from multiple perspectives, emphasizing the importance of outsourcing to third-party providers and the need for professional, integrated solutions. It highlights how a distributor tripled its business by partnering with a specialized city distribution company, and discusses the core algorithms and empowerment strategies that make such partnerships successful.
任小东A 100-Billion-Yuan Market Battle Triggered by an Ice Cream
As summer approaches, a new round of cold-chain logistics competition has begun among retail and logistics giants. JD Logistics has partnered with Mengniu Dairy to provide an integrated cold-chain solution for ice cream, while Alibaba's Xunlu Cold Chain has also entered the fray, highlighting the vast market potential and persistent challenges in China's cold-chain industry.
New DistributionThe Secret of P&G's Digital Supply Chain
P&G's business logic in Greater China can be summarized as 'Design for China, Decide in China, Deliver at China speed.' As supply-side reforms shift focus from consumer prediction to supply-side customization, P&G's experience in supply chain and niche brand customization offers valuable lessons for many companies.
马成Distributors' Third-Party Urban Distribution Is on the Brink of Collapse
Distributors who have transformed into third-party urban distribution platforms are facing severe losses and operational difficulties. The article analyzes the reasons for their failure, including lack of professional warehousing and distribution capabilities, and provides guidance on how to approach urban distribution correctly.
任小东This 618, JD New Channel's B2B2C Strategy in Action: Capability Upgrade!
The annual 618 promotion battle has begun. This festival, originally created by online e-commerce platforms, has evolved from pure online to a promotion festival involving all commercial entities both online and offline. In the past, 618 was mostly a C-end "price cut" promotion, with B-end businesses rarely heard from. But in the past two days, it's evident in the author's social feed that some regional B2B platforms transformed from distributors have joined in, targeting small B-end store owners with waves of promotional campaigns leveraging the 618 momentum. This has drawn the author's attention to FMCG B2B platforms, especially JD's FMCG B2B business, the New Channel division, under the 618 initiator JD.com.
袁来Talking About Brands Left and Right, the Biggest Fear Is Pretending to Know
Chinese enterprises are in a new stage of brand enhancement, with leading companies accelerating brand globalization and SMEs increasingly engaging in brand building. In an interview, Cao Hu, global partner and China president of Kotler Consulting Group, debunks common brand myths and offers insights on brand value, digital transformation, and consumer relationships.
沐野Does the Shutdown of Several Platforms Mean FMCG B2B Is Over?
The digitalization of FMCG distribution channels is a long and complex process, with constant entries and exits. While some companies securing financing doesn't guarantee B2B success, neither does the failure of some companies mean the entire B2B industry has collapsed. This article primarily discusses the operational issues faced by self-operated B2B platforms, analyzing the current challenges and future trends.
赵波Unified Warehousing and Distribution: A Good Business or a Bad One?
Distributors are struggling, a consensus across the industry. With sales plateauing and external growth constrained, internal cost reduction becomes key: 800,000 distributors/wholesalers correspond to 800,000 warehouses and millions of delivery vehicles, which is economically unreasonable. Many local governments are encouraging unified warehousing and distribution (统仓统配) through logistics parks, but is it a good business? This article explores the debate, highlighting that while it can be a winner-take-all opportunity, poor management often turns it into a bad business.
袁来Matthew Effect in FMCG B2B: Where Is the Way Out for Regional Platforms?
No matter how large the scale, inefficiency is doomed to elimination! Since rapid development began in 2013, the industry once had over 200 FMCG B2B platforms at its peak. According to the latest data from New Distribution, after years of rapid development and survival of the fittest, only over 100 B2B platforms remain. However, even the surviving B2B platforms are not doing well. Alibaba Retail Link stopped market expansion after covering 17 provinces, shifting to deep cultivation of existing coverage areas, while JD New Route has been transferring warehousing and distribution cost pressure by vigorously promoting joint warehouse distribution. Meanwhile, regional B2B platforms have also been exposed to operational crises...
新经销刘少德Insights from Beijing Market Research: Small Stores' Demand for B2B
Only by going deep into the front-line market and listening to the opinions and suggestions of front-line users can we truly understand user needs. Currently, there are 15 B2B platforms covering the Beijing market, with Zhongshang Huimin-Huipeitong having the highest share, followed by Lianshang Yougong and JD-Zhangguibao. Compared with 2017, 8 B2B platforms have closed down, while 7 new ones emerged in 2019, indicating that the FMCG B2B e-commerce industry is constantly seeing new platforms replace those that fail.
赵庆浩Annual Sales of 3.8 Billion, Over 100 Million SKUs Sold: What's the Secret to This Distributor's Success?
Amid the wave of digital transformation in FMCG channels, the industry has reached a consensus: distributors may disappear, but intermediaries will remain. Traditional distributors' functions are replaceable, and most lack digital service capabilities. The future intermediary will not simply provide financing, logistics, and sales visits. With nearly 30 years of history, distributors have benefited from demographic and market dividends, but in a saturated market, their promotion and operation capabilities will be tested.
袁来Distributors: Refine Warehouse and Distribution Functions to Be Ready for Both Attack and Defense!
FMCG urban distribution emerged around 2016, following the digital transformation of FMCG channels, and has been widely discussed. However, in the past six months, information about it has dwindled. Despite being a trillion-yuan market, its momentum has slowed. Why is urban distribution difficult? Wang Jianjiang, founder of Hailian Tianxia, told New Distribution that the overall B2B delivery system in China lacks standardization, and data silos lead to inefficiencies. He believes that because it is difficult, it offers opportunities for small and medium enterprises, including regional distributors, to refine their warehouse and distribution capabilities, and even turn them into independent business units.
袁来Heavyweight: 2018-2019 China FMCG Brand Owners' B2B Cooperation Research Report
After several years of development, brand owners' attitudes towards B2B have generally shifted from rejection to acceptance, and then to proactive embrace. So, what is the actual state of cooperation between brand owners and B2B? What problems have arisen during the cooperation? To address these issues, New Distribution, together with 52 well-known FMCG brand owners nationwide, conducted an in-depth survey on their cooperation with B2B platforms. The surveyed brands cover 10 categories including water and beverages, snacks, hygiene products, alcohol, convenience foods, daily chemicals, dairy products, grain and oil, frozen foods, and seasonings.
新经销刘少德Ge Kun, Deputy General Manager of Baowan Logistics Holdings: Reliable, Flexible, Efficient — Baowan Logistics' Supply Chain Service Model
The following is the speech delivered by Mr. Ge Kun, Deputy General Manager of Baowan Logistics Holdings Co., Ltd., at the 5th FMCG + Internet Conference hosted by New Distribution, organized and published for readers. He introduced Baowan Logistics and discussed the challenges and solutions in supply chain services for the new retail era.
葛昆Observation: Why are leading brands like Yili, Budweiser, Kangshifu, and Uni-President rushing to build their own B2B systems?
New Distribution has learned that in early 2019, several FMCG giants including Yili, Budweiser, Kangshifu, and Uni-President have been piloting self-built B2B systems in various regions. According to industry insiders, Uni-President has selectively piloted B2B systems in major regions nationwide, while Kangshifu introduced "Shifutong" in February this year, incorporating Kangshifu and Pepsi brands into its own B2B system. 1. Why do brand owners build their own B2B? Wang Hua (pseudonym), head of new retail at a certain brand, told New Distribution, "Starting this year, some FMCG B2B platforms have begun charging brand owners platform usage fees, ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of yuan annually."
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