Today, the distributor needs to create value and value in the channel dark stream. Channel compoundization began to jump into people's eyes.
In 2004, there were frequent changes in domestic channels. The frequent changes not only hurt the product suppliers, but also damaged the interests of distributors and downstream agents. After all, as a complete supply chain, supplier, distributor, and downstream agent are three integration, they jointly constitute the value system of the supply chain to coexist, and if the party changes, it will also affect the benefits of the other two.
The supply chain has always been a hot topic in the domestic IT market. What factors have led to changes in domestic IT supply chains? How do you treat this change? Is there a way to respond?
With these problems, we must make a brief understanding of the current domestic distribution trends. In the past, there is such views: With direct sales model, retail, and .com's impact on distribution model, domestic sales industry is about to die. However, with the continuous growth of the distribution industry in recent years, this point is too pessimistic.
So, today's development trend will show the distribution of low-end IT products in Dark flow in China? Shenzhou digital analysis believes that the development of low-end IT product distribution has two trends, three roads.
Development trend of IT product distribution
A trend is the way consumer products will develop into retail, but if retail is equivalent to a large store, it is still difficult to settle down, but like mobile, digital cameras, printers, consumables, etc. These face ordinary consumers. Products must be a way to use retail. However, there are many ways to retail, except for the United States, Japan's chain list, domestic computer city, and large-scale chain retail stores, such as the whole line of Digital Digital now, is also vital.
Another trend is due to commercial large customers, SMB's requirements for IT products are general solutions or services, so they still need to participate in channels. At the same time, the manufacturer's direct sales of large customers, also requires some value-added services, such as plotter, small servers, and more.
Based on the understanding and judgment of the development trend of domestic channels, Shenzhou digital believes that low-end IT product distributors are facing three roads: do retail; doing banks, providing orders for manufacturers, logistics distribution, customer service, etc .; In the face of business major customers, SMB channels, some second-line brands and small and medium products still need to distribute.
The reason why the development trend of domestic IT distribution is determined, mainly based on changes in domestic user demand characteristics, and changes in user demand also directly affect the cooperation of suppliers and distributors and future cooperation models. .
Background discussion of change: user demand changes
China's market is increasingly mature, fierce, and consumers' maturity, manufacturers face such a dilemma: you can seize the market before an excellent distributor and excellent products, but now become unusually difficult, and even a very successful Cooperation is also gradually declined by fierce competition, and the cooperation between manufacturers and distributors seems to have unprecedented crisis and conflicts.
Similarly, distributors and downstream agents coexisting with vendors are also facing the business dilemma of product singleness: Since the scale expansion of IT market is rapid, consumers have begun to shift, and channel merchants are only a brand of products. Can meet the segmentation requirements of the user, and due to the single, it has caused the waste of channel resources, so it directly leads to channel competition to focus on key cities, causing channels to seriously re-construction, but distributors do not have enough capital to expand two The three-level market, the final result is that the living space of the channel is compressed.
This situation shows that the current domestic market has undergone fundamental changes, the most critical is the comprehensive diversion of consumer demand, and the marketing of consumer goods is gradually turned to the "small" market from the mass market. This directly affects the future orientation of the channel. . For suppliers, to adapt to market competition and achieve expectations for future markets, you need to introduce multi-product products to meet user multivariate needs. However, if the channel size and channel network do not have the corresponding expansion, the supplier's product is still difficult to make the coverage of the ideal surface. In this case, some suppliers establish a distributor according to the product line, through a number of distributor agents different product lines, such as the IBM notebook is a single way, and the specific product line is exclusive. This way can also avoid distributors. The malignant competition between suppliers is conducive to the stability of the supplier's own product market price. However, there is a problem here, that is, the current domestic channel is concentrated in some areas, and the manufacturers should achieve sales of sales, still need to expand the expansion of channel networks with distributors.
On the other hand, for distributors, due to competition, profit space is compressed, at the same time, distributors must meet the coverage of suppliers' widespread faces, and it is necessary to operate more channels to expand channel scale. This will cause an increase in the cost of operation of the distributor. On the one hand, it is a decline in profits. On the one hand, it is an improvement in cost. Therefore, distributors need to make corresponding changes to adapt to current ecological environments, which are more effective ways to operate a variety of brands of similar products, and improve channel utilization in this way, relatively, distributors are reduced. Operate the cost of a brand product.
In this way, distributors can have sufficient cost space for channel expansion, through the sharing of personnel and information, to a greater extent to which products are covered by consumers.
Distributors operate multi-branded distribution model, Shenzhou Digital calls it as channel composite. Channel composite, whether it is a very value for suppliers or distributors and downstream agents, which can improve the value and connotation of the entire supply chain.
Channel composite: enhance supply chain value and connotation
For suppliers, massive distribution is greatly advantageous, but for distributors, massive distribution needs to consider how to reduce costs while increasing efficiency. The principle of massive distribution is that distributors cannot add a product every additional product, regardless of size. If this is, a large compressed distributor and the survival space of the downstream agent are not conducive to the development of the entire IT supply chain. Therefore, it is necessary to composite, channel composite.
Distributors conduct channel composite, pursuing marginal benefits to reduce channel operating costs. On the one hand, the "faucet product" is used to comply with other brands, fully release the value and role of the channel, which is undoubtedly greater than a single brand. Lead products are generally large, competitive, especially the price competition, the price is poor, through the expansion of small brands, can form complementarity, whether distributors or agents, this complement is indispensable .
On the other hand, the distributors perform composite, personnel sharing, information sharing, and reduce the investment in the three or four-level markets in the second or third-level market, and obtain marginal benefits.
The IT supply chain is connected to the benefits of suppliers, distributors and channels, and the interests between the three are symbiosis, so as a part of the IT supply chain, distributors conduct channel composite, their essence Although it is a judgment based on the development prospects of the distributor itself, channel compositeization can also bring some substantive value for suppliers and channels. Distributors conduct channel composite, and ultimate goal is to carry out their own changes in current business ecological environments, enhance the value and connotation of the entire IT supply chain.
For upstream suppliers, due to fierce market competition, many suppliers have different degrees of decline, in the face of increasingly fierce market competition environments, maintain their market status, manufacturers must improve products on the one hand Competitiveness, on the other hand, highlights must be achieved in sales channels: The first is that the channel network is as wide as possible, and the second is that the channel cost is reduced as low as possible. Direct sales is one of the extreme choices, completely remove the channel layer, so that the channel cost is almost zero, but it is unfavorated that the sales network is limited. With the rise of e-commerce, this is a good way, but it is not, at the same time, The defect in this way is that the promotion of the entire sales process is insufficient, after all, there are many helpers. The chain is also a good choice. Wal-Mart's success tells people that this is an effective way, but this requires the ability to test manufacturers and the ability of mass management. From the current situation, diversification, balanced composite channel structures are the most feasible way. In this way, by seeking a multi-agency structure, the sales network can cover a broader range, while the channel agent can reduce the model of multi-brand similar products, making the manufacturer can reduce the investment of channels, reduce costs, and will not cause channel survival The problem. The benefit is that it can promote the efficiency of sales in the field of manufacturers like to improve sales. The distributor conducts channel composite, meaning that the brands and products they can sell are more rich and multi-diverse, which increases the attraction of the channel to end users and increases the opportunity of the channel.
All in all, channel composite is a result of domestic IT supply chain evolution, around the supply chain, whether suppliers, distributors, or lower-level channels, the value of supply chain is the focus of their concern, and the channels that are worthy of value The birth of composite is undoubtedly the trend of domestic channel development.
Three forms of channel composite
After clearing the value and significance of composite, what we face is how to composite. According to the exploration and practice of Shenzhou Digital for many years, we believe that the completion is roughly three forms.
The first form is the composite of the brand. The upstream of the distributor faces the manufacturer, distributors can act in multiple products of the manufacturer, so distributors first thought of brand compound. According to the brand division, such as HP a department, IBM a department, and even Toshiba a department, Canon a department, etc. and many more.
However, after several years of practice, Shenzhou Digital discovers products in different fields, the market, knowledge and channels between them, and the faculty facing customers are different, they cannot be shared. Therefore, it has caused a composite difficulty. For example, there are many salespersons for the HP product line, but let the printer do the PC, it can't do it, because it is easy to do PC, it is necessary to have less money, the key is the key is The manipulation is low, and the PC may have lost money for ten or a half months, and the printer has nothing to do with two months.
Therefore, for the distributor, the composite of the brand cannot bring real value improvement.
The second form is a channel composite. In 2002, Shenzhou Digital started to try to do channel compounds directly, classify channels according to customer types, established two or three-level, Si, large customers and other departments. However, due to the product without composite, the channel composite is difficult, and the sales staff is difficult to know all products. Therefore, in the late 2002, the Dangzhou Digital also splits some of the TEAMs, such as the second or third-level city, and divided into the outer unit and notebook. In 2002, a practical description of the internal organizational structure is not composite, and a product of Copy is actually difficult to achieve. The third form is the field compound. In 2003, the Digital Adjustment Strategy of Shenzhou, first started composite from the product sector, and then the composite of the personnel, the channel composite. Therefore, the Digital Digital is divided into organizational structure according to the product area. The Dangzhou Digital also found that if you focus on a certain field, you have to understand the products of different brands after understanding this market.
At present, the domestic distribution industry has undergone great changes, has completed the first integration, the market tends to concentrate, and the competition pattern begins to present the status of the pyramid. In the channel form, with the great success of Dell's direct sales, many manufacturers have begun to seek direct sales models; at the same time, with the opening of my country's opening retail market at the end of 2004, the intervention of foreign retail giants will also be domestic It has a huge impact on IT channels.
Distributors need to create value and value. Under the driving of the market, channel compoundization began to jump into people's eyes. However, channel composite is also facing some problems, such as how to make effective compounds, how to accurately comply with users, so channel composite chemicals still to be explored with domestic distributors.
