Author丨Zhang Yuwei
"I feel that there is a problem with the market this year!"
Some time ago, I was doing research in the first-line market, and Sister Wang, a salesman who is familiar with the author, said. When asked why, she only invited me to go around the area she was responsible for. And it was this visit that unveiled the other side of the market.
The peak season is cold before it arrives
The store is difficult to digest on a large date
Walking into a supermarket, it was a weekend, but there were only a few people in the store. Judging from the production date of the drinks on the shelves, the goods have been in the warehouse for more than half a year, and the latest date of the entire row of shelves is stuck in January this year.
The clerk explained that many of the goods sold now are pulled in the second half of last year, such as those with a production date of September, which are generally pulled in October and November. In previous years, this time of year was basically sold out, and this year's supermarket business is not good, so slow down.
And when I walked into the husband-and-wife store across the road, there were drinks produced in May last year on the shelves, which expired in less than half a month.
The owner of the store revealed to me that this batch of drinks was pulled from the wholesale market, and it was cheap, but there was no after-sales service. I thought about making a special price when there was a big date, but I tried it for a few days and found that the effect was not very good.
"Today's customers are 'savvy' and pay extra attention to the date when they see cheaply processed drinks. At present, I plan to put it in the freezer to see it, try my luck, and if I can't sell it, I can only drink it myself. ”
After leaving the store, the salesman Sister Wang told the author that this street is already the best sales situation in the area she is responsible for, but in the daily process of running the store, she is often faced with the situation of being dumbfounded when she unloads the goods and moves into the store - whether it is a warehouse or a shelf, there is no place at all.
Even the small stores with the best sales on the same street can see a lot of "old goods" from last year on the shelves, but the store owner said that this is not the store's inventory but the dealer's.
"In the past two years, the market response has been slow, and it is a common phenomenon that water, seasoning, and paper sanitation cannot be sold in the warehouse for half a year, and it will be returned after a certain date, and many dealers are facing inventory backlog problems, and sometimes the date of delivery is not the latest." Sister Wang, the salesman, explained.
Selling on credit becomes a bad debt, and the store is afraid of pressing money
"It is particularly difficult to collect the payment this year, and the supermarket of seven or eight hundred square meters can't settle the payment of 1,000 yuan!"
Sister Wang, a salesman, revealed that due to poor market feedback, the profits of many stores continue to decline, and sometimes the goods are sold and there is no net for expenses such as water and electricity rent, employee salaries, not to mention the settlement, and it is common for the three-month account period to be delayed to half a year or a year.
If the store is yellow and the boss does not admit the account, the salesman can only admit that he is unlucky and make up for it.
But in order to complete the task, it is not possible to sell on credit at all, and there is no "sense of security" on the store side.
"Big stores still dare to order goods, but small stores only dare to buy one box at a time, and sometimes they have to pay credit for two boxes of milk to sell."
Analysis of the reasons, one is that the market has been bad in the past two years, the turnover of personnel in trading companies is large, and many old salesmen leave their jobs, and the new salesmen do not admit their accounts, and the after-sales service of the store cannot be fully guaranteed; The second is the decline in passenger flow, the terminal sales are slow, even if there is after-sales, but in the face of an uncertain market environment, the money is still in their own hands to rest assured.
The owner of a convenience store revealed to the author that because he was familiar with the salesman of a certain brand of water drink, and the sales of the store had been good, the salesman would sometimes sell the goods that he could not sell in the store. In the last few days, I have been running almost every day.
"In order to digest those products with big dates, many preferential policies have also been taken out, such as a box with a shelf life of more than half a year is cheaper by 6-8 yuan, and a box with a shelf life of less than half a year can be cheaper by 10-14 yuan."
But in the face of such an attractive price, the store owner still dares to take two boxes and two boxes.
"The quantity is too big, the store can't sell out for a while, although there are manufacturers after-sales, but the thought of pressing cash, no matter how cheap it is, I don't dare to accept it!"
Inventory "bursts", and manufacturers continue to press goods
"Half a month of the month is spent processing big dates, and the inventory is so big that it is about to explode! In order to store the goods, the boss had to change to a large warehouse. ”
Sister Wang, a salesman, told the author that at present, many dealers are facing the problem of inventory liquidation, and the reasons for the liquidation, Sister Wang believes that there are two main points: first, after three years of epidemic, consumers' wallets have tightened, and their spending power has declined; Second, the manufacturer's target continues to rise, and the goods are pressed to the dealer's warehouse.
In the past, every node and peak season, dealers would work hard to do a big job, but now, layer by layer of pressing, the so-called peak season has become a tight spell, and the huge inventory pressure will trap dealers firmly.
After the Spring Festival, the inventory is almost digested and has to be replenished, right? The first quarter is coming to an end, and you don't want the pain of the second half of the year to chase now, right? Statutory holidays and store celebrations are coming, so you have to seize the schedule, right? It's going to be a peak season soon, so don't have much to prepare, and you won't be out of stock when the time comes......
The reality is that the market is cold, and often the first wave of inventory has not been digested, and the second wave of goods has entered the warehouse.
"In the past, it was necessary to pay first and then goods, but now the brand is gradually opening up credit, and the amount is getting larger and larger, and every effort is made to transport the goods to the dealer's warehouse. If you don't let the unloading stalemate, the driver is blocked at the gate every day is not a solution. ”
Want to press to downstream stores? But the store owners don't eat this set at all! If you want to press the goods, you can sign an agreement, and if you can't sell them, the dealer will buy them all; Or according to the real needs of the store.
The circulation of downstream commodities is blocked, and the upstream is still pressing goods, and many dealers are under great pressure in the face of mountains of inventory.
When the author was doing research in Sichuan and Chongqing, there was a paper health dealer who was kidnapped by the brand pressure and fell deeper and deeper. It is understood that the dealer's monthly shipments of a certain brand are about 600,000, but due to the threat of the manufacturer's cost write-off, the temptation of zoning areas, under the pressure of goods again and again, the inventory is as high as more than 10 million. The surface is glamorous, but in fact, it has fallen to the point of mortgaging the RV and borrowing money to turnover.
Note: The current situation of stores and dealers mentioned in this article is only what the author has seen and heard in the process of market research, and has a certain regionality, which is for reference only. What is the market situation in various places this year? What is the dealer's inventory? Welcome to leave a message and discuss in the comment area!
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