Growing Brand Shoe Enterprises Explore Channel Innovation

With the rapid rise of a number of new brands, such as Baoda and Leisu, their fast-growing channel model is striking. Their channel model is another way to change the traditional "provincial agency system" to "urban agency system", or "urban agency+provincial agency".

After the innovation of the channel model, the outlets of these brands have indeed risen rapidly. For example, the typical Baoda, its city agents have broken the situation of stagnant sales.

However, while bringing rapid expansion to enterprises, the "urban agency" model also hides the difficulty of implementation.

At present, most brands are very optimistic about the "perfect" model of city agency, but how to choose the right time to enter? What kind of necessary hardware is needed in the pilot city agent mode? This has become the focus of more growth brands in Jinjiang

　 Phenomenon: city agents become "new favourites"

Recently, a Baoda recruitment advertisement with the theme of recruiting local "mayors" appeared in major trend newspapers, magazines and websites, which was the first time Baoda fashion chain tried out the urban agency channel model on a large scale.

The so-called "mayor" should expand the market according to the first tier cities Baoda currently locks in, and be responsible for the city's business development, goods distribution, network development, etc. The first task of the business managers assigned to the major first tier cities this time is to launch the network deployment of Baoda fashion chain outlets within the definition range of the outlets.

"One warehousing and distribution warehouse, one van. These are two sharp swords Baoda gave to business managers. They need to use these two weapons to break through the terminal pattern of every inch of land in the first tier cities." The relevant person in charge of Baoda introduced.

It is reported that at a suitable consignment point, Baoda head office will be responsible for providing a set of shelves and 200 pairs of shoes. For each pair of shoes sold by the consignment point, a certain proportion of cash rebate can be drawn from it. If necessary, you can place an order at any time, and the warehouse will distribute the goods throughout the city. That is to say, in this city, with Baoda warehouse as the center, those consignment points will form several "point-to-point" sales terminals.

It's a coincidence. At the 2010 autumn and winter order meeting of Guohui's brand Leisu casual shoes, the company's senior management and agents reached a consensus and proposed to accelerate the development of core agents and implement the channel system construction idea of "changing from channel orientation to customer orientation".

This also means that the newly launched Leisu brand will also try city agents for the first time. Li Guomin, general manager of Lexus, said that because the brand had not been launched for a long time, the distribution of agents could not completely cover the whole country. Therefore, the problem might be solved by adopting the supplementary channel model of urban agents.

"For example, Shandong Province has a large east-west span, and the consumption habits of Qingdao and Jinan are often different. The provincial representatives sometimes have more than they can do. In this way, we propose to set up a city agent in Qingdao, which can meet the needs of market expansion on the one hand, and avoid the blind spot of wholesale development on the other hand."

The most noticeable thing in the channel system of Baoda and Leisu is that in the "point-to-point" sales terminals formed by brands and outlets, they are often able to sink directly into the surrounding second and third tier cities, including some villages and towns. {page_break}

　　 Objection: facing challenges such as logistics talents

There are also many people who don't think highly of city agents. Zeng Guanghua, the marketing director of Yinbao Sports Goods Co., Ltd., made a vivid analogy: the market is a big fish tank, the provincial representative is a big fish, and the city agent is a small fish. Imagine that it is easy to catch 100 small fish at the same time, or just catch some big fish.

"Since a new brand has just started to operate and has limited resources, how can a perfect logistics system support the layout and development of city agents?" Zeng Guanghua said.

Also, the new brand InBev, which has just started up, has adhered to the road of provincial substitution. Zeng Guanghua was satisfied with the development of InBev in the national market, and he affirmed the role played by provincial agents in market development. At present, the company has more than 20 provincial representatives. With the provincial representative network, InBev has made the northern market prosperous in just half a year.

Zeng Guanghua believed that, in the long run, city agents are indeed conducive to the company's brand operation, but it still needs a lot of manpower, material resources and time to really popularize the ERP logistics system. How to solve some specific problems in terminal retail management remains to be considered.

In general, the ERP logistics management system can be used to deploy, monitor, and manage the daily store sales management, but it cannot solve the actual distribution problems, especially the return and replacement problems. There needs to be strong local logistics warehousing support. Otherwise, any small item in a single store will be returned and replaced from the company headquarters, It takes time, effort and money.

"In addition to the restrictions on resource allocation such as capital, it is originally a factory style operation to brand operation, and the talent team is still in the construction period. Where can we have a relatively complete retail management team to operate the city agency?" sighed Yang Hui, Shuaibu's marketing director.

Yang Hui believes that city agents, as direct investment, will be the future development trend of the brand, but different channels and models need to be matched at different stages. From the perspective of suitability, city agents are not suitable for Shuaibu, which is the first time to attract investment. Maybe the cost of developing a direct city agent will be enough for Shuaibu to expand nationwide, The local agents' interpersonal relationships and market operation familiarity will help the brand to start, which should not be underestimated.

　　 Way out: can be tried out in some regions

Although there are always many problems in the implementation of city agents, this is an embarrassment under the perfect situation.

Most brands are optimistic about the city agent, which has been operating in the terminal expansion mode. Different from the traditional channel model of direct sales branches and provincial agents, city agents do not increase the cash burden and do not generate inventory. According to the sales volume, they can replenish goods at any time to the local warehousing and logistics center of the head office, and can get a certain proportion of cash rebate.

For brands, setting the terms of daily settlement rebate at each consignment point not only ensures the timely return of cash, but also collects market feedback information at the first time according to the sales status of each consignment point, which is conducive to the unified scheduling of goods and the subsequent development of the market. The benefits are obvious. However, how can we eliminate the concerns in the eyes of industry insiders? It may be an option to select a regional market for trial implementation.

Relevant people suggest that city agents can choose Jiangsu and Zhejiang first. "The logistics transportation here is convenient, and it is close to the shoes and clothing production base, so it is easier to pilot urban agents." Zeng Guanghua told reporters.

Li Guomin also said that the cost of a city agent is often higher. Under the specific operation, the head office will have higher requirements on the conditions for city agents to join. It may require 30 square meters for provincial agents, but it is often up to 60 or 70 square meters for city agents to join directly. In addition, it is impossible to comprehensively grasp the consumption situation of the local market and other aspects. Therefore, The head office and franchisees need to be more cautious in the development of terminal outlets.