The most embarrassing glass bottle can't save Coca

Encountering embarrassment, the glass bottle can't save Coca Cola

Coca Cola's continuous downturn in recent years, the upper space stretch, lower space contraction and tortuous ticket price have fallen by 15% in just two months. The tension and pressure of the new CEO Neville Estelle will not be relieved in the short term

for the Chinese market with a cumulative investment of $1billion, the company's announcement of "starting to make profits" is by no means a situation that Coca Cola can meet. "Accelerating growth", "doubling sales" and "making a significant contribution to global profits" are all Coca Cola's expectations for the Chinese market. A month ago, Wall Street reported that "Coca Cola seeks the rural market in Asia". Efforts in one dollar glass bottled coke and channels seem to be an inevitable trend. The key question is, why should Coca Cola go to the countryside

from September 7 to 9, an in-depth investigation was conducted in some counties and towns in southern Anhui

where is the market

"we sell coke in villages and towns, and the peak season of the year is more than ten days of the Spring Festival. At ordinary times, the total sales volume of the following eleven villages and towns is almost the same as that of the county seat. By the Spring Festival, the sales volume of each village and town can catch up with that of the county seat." Zhaoshijie (a pseudonym), the largest dealer in a county in southern Anhui, introduced to

for county and town consumers, this is not simply a matter of affordability

after an early curiosity period, carbonated beverages such as cola have regained a relatively ordinary position in the hearts of county and town consumers. In the five or six years since cola drinks entered the county and township markets in large quantities, most consumers have not formed a fixed consumption habit

"customers have been buying less and less coke in the past two years," said boss Hu, a busy retail store located in the downtown of the county. "Mineral water includes farmer, Wahaha and shuisenhuo, fruit juice has unity and queer, and functional drinks have sold well recently. It is ridiculous to require the Chinese market by referring to the consumption level of coke in western society, just like asking Americans to drink so much tea a year. Is it feasible?"

Coca Cola encountered a unique embarrassment

according to many retailers, among the brand cola beverages, Coca Cola was the first to enter the county and town markets in large quantities five or six years ago. Until now, the brand reputation is still the highest. But when it comes to coke, its sales exceed that of Pepsi, which has been here for less than two years. Zhao Shijie said with a smile, "to be honest, the tastes of these cokes are not very different, and the brand awareness of consumers in counties, towns and townships is not very strong. When hundreds of thousands of people who work in foreign cities come back during the new year, the brand will become exquisite."

according to the county-level dealers of various brands of cola, the current sales of cola beverages in the county are 80% for very cola, 15% for Pepsi Cola and 5% for Coca Cola. "For various reasons, Coca Cola's sales volume this year also showed a negative year-on-year growth."

this assertion was confirmed by Liu Yu (a pseudonym), the business manager of Coca Cola company in the county. Liu Yu said that in the county market, "the sales gap between Coca Cola and Coca Cola is relatively large, and the proportion is about one to ten."

according to the understanding of dealers and retailers, Coca Cola does not intend to take the county-level region as the main market, because Coca Cola has little investment in the county-level market, just to maintain the brand awareness and influence. The number of Coca Cola product display cabinets in the county has just increased to 11 this year, while there are only 3 in the neighboring county. The number of display cabinets of very Cola is dozens of times higher than that of Coca Cola in the whole county. "The promotion of very Cola in villages and towns is too fierce, squeezing Coca Cola into a small corner."

"going to the countryside?" Liu Yu felt puzzled. "Rural areas are full of old people and children all year round. No matter how much investment is made, it can't promote sales. This amount will come out after a promotion in the city."

"the company is very realistic. Your market can only sell so much. Why should he invest so many resources in you?" Liu Yu said, "but the company continues to improve its sales indicators to make you rush, and we are under great pressure."

facing the helplessness of the market, the business manager may feel more pressure than esdale

not all channels

according to foreign reports, the important strategic cornerstone of esdale's plan for rural Asia is that Coca Cola still has room to expand its network

compared with the so-called "factory sales cooperative" (insisting on retaining hierarchical distribution, and the business representatives' involvement in the work of low-level distributors and retailers is more in-depth), Coca Cola divides the county sales channels into two categories, which are managed separately

Hefei Swire Coca Cola company has stationed Coca Cola company's business representatives in each county with a monthly sales volume of less than 10000 TEUs (1.25l products per box is about 2.6 TEUs, 500ml products per box is about 2.0 TEUs, 200ml products per box is about 0.7 TEUs), known as "101 business representatives", and selected dealers with superior local distribution and distribution strength as "101 partners". The business representative is responsible for helping 101 partners develop retail customers and in-depth distribution. 101 partners are responsible for the storage and distribution of goods. In principle, they do not enjoy the interest margin, but only charge the distribution fee by piece

Coca Cola companies in counties with monthly sales of more than 10000 TEUs directly set up business offices, stationed business managers and business assistants, increased the mining of township markets and strengthened cooperation with 101 partners

"this is the unique feature of Coca Cola company in the channel, which can not only help dealers distribute products more, but also establish a broader distribution network at a lower cost, while ensuring the profits of retailers." Zhang Qing, a county business manager of Coca Cola, said that at the county level, Coca Cola can pay today and arrive tomorrow

for retailers with large sales in villages and towns, 101 partners in the county distribute goods as required and planned. In addition, they deliver goods circularly to small and medium-sized retailers in villages and towns once or twice a week, "which is equivalent to driving the wholesale department in the car"

small and medium-sized retail stores in towns under the county noticed that the location and arrangement of various brands of Cola on the shelves are quite random, with medium-sized plastic bottles (500ml, 600ml) in the majority, and the number of displays of each brand is mostly no more than 5. The owner of a medium-sized retail store with a good location said, "it's very convenient to purchase goods. They (delivery trucks) often come. We don't buy much. Let's buy twoorthree boxes at a time. It takes a long time to buy goods."

Zhang Qing clearly told: "in the next step, we should seek 101 cooperation in villages and towns, spread our channels deeper and wider, and further promote our products to the countryside."

but why can Coca Cola "roam the countryside" for so long

cost trauma

"in our low-end market, price is always the most sensitive." Coke and Coca Cola dealers talked about it at the same time

take China plastics packaging products as an example. In this county town in southern Anhui, the first-class dealers provide retailers with 24 bottles of Coca Cola in 500ml at the price of 50 yuan per box; The supply price of 12 bottles of 500ml emergency coke in a box is 19 yuan. In terms of unit price, the difference is exactly 0.5 yuan. In the county and township, the price of products is basically the same. The price of Coca Cola is 2.5 yuan per bottle, and the price of extraordinary Cola is 2 yuan

"for township consumers, 50 cents is a big difference." Dealer zhaoshijie said

in fact, high prices are only part of the reason

"because we firmly guarantee the profits of retailers and dealers." Lishenggui (a pseudonym), a provincial regional manager of Wahaha, said, "this interest margin is the foundation to promote sales enthusiasm!"

Liu Yu also believes that Coca Cola has many rebates and other preferential measures for dealers and retailers, and Coca Cola's investment can't be compared with them

the most fundamental thing is that the cost of Coca Cola can't come down. At the same time, Coca Cola has more than 20 production plants all over the country. Its associated companies will not lose to competitors in terms of production efficiency, distribution capacity and management level, and the brand advantage can even add points to Coca Cola's market performance

however, "the key problem is that Coca Cola syrup is too expensive!" Liu Yu said, "Chinese joint-venture manufacturers earn a little money from blending and packaging. It takes more than half of the profits to buy concentrated liquid every year. The formula of very Cola is their own, so they can give part of the profits to the circulation channels."

when asked about Coca Cola's "sharp weapon" for entering the countryside - small coke in glass bottles, the dealers expressed their disagreement

"This package has been available for a long time. It has been sold well in roadside freezers, schools, bars and hot pot shops. It has also been sold in villages and towns, but it can't be sold at all. Some counties have stopped purchasing at all. After all, the unit price is still not cheaper! Our supply price is 0.75 yuan/bottle, and the retail price is 1 yuan/bottle, and the capacity has been reduced from the original 250ml to 200ml, so there is no way to lower the price. We can buy it Consumers with a price of 1 yuan/bottle of coke are also those who can consume Coca Cola with a larger capacity, so it is widely used in industrial and mining enterprises, colleges and universities and scientific research institutions. In the countryside, our local soda and coke cost only twoorthree cents a bottle. "

Liu Yu said, "Coca Cola has to go through secondary dealers to send it to the countryside, and the retail stores earn less than 20 cents. But the glass bottles are easy to break in the transportation and sales links, and the bad one is 50 cents. Although the glass bottles of Coca Cola are of good quality, the breakage rate is about three thousandths (the breakage rate of ordinary glass bottles is about 3%) However, if the sales volume is small, 1. The experimental machine must have three elements: a force adding device, a fixture, a force value display device and a record. Rural retail stores are not willing to take this risk. "

there is no doubt that as an occasional experience, Coca Cola in 200ml glass bottles will be more acceptable in price and more willing to try, but as a mainstream consumption form, it obviously cannot withstand the rational calculation of rural consumers

yezhenggang, a Taiwan marketing expert, said in an interview, "in the long run, Coca Cola's strategy is feasible. They have just begun to make profits in the past two years. Such a large company has lost more than ten years in China, and it is not a problem to lose more than ten years in the rural market. There is always a day of victory."

the problem is that for the CEO who changed like a lantern, the Coca Cola Chinese market, which began to make profits, seems to have borne the arduous mission of rapid growth and providing profits

many years ago, Estelle once said, "we don't care whether the products can be sold, we just need to solve the problem of how to send the products to consumers."

however, in the face of the complex Chinese market, inspiring slogans are obviously not enough