When we sell a product, we first need to do multiple choice questions to determine the target market. Is it sold in China or domestically? Sell online or offline? There are also questions to think about, passenger flow, where does the traffic come from?
Some people may say that only children can do multiple-choice questions, adults need all of them, and I want to do whatever I want.
I'm sorry, if the company does not have enough funds and corresponding resources, you are a younger brother and can only do multiple-choice questions, and the options are very limited.
In fact, in many cases, the main target market has already been determined when the company was founded; the resources and capabilities of the founding team determine the target market of the product. It is possible to continue to expand.
When we face a growth bottleneck in a certain market, from a general perspective, there are two ways to look at it, one is extensive and the other is refined, but the logic is the same, both are open source.
1. Horizontal expansion of the market
This road is an extensive road, more of which is to copy the successful experience of the existing market and push the product into more consumer markets.
If you are strong in China, you will go to foreign markets. This is the case with many overseas brands. Lvlian, Lego and even Xiaomi have achieved good results in overseas markets; of course, this needs to be based on certain funds or resources, otherwise it will be difficult to truly Enter an unfamiliar market.
How to expand sales?
Of course, there are still some companies that have been cultivating abroad for a long time.
From the perspective of brands and markets, it seems easier to be more familiar with the local market; but in fact, there are also corresponding difficulties. There are many giants, fierce price wars, and thin profit margins are all challenges.
2. Deeply cultivate the market, expand horizontally + vertically sink in channels
In fact, for most enterprises, it is a better choice to deeply cultivate the existing market, expand horizontally in the channel, and sink vertically.
How to expand sales?
Let’s talk about the horizontal expansion of channels first, which is easy to understand. The simplest is that the original offline channel can be sold through the e-commerce platform, and the small brand that started through online sales can also expand the offline agent channel when it develops to a certain extent.
Online channels can also expand horizontally. If you are a JD, you can also open a Tmall store. If you are a Taobao, you can go to see Salted Fish. The same is true for offline. The traditional agents are saturated. You can also try more large supermarkets and chain stores.
I believe that many friends understand the truth, but not everyone understands the benefits; simple arithmetic problems will make the output more intuitive.
The picture below shows the distribution country email list of Walmart stores in the United States. You can feel this density.
How to expand sales?
There are more than 3,500 Walmart stores (excluding Sam's Club) in the United States. Imagine that if a product can enter Walmart, the average monthly sales per store is 1pcs, and the monthly sales is 3.5K; if it is 10pcs per store per month, That's 35k, if each store sells 100pcs per month, that's 350k...
And 100pcs per month, converted to days, is equivalent to selling 3pcs per day. Is it difficult for Walmart? And supermarkets like Walmart, in every consumer market around the world, there are still a lot of them... Bestbuy, costco in the United States, aldi in Germany, LIDL, yodobashi in Japan, etc., etc., are countless; and when they show their muscles, you will It is found that their energy is often beyond your imagination.
The horizontal expansion of channels is constantly developing and innovating. From traditional channels to online sales to emerging live broadcasts and KOLs, they are constantly advancing. Only by taking a real in-depth look and calculating can we Experience the great charm of channel expansion.
The vertical sinking of the channel goes deeper. In traditional channels, profits are exploited layer by layer; agents and middlemen at all levels have to take a bite. The more levels there are, the less competitive the price of the product; the same goes for e-commerce platforms, where commissions and advertising costs are not low.
Offline direct stores (Apple Store, Xiaomi Home), online independent stations (Xiaomi Mall, Huawei Mall), brand direct sales, direct users, reduce a lot of intermediate costs, and are an excellent case of vertical sinking.