Consumer products / Distribution and Retail in China
　　- Set up and management of wholesale or
　　 retail operations,
　　- Development of network of local
　　 retailers/distributors,
　　- Development of network of points of
　　 sales,
　　- Regional sub-distribution,
　　- Coordination with HQ, planning and
　　 forecast,
　　- Long Term development strategy.

Your benefits
　　- Take advantage of our team and structure
　　 for implementing your operation :
　　 Experience and network of relations to
　　 　 the market,
　　 Give more confidence to your local
　　 　 counterparts,
　　 Cost effectiveness,
　　 Result oriented approach,
　　 Search for continuous improvement,
　　 Reliability, Loyalty.
　　 Visibility, Transparency.

Who can ignore the Chinese market ?
Less and less companies, both large and small size ones.
But precisely this huge attraction created by the Chinese market brings intense competition. And the time where the Chinese distributors and retailers were welcoming any new product is well over. Getting a share of the market becomes increasingly difficult and local partners are more and more demanding.

Still, the market exists, massive and growing.
Finding the right approach requires good understanding of its segmentation and of its rules from the perspective of the Chinese partners.

Entering retail market :
Anyone visiting Shanghai or Beijing on regular basis is amazed by the speed of development of new department stores, malls and retail places. And the trend is now spreading to many other cities in most provinces, including the central and western parts of the country.
Still, selecting the right retail spot is critical, not all retailers are equally successful, the segmentation has to be well understood.
Convincing and motivating local distributors to take a new brand is becoming increasingly difficult. And it comes with rising expectations on the Chinese side in terms of pricing, marketing support, rights of licensing,…
The entry on the market has to be extremely well prepared, even if it takes some extra time. A failure of a first attempt will be noticed by the people in the trade and could block the way to future opportunities.

Most Chinese distributors have limited knowledge on the foreign brands, apart from the main big names. They are exposed to a mix of true international brands, Asian brands with a Western image (from Hong Kong, Korea,…), local brands and many ‘me-too brands’ and copycats. It takes times and efforts to bring the necessary knowledge on the brand to the local partners. A close relationship is essential to this communication and to build up confidence and motivation.

Strengthening and monitoring retail network :
Rapid changes in China are not good for all players. We can see brands entering, at the wrong place, with an inadequate positioning, and disappearing or going low profile soon after.
The local distributor is not always the only one to blame. He may have misunderstood the background of the brand or he may just have tried his luck, playing this card among many others, using the trial approach as a selection method.
Conflict can happen between different channels and reduce the motivation of the distributors.
Absence of corporate marketing and PR can be seen as signs that the brand is not seriously committed in supporting them.

Monitoring a distributor from a remote location such as HQ in foreign country is difficult. Not to mention the complexity of handling a pool of several distributors.

Local support, which is perceived as a local presence of the brand, can help dramatically in understanding the situations, finding the right actions for improvement and rebuilding motivation among the distributors.

References and experience :
　　　　- La Bagagerie,
　　　　- Amboise,
　　　　- Leathergoods, fashion accessories.