Chapter 28 Chapter 5 Marketing Reform, Establishing Core Competitiveness

The market is unpredictable, and no industry can escape the control of fate.Only by mastering the industrial chain, realizing the optimization of resource allocation, and improving the ability to resist risks, can enterprises develop steadily.A popular saying is: third-rate companies sell products, second-rate companies build brands, and first-rate companies set standards. Standards are not internal company norms, but industry paradigms and industry standards.Only enterprises that master the industrial chain standards can realize the lasting interests of enterprises. Judging from the operating practices of foreign home appliance chain enterprises, the key to their success is to establish a long-term and stable supply chain relationship with upstream manufacturers to form a collaborative supply chain competition; The full understanding of the company and the establishment of its own sales capabilities.

Suning's marketing reform is complicated to say, but simple to say.Suning's marketing reform is to change the procurement model of itself and suppliers, changing the inflated price, discount, supplement, rebate, and promotion into a simple buyer-seller relationship; simplifying the multi-link agency to the manufacturer's direct supply docking ; It is to improve their ability to purchase and sell.Suning's independent marketing is a kind of negation of negation, a return to business, and it calls for transcending the upstream and downstream disputes in the industry, that is, returning to the consumer-centered approach and seeking profits from commodity transactions and services.

Suning's independent marketing has actually affected the reform of the competition and cooperation model of the entire industry chain.Suning seeks self-operated stores and builds its own sales force, aiming to directly face consumers and understand consumers' real needs for products and services.Suning advocates procurement reform, from exclusive sales, customization to exclusive brand sales, which means that Suning has begun to comprehensively study commodities. In the future, Suning, as a commodity expert, will work with upstream manufacturers to improve the efficiency and accuracy of product development and manufacturing.Suning advocates returning to the customer orientation, intending to get closer to the end of the industrial chain—consumers, and reshape the value chain.It can be seen that Suning's marketing reform is actually giving birth to the competition and cooperation model of the entire industrial chain of the home appliance industry.

Opening a brand-new competition and cooperation model of the whole industry chain through marketing reform is another innovation of Suning after "model innovation" and "backstage innovation". Competition" again reflects the marketing strategy.So far, Suning's three major innovations have verified such a truth: indisputable is the greatest competition, "always imitated, never surpassed" is the highest state of competition! "Excellence is the enemy of greatness. If you are satisfied with the status quo, you will miss greatness." Jim Collins said in the book "From Good to Great". , constantly transforming business strategies and operating methods to adapt to this changing world. This is a wonderful combination of carrying forward the core and promoting development."

Similarly, Andy Grove, former chairman and CEO of Intel Corporation, once said: "When driving in fog, it is much easier to follow the taillights of the car in front of you. The danger of the 'taillight strategy' is that once caught up and If you overtake the car in front, you will have no taillights to navigate, and you will lose the confidence and ability to find a new direction. There is no future for being a follower. Those companies that act early are the companies that can influence the industrial structure and set the rules of the game in the future. Only by acting early can we hope for future victories."

In 2009, "Forbes" announced the ranking of the world's top 2,000 companies, and Suning, a leading Chinese home appliance chain company, ranked 1,055, becoming the highest-ranked Chinese retail company and the first-ranked Chinese private company. In 2006, when Gome threatened to acquire Suning, Zhang Jindong used the help of the "Talent" magazine to interview him and replied through the air: "If Suning can't do you one day, I will definitely give it to you." Facts have verified Zhang Jindong's confidence.Suning has finally become the industry leader, but does this mean that Suning can once and for all?

Without a strong opponent, there will only be a terrible ending.Coca-Cola would not be what it is today without Pepsi.Competition means a threat to all enterprises, but it also means a driving force for development. "After years of development, under the arduous efforts of all Suning people, Suning's overall competitive advantage has finally been further established when Suning is about to usher in its twentieth year. Although this is something to be gratified and proud of, it also needs to be vigilant What we need is not celebration, not singing and dancing. We still have a long way to go. A media friend once asked me that in the past 20 years, many companies in the industry who are both rivals and friends Do you feel lonely when you leave this industry? Suning has no time to be lonely, because we still have a lot to do. On the new journey, our strategy should be clearer. Over the years, it is the achievement of a clear corporate strategy Today's Suning. What drives us forward is a firm sense of mission and a strong sense of crisis." Zhang Jindong said.

Zhang Jindong pointed out that although China's domestic home appliance chain enterprises are currently in a leading position in the industry, compared with foreign counterparts, the development time of China's home appliance chain is still very short, and it is still far behind the overseas home appliance chain enterprises that have developed for 30 to 40 years. There is a certain gap.Moreover, at present, overseas home appliance chain companies are gradually getting their hands on the Chinese market. The wolf is not coming but has already come, but the form is relatively hidden.To this end, Suning is gradually adjusting its business model and its relationship with partners in response to the ever-changing environment and its own market positioning.

On March 16, 2009, as soon as Zhang Jindong returned to Nanjing after attending the "two sessions", he held a "marketing reform" meeting overnight until 5 o'clock in the morning.Suning invited Roland Berger and other consulting companies to discuss how to re-integrate business and management models.When discussing "what should Suning do to become the number one in the industry", Zhang Jindong said very firmly that he must have his own plan and follow his own plan to achieve a major transformation in marketing. Why did Suning carry out marketing reforms? The reason is that the channels of China's home appliance industry have undergone qualitative changes. With the large-scale development of Suning and the improvement of its industry status, Suning, as a channel provider, has surpassed traditional large-scale home appliance manufacturers in terms of sales scale, personnel scale, and investment scale.In the past, the scale of manufacturers was large, and Suning could trust and rely on upstream manufacturers. Now that Suning wants to continue to develop, the industry practices that it used to take for granted in the past can no longer be followed.For example, when Suning opened a store, the manufacturer provided resource assistance such as promoters, prototypes, and advertising expenses. However, as Suning opened stores in a wider area and penetrated deeper into the third and fourth tier markets, the manufacturer was unable to follow up on investment, so naturally unwilling to invest.If at this time it is still difficult to force others to force the factory to send personnel, the conflict between manufacturers will definitely worsen.

In this context, in order to adapt to the changing market needs and the needs of its own endogenous large-scale development, Suning must carry out marketing reforms.What is the meaning of Suning's marketing reform?In fact, it is to truly form Suning's strong marketing capabilities and change its own procurement and sales models. In the past, the negotiation between Suning and the factory was about deductions, and the contract between the headquarters and the headquarters was the basic discount rate and scale rebate for that year.What is the discussion between the front-line procurement departments in Suning's major regions and the local factory business personnel?Talk about promotional resources. "Suning is about to launch a promotion. Please give us how much advertising expenses and promotional resources, and determine the extent of the price reduction, gifts, and premiums; when we open the store, we will talk about how much staff support and prototypes you will give us, and we will talk about these things all day long. In short In order to make itself more competitive in the market, Suning hopes to get more support from manufacturers and expand the market.”

And when the chain industry reaches a certain scale, especially when Suning has opened many non-flagship stores, the manufacturer has a disagreement with Suning when it comes to investment. It turns out that when Suning opens a large store, the manufacturer is willing to provide support, but when opening community stores and township stores, manufacturers They think that their investment costs are not proportional to the current sales returns, and they are unable to invest for long-term benefits.The problem is that when the scale of the chain is getting bigger and bigger, Suning itself also has the need to reduce costs.When the cost sharing of channel construction cannot reach an agreement, the disadvantages of the traditional store opening model will be exposed, and there will be friction between manufacturers and chain enterprises.At this time, if Suning continues to develop in the way it used to be, manufacturers will think that Suning has become stronger, and they will either not respond and resist passively;Such a result runs counter to Suning's original intention of developing the chain business, and is also very different from the ultimate destination of large-scale specialized division of labor and socialized collaboration among manufacturers under market economy conditions.Obviously, the fault is neither with the manufacturer nor with Suning, but a problem with the cooperation model between the two parties. The so-called marketing change, on the surface, seems to be a simple issue of cooperation between Suning and manufacturers, but at a deeper level, it is a problem of the model of China's home appliance industry, and the problem of re-optimizing the supply chain of China's home appliance industry. Why is it the problem of the model of China's home appliance industry and the problem of re-optimizing the supply chain of China's home appliance industry? At present, the division of labor in the home appliance industry, taking foreign countries as examples, such as the United States, Japan and other countries with relatively high levels of development, has a clear division of labor between manufacturers and distributors: manufacturers concentrate on product development, technological innovation, quality improvement and brand communication; Distributors, that is, retail enterprises, are responsible for the entire link of distribution, and undertake sales, marketing, logistics, after-sales service and customer service for end consumers.The division of labor between the two parties is very clear, and the distribution of interests between the two parties is simply a buyer-seller relationship. What is a business relationship?For example, to sell an air conditioner, under normal circumstances, the initial price given by the manufacturer to Suning is 2,000 yuan, and Suning sells it for 2,400 yuan. How much advertising fees, service fees, and terminal promotion fees will be spent during this period should be invested according to one's own ability. If you buy at 2,000 yuan and sell at 2,400 yuan, the price difference for Suning is 400 yuan. After deducting various advertising expenses, promotional inputs, logistics costs, etc., Suning can leave a net profit of 100 yuan. This is a simple and clear transaction relationship. But the problem now is that China's home appliance industry has not adopted such an approach.An air conditioner should be provided to Suning based on the factory's production cost plus a certain profit of 2,000 yuan, but the factory's contract supply price is set at 2,700 yuan, and a certain discount rebate is determined at the same time.Due to market reasons, Suning can only sell at a price of 2,400 yuan, so Suning may have a negative gross profit of 300 yuan.At this time, manufacturers make up for the difference through price cuts, scale rebates, and investment rewards.Of course, due to the factory's inflated prices, the factory will provide additional subsidies for advertising costs, provide promotional gifts, and send promotional personnel to reduce the retailer's expenditure.In this way, Suning can still guarantee a certain level of comprehensive gross profit rate in the end. It is obviously a simple manufacturer-seller relationship, why make it so complicated?In fact, this is a very important means for manufacturers to control retail enterprises.Manufacturers keep the profits that should have been retail enterprises in their own hands, retail enterprises do a little, they give a little money, and the market initiative is always in their own hands.Retail companies believe that "crying children have milk", so they try every means to promote sales, reduce prices, ask manufacturers for more price difference subsidies, and strive for scale rebates. The above is analyzed from the financial point of view, and then analyzed from the perspective of supply chain division of labor.Retail companies should be responsible for sales, promotion, logistics, and after-sales. However, in the Chinese home appliance market, manufacturers are engaged in both production and distribution. , Build your own after-sales service network, send sales personnel directly to the terminal, and directly advertise for product promotion.In terms of marketing, manufacturers are doing it, and retail companies are also doing it, so supply chain overlap occurs. It is obviously a wasteful behavior, why do manufacturers still enjoy it?In fact, this is related to the lack of real development of the retail industry in the past.Under the planned economic system, commercial enterprises are subject to fragmented market segmentation and rigid management systems and mechanisms, do not have the corresponding sales and service capabilities, and are accustomed to relying on manufacturers to beg for food, resulting in manufacturers being able to "bring their products to the princes" ".For example, manufacturers can refuse to provide spare parts and installation and maintenance authorizations to distributors, so as to control or curb distributors. However, with the rapid development of the market economy, many retailers now have marketing service capabilities, and the problem of overlapping functions naturally occurs among manufacturers, which leads to new problems.For example, after-sales service is provided by the manufacturer, and Suning also does it; logistics, provided by the manufacturer, is also provided by Suning; promoters, provided by the manufacturer, are also provided by Suning... Both parties are investing, which makes part of the cost of the product's value chain duplicated by both parties. up. Suning is getting bigger and bigger, while China's home appliance industry still maintains the old "supplier supplies everything" model.Suning believes that if the supplier and the channel provider cooperate, the two parties will take action together and adopt a new model of professional division of labor and social collaboration, which is the most ideal state.However, if suppliers and distributors cannot take concerted action, the only thing Suning can do is to change itself.Therefore, Suning chose to carry out marketing changes by itself. How will the supply chain of China's home appliance industry develop in the future?What is the direction of development?What is Suning's division of labor positioning and profit model?How profitable is it?Focusing on these issues, Suning launched marketing reform initiatives.Marketing reform is not a one-size-fits-all shock therapy. Suning people are very clear that there must be a breakthrough in the business model, from the current reliance on contract deduction points, rebates and promotional support from upstream companies to comprehensive research on products by themselves, and gradually change negative gross profit. The cooperation method of making up the difference after the event has changed from a business model relying on upstream deduction points to a business model oriented by market sales capabilities. "We have always emphasized walking our own path and insisting on our own development direction. What we are talking about is that we cannot rely on anyone blindly. We cannot ask manufacturers to promise our profits. Even if they promise, they may not be able to guarantee it. Marketing must be Build your own core competitiveness." Zhang Jindong said. Therefore, the direction and key point of Suning's marketing transformation is to "realize customer orientation and establish its own core competitiveness".Suning hopes to clarify its future development direction and marketing model strategically, and use strategy to guide tactical operations.From Suning's point of view, it is to truly establish the core capabilities of marketing, including marketing procurement capabilities, marketing sales capabilities, and marketing efficient supply chains.Through the construction of core marketing capabilities, Suning's market share and large-scale sales will be further expanded.From the perspective of manufacturer cooperation, it means that the two parties have truly established a buying and selling relationship, and gradually formed a new division of labor and profit distribution model with the manufacturer. The connotation of Suning's marketing reform: 1. From the dimension of product procurement (1) Purchasing and marketing reform: change the passive situation that what the factory produces is what the merchant sells, and the merchant provides product demand information for the manufacturer. (2) Category research: research on commodities and supply, and realize the bottom-up traction and drive of the supply chain. Participate in market research and product selection development 2. From the perspective of commodity sales (1) Self-operated store: According to customer needs, carry out product planning, store layout, and product display (2) Customer research: establish a professional marketing team, gradually change the manufacturer's shopping guides to Suning's sales staff, and promote self-operated sales Leading the sales process 3. From the perspective of manufacturer cooperation (1) Buyer-seller relationship: form a professional division of labor where "manufacturers are responsible for product design and production, and channel distributors are responsible for sales services" (2) Division of labor and coordination: Dilute the disputes over discourse power and profit distribution between manufacturers, and turn to strategic cooperation among manufacturers to truly achieve a win-win situation Integrate and optimize supply chain 4. From the dimension of retail development (1) Customer Orientation: Take consumers as the center, study consumer needs, and jointly develop products and store management on this basis (2) Brand positioning: pay attention to the status of commercial brands in the hearts of consumers, and shorten the psychological distance with consumers Infinitely close to the end of the industry The purpose of Suning's procurement reform is to change the passive situation of merchants. In the past, "merchants will buy what manufacturers provide, as long as the gross profit is high." Merchants are not only passive, but also provide unprofessional services.After the purchasing reform, Suning will take the commodity as the leading factor, carry out reasonable commodity planning, and continuously enrich the commodity categories and the number of SKUs.Suning strengthens its awareness of procurement dominance through diversified procurement forms such as underwriting, customization, OEM, and OEM, thereby increasing its comprehensive gross profit margin. Regarding Suning's marketing transformation, Zhang Jindong pointed out that in order to truly establish its own core competence, Suning must rely on procurement based on product planning and sales based on customer orientation.In the past, Suning basically did nothing in terms of products. For a long time, Suning bought whatever products were given by manufacturers.After proposing the marketing reform, Suning should clearly plan commodity procurement according to the needs of the market—by establishing a huge commodity planning system, researching what kind of commodities the market needs, deciding what kind of commodities to sell, and even which store is suitable for selling what What kind of products, what kind of products are suitable for a certain location of a certain store. Studying consumers, purchasing and customizing products from the perspective of consumers, and mastering the initiative of purchasing products are the most direct manifestations of Suning's transformation. For many years, in the procurement process, Suning has been negotiating with manufacturers about deductions and fees. The focus of attention is on benefits, but not enough attention to the product itself.Manufacturers give products, as long as the profits are considerable, they will definitely enter.Now, Suning's procurement should start from researching commodities. On the one hand, Suning needs to expand its categories and add more products around customer needs; on the other hand, it has begun to study product combinations so that Suning's products can be consistent with customer needs from store samples to product inventory.In the past, commercial enterprises often experienced out-of-stock and unsalable phenomena at the same time. The reason is that they did not figure out what kind of products consumers need and what kind of products they should sell.Suning needs to focus on market demand, improve its product planning capabilities, make its product category structure more reasonable, better meet consumer needs, realize service value-added, and expand its profit margins. The essence of Suning's procurement reform is to establish a real business relationship with manufacturers.What is its meaning?For example, according to the market, product and brand status, if the manufacturer sells a certain electrical product to Suning for 2,000 yuan, the manufacturer will no longer participate in the remaining marketing work. Suning will be responsible for the sales, and all promotional expenses will be paid by Suning. If the selling price reaches 2,200 yuan, Suning will make a profit of 200 yuan; if the actual selling price is 1,800 yuan, Suning will lose 200 yuan.The real relationship between buyers and sellers is to be responsible for their own profits and losses, and Suning is responsible for the marketing results.In this way, the relationship between manufacturers is simple and clear, and there are not too many entanglements of interests between each other, and each concentrates on doing things in its own professional division of labor.There are some opponents to Suning's purchase and sales reform, but there are many supporters, which can be seen from the rising rate of manufacturers entering stores. Jin Ming, President of Suning Appliances, said: "From the current point of view, the biggest change is that the rate of factory entry has increased significantly. Before we opened 1,000 stores, manufacturers may only enter 700 of them. After the marketing reform, the implementation of procurement and sales Integration, the products in many stores are operated by Suning itself, and the factory only provides prototypes, and the rate of entering the store has increased.” Retailers and home appliance manufacturers jointly cooperate in exclusive sales and customization, which has been recognized in the industry as a multi-win cooperation model.Underwriting is a sales model commonly used by foreign home appliance chains to improve product differentiation.Because it is an exclusive buyout sale, it can purchase on a large scale, guarantee the profit of the manufacturer in advance, and reduce the purchase price in one step, thereby increasing the gross profit space in disguise. Underwriting means that a home appliance manufacturer reaches an agreement with a home appliance chain enterprise to grant the chain retailer the exclusive right to operate a designated product in a designated area within a certain period of time.Through the underwriting agreement, the two parties establish a stable long-term sales relationship, and for each specific transaction, based on the underwriting agreement, a separate sales contract is concluded. Through underwriting, manufacturers can not only obtain first-hand market information, but also join hands with merchants to avoid falling into the quagmire of price wars; while consumers can buy cheaper products and save money.Therefore, the underwriting model has been welcomed by manufacturers, merchants, and especially consumers. In fact, Suning has already taken steps to intervene in the upstream and in-depth cooperation with upstream enterprises. In 1998, Suning mainly promoted the American Philco air conditioner across the board. In 2000, it exclusively underwrote Yingyan's ultra-low-cost air conditioner priced at 999 yuan.In recent years, Suning has launched in-depth cooperation with major domestic and foreign brands based on multiple categories.Whirlpool air conditioners and water heaters, Electrolux washing machines, Shinco air conditioners, etc., let Suning and its partners truly appreciate the sweetness of exclusive sales. In August 2010, Suning Appliance signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Pioneer Japan in Nanjing.Japan Pioneer is a world pioneer in audio-visual entertainment and optical disc technology. It has world-renowned technical advantages in the fields of home audio-visual products, car audio-visual products, car navigation products and commercial video systems.According to the cooperation agreement signed by the two parties, Suning will be the exclusive sales agent and after-sales service agent for Pioneer color TV products. Pioneer will be responsible for new product launches and product underwriting for satellite theaters, home theaters, mini stereos, DVDs and Blu-ray DVDs and other Pioneer audio-visual products. Carry out exclusive cooperation with Suning, and at the same time provide synergy and support in marketing, product promotion, terminal training, etc.In addition, the two parties will use Suning's overseas sales channels such as Japan's Laox and Hong Kong Laser to strengthen their sales cooperation in overseas markets such as Japan and Hong Kong, China. It can be said that the home appliance brands that have reached an exclusive underwriting agreement with Suning generally have strong technical capabilities but weak marketing capabilities.They failed to expand the Chinese market on a large scale, not because of product quality problems, let alone product design and R&D capabilities, but because of typical marketing and service capabilities.In terms of understanding consumer needs and marketing, Suning is obviously more professional, so the cooperation with Whirlpool and other famous home appliance brands can be successful.Suning is very clear that it will take a process for its strong marketing capabilities to be recognized by big brands, and it needs Suning to continuously accumulate successful examples in various categories.Although a strong brand will not take the route of brand underwriting, it is not impossible to operate a single product in stages. The so-called customized procurement is to subdivide customers and carry out marketing mix according to specific needs to meet the specific needs of each customer. The term "customization" comes from French haute couture customization, which was originally the sales "patent" of top brands such as Chanel and Dior.Today, product customization marketing has become the operating method in many market sectors. Today, with the homogenization of 3C products, the demand for personalization is increasing day by day.Customization is slowly entering the digital world: mobile phone customization, digital photo frame customization, computer customization, TV content customization... In order to cater to the era of customized consumption, Suning began to try in-depth product customization marketing.Nowadays, the prices of home appliances are becoming more and more transparent, and the profits have dropped significantly, so many manufacturers are also willing to cooperate with Suning's customized procurement. "The competition of conventional products has become more and more homogeneous, and personalized customized products will be the trend of market development in the future." Jin Ming pointed out, "Because customized products can be produced by designated manufacturers, including customized appearance, functions and materials, customized products It is more personalized and more cost-effective." In September 2009, Sony Ericsson's two 3G star products exclusively sold by Suning - W508 and W715 limited editions were officially launched for sale. This is the first time that upstream mobile phone manufacturers, domestic agents, channels and platforms have joined forces. W508 is positioned as a fashion music phone. The limited edition adds 5 color-changing shells and a battery on the basis of the original package, while W715 is a high-end business music phone.These two products are co-operated by Sony Ericsson, China Unicom Huasheng, Suning and Putian Taili. At present, the models customized by Suning and exclusively sold by Suning cover almost all categories.Customized products are often best-selling models, so there are no problems in terms of supply and sales.At the same time, the huge number of customized products can reduce the production cost of manufacturers. In fact, all international chain enterprises have their own products, which is a major trend in the development of the international retail market.As a representative of China's home appliance chain enterprises, Suning is also trying to develop its own products and give back more benefits to consumers.Suning's development of independent products is not to replace upstream manufacturers and enter the manufacturing industry, but to comply with the market development concept of "returning to the essence of retailing", enrich its product knowledge and improve the professionalism of the retail industry through the operation practice of independent product development. degree of transformation. As a professional retailer, Suning must form its own opinion on the products it sells, and must know what kind of goods consumers need.Just like purchasing and customizing products from the perspective of consumers, Suning’s attempt to independently develop products is actually to grasp the initiative of products through consumer research and consumer insight, and improve the professionalism of China’s retail industry. It is not easy to predict the marketability of a product.Suning decided to strengthen its professionalism in product leadership through its own development practice. One of the famous "Lutz's Seven Laws" in management science says that enterprises should not be superstitious about market research, because "God" sometimes deceives enterprises.For example, customers will say the wrong thing in a market research survey: tell a little white lie, and answer that they will choose a certain product in order to appear "correct".That is to say, relying entirely on the study of consumer behavior, companies cannot master correct product knowledge and form accurate market predictions. Suning knows that it is not enough to rely entirely on terminal research information to put forward its own opinions on the products it operates, and to propose customization and joint production to manufacturers.For example, Suning found that consumers have put forward good suggestions for product improvement, but feedback to upstream manufacturers may not be able to implement them.On the one hand, it may be that there are practical operational difficulties, on the other hand, it may be that the manufacturer is not willing to improve at all.Suning is sometimes unable to make a judgment on this.Therefore, in addition to strengthening communication with manufacturers, Suning is also constantly trying to develop independently in order to improve its professional ability in product knowledge. Takasuke Kubomura, a famous Japanese distribution expert, said: "If a retailer does not develop its own brand, it cannot be regarded as a real chain operation." For example, Wal-Mart, Sears, Tesco, etc., basically all international chain enterprises have their own products. , which is a basic trend. In 2009, Suning established a dedicated independent product development center at its marketing headquarters.Zhang Jindong has repeatedly emphasized: We must pay attention to product research and be a commodity expert! Suning has always emphasized professional division of labor and win-win cooperation.Suning hopes that the industry chain will have a professional division of labor, and manufacturers will not directly intervene in channel sales, and that sales will be professionally completed by Suning.At the same time, Suning will not get involved in manufacturing. Suning's product research and development is limited to researching product functions, styles, and price positioning from the perspective of consumers, rather than researching technology and quality control from the perspective of factories. Retailers cannot Surpassing and replacing manufacturers, and doing so also violates the principle of specialization. So, what considerations are Suning's independent development of products based on? First, the need to strengthen the individuality and differentiation of Suning's commodity portfolio.Peter Drucker wrote in the book "Managing for Results" about retailers' insistence on developing their own products and brands: "The retailer's behavior is completely reasonable, and what makes it worry is that whether it is from a national brand It is in danger of relying entirely on national brands for whatever profit it makes. If anyone sees and buys in its stores a brand that is advertised and sold nationally, he can buy it in all other Why would he visit a retailer's store if he can buy the same merchandise at the same price and quality? A store has no reputation and Personality. All it has is an address... It is in the retailer’s own best interest to rely on its own brand to establish the personality of the store.” Therefore, after Suning becomes bigger and stronger, it develops its own products and brands to strengthen its presence in the Variation in product mix is ​​even more imperative. Second, the need to improve marketing capabilities.In the past, Suning was always used as a channel, and the sales and promotion were basically done by the manufacturers themselves. There was a gap between Suning's real product marketing capabilities and the manufacturers.Suning hopes to exercise this part of its ability through its own products, that is, to exercise the product development and marketing capabilities of purchasing personnel and the sales ability of terminal retail personnel. Thirdly, the need for coordinated after-sales service network expansion.Once it has its own products, Suning's ability in after-sales service can be significantly improved.In the past, many products operated by Suning were mainly installed, and some of them were even installed and delivered by the manufacturers themselves.It can be said that there is still a mismatch between Suning's after-sales capabilities and Suning's chain business development requirements.In the case of rapid development, if Suning wants to provide customers with the best service, it must do a more comprehensive, in-depth, and more detailed product installation and maintenance.However, Suning has not been involved in many categories before, and manufacturers are unwilling to delegate after-sales service to Suning.Self-owned products are the expansion of all categories. Since there are all categories, Suning can cut in after-sales service through self-owned products.In three to five years, Suning can build a stronger after-sales service team to provide consumers with more comprehensive, in-depth and detailed after-sales services. Fourth, the need to increase product richness.Suning is rapidly expanding its storefronts, and some brand manufacturers are obviously unable to keep up with the pace of goods entering the stores. Especially when Suning operates many self-operated stores and township stores, the stores are opened, but there are no products to sell. What should I do?As a large-scale professional home appliance chain enterprise, Suning will give consumers the impression that it is a specialty store once there are not many brands.Suning wants to complement the product categories of the entire store through its own products, and provide consumers with more choices with rich product displays. This is a problem that Suning must consider from the perspective of business strategy. Based on the above considerations, Zhang Jindong set the development direction of Suning's self-developed products.At present, Suning has begun to develop and sell comprehensive, multi-category and in-depth self-owned products on a trial basis for Pine Bridge series, Whirlpool series, Fadio series, and Electrolux series. Through independent research and development experiments and professional exploration of category theoretical analysis and research, Suning has practical experience in grasping and digesting consumer needs and market demands, and at the same time has a personal experience of the actual difficulties of upstream suppliers in developing products.Through independent research and development, Suning has a deeper understanding of serving upstream suppliers and downstream consumers. Nowadays, the mainstream supermarkets, department stores and home appliance chain enterprises in foreign countries all sell their products by self-operated personnel, including Japan, the United States and some European countries where the home appliance industry is relatively developed. This is a trend in the development of the home appliance market.In Suning's terminal stores, currently the manufacturer's sales staff lead the sales, while Suning's sales staff play an auxiliary role.In the future, Suning will increase the intensity of marketing reform and enhance the self-operating ability of stores. The second key to Suning's transformation is to promote independent marketing.Zhang Jindong pointed out: "In the first 10 years of Suning's business, there has never been a salesman from a manufacturer to sell products in Suning's store. In Suning’s stores. In Japan, manufacturers are not allowed to send salesmen to retailers. Suning must be prepared to welcome the arrival of this era.” Self-operated stores have always been the general direction Suning adheres to, and it is the inevitable result of its chain development. "We build terminals, but we don't really master the terminals. The terminals use a lot of factory promoters. From the perspective of the supply chain, the efficiency is not high. Strengthening the construction of self-operated stores will be an important guarantee for the realization of changes." In the past, the personnel of the manufacturer conducted the leading sales, and the personnel of Suning played a supporting role.Today, Suning has piloted some of its own chain stores, all of which use their own personnel to sell goods. Suning Nanjing Zhujiang Road store is the flagship store of the self-operated sales model.早在该店开业的时候，苏宁抽调了分布在南京各大连锁店的顶尖3C卖手，同时高薪招聘3C专业销售人员，要求他们必须掌握数码、IT全系列产品的知识，并具有良好的销售沟通技巧，同时对学历、形象、年龄也有比较高的要求。最后进入培训阶段的销售人员平均年龄为25.4岁，学历在大专以上的占90%，平均熟悉5种品牌以上的产品知识，并且100%是苏宁的自营员工。 专业性知识结构和特定的要求使得苏宁3C销售工程师成为中国家电零售行业的白领级员工，并且由于这种自营员工模式大大减少了单店所需销售人员数量，因此苏宁南京珠江路店员工的薪资最低也要比业内平均水平高出30%以上。一些旺销品类的销售人员，其毛利提成甚至能达到月入万元的金领级水平。 走向自营是中国家电连锁零售业未来的必然方向。但是，中国家电连锁企业实现自营绝不是一蹴而就的事情。 张近东反复强调：“关于自营的问题，不能一刀切，目前还处在摸索阶段，自营必须是逐渐的改变，不是剧变，不可能有时间节点，但是一定要去做。苏宁搞自营，完全是建立在消费者和市场需求的基础上，是奔着提高销售终端的效率而去的，绝不是针对厂家而为。凡是有助于服务消费者的，我们还是要坚持合作第一的原则。” 目前，苏宁选择“双轨制”，一方面在传统门店继续维持并优化与厂家终端人员合作的方式，另一方面，通过部分精品店与乡镇店的店面改革，尝试“终端自营”。 苏宁认为，零售商说到底就是一个平台，就是一个渠道，消费者需要什么，苏宁就卖什么。从消费者的未来消费趋势来讲，实际上就是个性化消费，他们对于品质的要求会越来越高，不像过去那样，在商品供不应求的情况下，能买到就很满足了，现在投票权和选择权在消费者手里，他们开始提出自己的要求了。同时，未来中国社会将会逐渐向小康生活过渡，消费者对产品品质的要求会自然提高。而且他们在消费的过程中，也会带有一定的个性化色彩，体现其地位、艺术品位等。 为什么苏宁现在对店面越来越细分化，在原有的旗舰店、中心店、社区店的基础上还要开精品店？就是为了迎合消费群体的现实分化。早期苏宁为什么不想这么多事情，因为当时的消费群体差异化不像现在这么明显。现在开始店面细分化，是因为苏宁看到了在未来的几年时间里消费者的需求变化。 就像厂商搞促销一样，说到打折，实际上现在有些消费者对促销、打折不感兴趣，他们不喜欢跟厂商讨价还价，就是喜欢购买明码标价的商品，他们很清楚厂商卖商品肯定要赚钱，他们唯一的希望就是厂商不要蒙他们！越高端的消费者在这方面的需求越强。正是针对这一部分高端群体，苏宁现在开始自营超级精品店。 苏宁精品店叫做SUNINGELITE。精品店定位在中国城市白领、金领等中高端消费群体。与苏宁传统的大型旗舰店、中心店、社区店相比，SUNINGELITE精品店在店面选址、设计、产品布局、产品陈列、产品选择、营销方式、售后服务及增值服务等方面均有不同。其中，SUNINGELITE精品店平均面积约在1500～2500平方米之间，主要选择在购物中心、高消费核心商圈等地。SUNINGELITE精品广告的商品全都是明码实价，没有厂家派驻的促销员，实行定制化的会籍管理制度及会员精准营销制度。 与以往连锁业态等大卖场相比，SUNINGELITE精品店主要有以下特点： 无厂家促销员，全部为苏宁自己的营业员。消费者在进店后，都将有专业导购人员陪同购物，他们对产品知识非常精通。这些按品类设置的导购人员，在进行专业性极强的商品介绍时不带有品牌倾向性。如果消费者在购物后有什么问题，可以电话咨询其专属的服务人员。导购人员都拥有高学历，双语导购，经过五星级的酒店服务培训。 明码实价。与一般的家电连锁店气氛不同，不再是熙熙攘攘的“卖场”，而是一个个有着轻柔背景音乐的“客厅”，消费者身处其中十分放松。SUNINGELITE精品店不存在讨价还价的空间。ELITE精品店实施定制化的会籍管理制度及会员精准营销制度，没有设立复杂的促销活动形式，而是以积分和礼品作为主要的回馈手段，价格一步到位，简单明了。 全开放式的陈列方式。值得一提的是，3C类都是真机出样，消费者可以自由体验，以自选方式进行购买。采用实物+购物卡的双重组合购物方式，顾客在购买配件及小件产品时，只需将实物或者自取购物卡前往收银处扫码付款即可快速完成购物。采取此种组合购物流程可至少节省30%的购物耗时。苏宁摒弃了传统家电卖场按品牌出样的方式，采用最新的专区出样方式。彩电按尺寸段出样，冰箱划分为酒柜、两门、三门、对开门及多门专区；洗衣机分为波轮、滚筒和干衣机专区；空调分为变频和定速空调专区，让消费者挑选更简单、购物更便捷。 高端精品多。为了满足高端消费者的需求，SUNINGELITE精品店的高端精品电器非常多，来自日本、瑞典、意大利、韩国、比利时等国家的进口产品比比皆是。店面产品出样配比上，高端产品占20%，中端产品占60%，高性价比产品占20%。 体验式营销。SUNINGELITE精品店分为Share（分享）、Enjoy（享受）、Live（生活）三大主题世界，配合产品的特性，开设多个专厅。如分享区设有Mac苹果体验厅，苹果系真机出样，涵盖周边多款配件产品。SUNINGELITE精品店独有的DIY音响体验专厅，配备音响集成系统，杰士、CAV、先锋等国际顶级音响品牌云集于此，消费者可自己选择合适的音响自由匹配。数字一体化体验厅以电脑为“中枢神经”，彩电、冰箱、洗衣机、游戏网络、生活电器等，以智能化、科技化提供高新数字一体化体验，配合SUNINGELITE精品店独有的“摘机系统”，消费者在摘下出样真机的同时，该机所有的功能将在22寸液晶屏上一览无余，简单快捷。 DIY服务体验。SUNINGELITE精品店在销售完成之后的发货、试机、检测、安装等服务环节都在服务区为顾客提供一体化的整体解决，以一站式服务体现了更多的人性化。除了传统的故障检测和维修等基础服务之外，SUNINGELITE精品店还增加了很多顾客DIY服务体验和自动增值服务的内容，如手机刻字、照片打印、挂件制作、软件服务、自助下载等。 2010年8月5日，《环球企业家》杂志与罗兰·贝格国际管理咨询公司联合主办的“最具全球竞争力中国公司”评选榜单全新出炉，宝钢、海尔、苏宁电器、百度、华为等20家企业成为最具全球竞争力的中国公司，其中苏宁电器作为唯一的零售企业入选，这也是中国零售企业首度入选该榜单。 主办方在苏宁的获奖理由中写了这样一条：“从2010年年初至今，苏宁在三、四线城市新开设门店数目已达100家，并以每个月新开20～30家的速度继续扩张。苏宁强化乡镇店建设，此举切合了国家新农村建设、家电下乡等国家政策的需求，更是要破解全国性家电零售企业在三、四级市场稍显薄弱的困境，对整个家电零售行业带来极大的冲击，可能再次改变全国性家电零售企业与地区性家电零售企业的竞争格局。” 乡镇店，对于品牌商而言，在三、四级市场设立品牌专区、提供专门的促销员，并不经济。他们既不愿意自己投资建渠道，也不愿意支持连锁商开店，因为这些店铺的赢利预期充满不确定性。有些厂商甚至都不愿意投入物流费用，连货都不愿意送。 针对这种情况，苏宁决定自营乡镇店。苏宁这样做主要基于三个原因：首先，苏宁之前一直坚持自主开店的原则，乡镇店可以作为自营的一种实践；其次，中国农村人口众多，农村家电市场还处于发展初级阶段，单纯发展一、二级市场，并不是真正意义上的全国连锁，抢占三、四级市场，做填补市场真空的先行者；最后则是出于当前低位的连锁开发成本，越早开发成本越低，这是苏宁开连锁店多年积累的经验。 苏宁认为：“我们做乡镇店一是完善网络，二是为了营销变革，培养自营人员。我们开乡镇店，厂家是举双手赞同的。他们覆盖不了，我们受益，他们也受益。作为厂家来讲，并不像以前，门店投入进去，人进去了，样机进去了，展台进去了，量没有卖出来，亏损了。现在他们改变了做法，就给我们一个基数，多卖了，反正是在他们可控范围内，他们的成本就是这么多，多卖多得，不卖不得。” 家电下乡、以旧换新政策，对中国家电连锁企业的阶段性发展是一个重要事件。如何能够把国家的政策最大化利用起来，并以此来提升支撑企业在一个阶段内的发展能力，一向眼光长远的苏宁在业内同行还在犹豫不决的时候，就开始将其纳入自己的发展战略。2010年年初，张近东就明确表示全年要新开300家乡镇店。他说：“我们今年定533家门店，其中300家是乡镇店，精品店是20家，其他的是一些常规门店，大概200家，香港10家，日本3家。” 开发乡镇店，的确不是一件容易的事情。首先，苏宁想建一个大规模的店都很难，对于乡镇店，苏宁在面积上的要求是1000～1500平方米，但是有的县和镇要想找1000平方米的物业都很难。 其次，到农村乡镇开店，网络建设对苏宁的人力资源部门是一个很大的挑战。苏宁副总裁孟祥胜坦言：“乡镇店小，我们自己不可能调配那么多人，毕竟人力成本太高，在城市做久了的员工也未必愿意下去。另外，通过对外招聘也很困难，能够满足我们企业要求的人员，在招的时候压根儿招不到。比如我们要求懂电脑知识，会操作电脑，这在很多农村城镇是很难招到的。那怎么办呢？就只能采取一些现实的措施，提前招聘，放点时间的余量，加大培训的力度。我们必须提前两个月把人招回来，再培训，旺季的时候还要派一帮人过去支援。” 针对农村消费者对现代家电产品普遍陌生的问题，为了让广大农村消费者更快速地接受和享受现代家电产品，苏宁通过发传单、赠送家电消费目录手册、开设培训和讲座等形式普及家电使用常识。 店的规模可以小，但是货却不能少。在门店布置上，苏宁推出符合乡镇特点的陈列模式，分种类或价位段陈列商品，在有限的空间内陈列尽可能多的品类，让农民消费者有更多的选择。 对于厂家不情愿到乡镇上门服务的客观现实，苏宁采用“专业自营”的售后服务模式，做到“谁销售，谁负责”，让消费者吃下“定心丸”。 苏宁一直强调自己是一家社会企业，自建乡镇店就是一个明证。苏宁也很清楚，开乡镇店利润有限且充满风险。农村的交通、物流都不发达，开设乡镇店成本很高，但对于广大农民消费者来说，经济负担降低了，购买、售后服务都有保障，苏宁认为很值得。 以消费者为导向，满足广大顾客的更多需求，才是零售业创新的根本出发点。苏宁将发挥自己的优势，发现未被满足的消费者，进行未被服务的顾客细分。苏宁以客户为导向，确保自己的自营实力不断增强。 一个企业经营成功与否，全靠对顾客需求了解到什么程度。看到了顾客的需求，企业就成功了一半；满足了顾客的需求，企业就成功了全部。 企业的利润来自于哪里？是产品吗？no!很多企业仓库中有堆积如山的产品，但还是亏损，可见只有产品不能带来利润。 企业利润来自于核心技术吗？No!世界上有很多拥有核心技术的企业，例如美国企业宝丽来尽管拥有业内难以匹敌的一次成像核心技术，还是因为跟不上客户日益增长的需求而破产倒闭。 那么，企业利润来自于哪里呢？是客户！产品能否赢利是建立在客户是否购买上，技术是否真正具有核心竞争力还看客户是否需要。只有客户在为企业的产品、服务和技术买单，也只有客户是企业利润的唯一来源。 传统的管理者只低头关注产品，而忘记抬头关注市场需求的话，很容易把企业带入发展的死胡同，这也是很多企业难以持续发展，难以“基业长青”的关键，也是无数短命企业层出不穷的原因。 苏宁认为，“以客户为中心”，需要改变传统价值链的方向： 传统价值链，从资产与核心能力开始：资产、核心能力→投入、原材料→产品、服务→销售渠道→顾客 现代价值链：从顾客开始：顾客→销售渠道→产品、服务→投入、原材料→资产、核心能力 掌握信息越多或越新的人，就越能支配他人。要了解顾客的真正需求在哪里，企业就必须花精力去研究他们。 苏宁认为，过去家电连锁经营是粗放型，很少研究消费者，大多是研究商品。苏宁现在要转向对消费行为和消费者的研究。 苏宁非常注重消费者信息的搜集和科学分析。这个任务由苏宁的市场策划中心执行。苏宁的市场策划包含两个部门：促销策划部和会员管理部。这两个部门的分工定位是：促销策划部是对现阶段苏宁执行的市场推广经营活动，包括全国性的促销进行指导、部署和要求；会员管理部是对消费者进行研究和洞察，包括在未来会员营销方面的一些核心诉求。苏宁策划负责人说：“促销策划是基于现在作促销，会员管理是基于数据库作未来的营销，这两个部门是相辅相成的。” 苏宁人所谓的“作未来的营销”，即是培养潜在客户。会员部是一个独立的对潜在消费者进行研究和分析的部门。会员部又分两个组：一个是消费分析组，一个是会员卡务组。会员卡务组主要负责日常会员俱乐部的管理。消费分析组负责如何通过数据库的数据挖掘深层次地了解消费者，研究消费者的消费习惯和消费趋势。 苏宁获得消费者信息有三个途径：第一个是非常完整的信息反馈机制，分公司每天早上会把第一手的信息反馈给总部，总部进行综合和分析；第二个是会员卡，顾客在首次登记填写会员申请表时留下详细准确的个人资料，苏宁的新会员卡会储存持卡会员的详细个人资料和每次消费记录；第三个就是倾听工程，苏宁每年有倾听工程，倾听消费者对苏宁的批评。根据投诉录音，苏宁认真分析哪些是属于个性问题，哪些是属于共性问题，每年要提出第二年的服务改进方向，发布服务蓝皮书，针对之前出现的漏洞和消费者普遍不满意的地方，进行改善、提高。苏宁还及时将这些消费者意见反馈给厂家，便于厂家进一步进行产品开发与改进。 如何让消费者购物更舒适、方便、科学和满意，是苏宁在研究全新自营销售模式过程中始终围绕的中心主题。苏宁开创的3C+模式正是以消费者需求为核心的体现，它带给消费者的是更多便利和实惠；带给整个家电行业的是全新的行业标准。 3C+模式，其具体寓意为： “＋”就是“家”，3C+就是3C之家，是一个完全以“以顾客为中心”的3C经营模式； “＋”就是“加”，就是在原先的3C经营模式上体现出“人才更专业、产品更丰富、环境更舒适、系统更先进、服务更全面、购物更方便”这六大诉求； “＋”还是“佳”，永远追求更好，围绕消费者需求不断调整和升级，而不是一成不变的。 3C+模式下，由苏宁自营销售人员负责整个品类的产品介绍，消费者在购物时，销售人员将根据顾客的需求给出合适的建议，并提供各种商品的详细资料便于顾客选择，这就使苏宁销售人员的定位从过往的“推销员”转为了“3C电器顾问”。 3C+卖场在设计店面的时候基本上是为中国消费者量身定制的。就货架高度来说，国人的平均身高大约为160～175cm，按照人体工程学提供的标准，最适合的浏览高度在120～140cm，于是，苏宁所有货架的高度都以此为标准。通道宽度则是主通道两边应各有一人侧身浏览的宽度，人离商品最佳观察距离为30cm，中间有两个人并肩走过的宽度，肩宽则在60cm左右，苏宁卖场通道宽度即以此为标准。3C+卖场在细节上全面追求人性化。 在南京3C+第一店，随处设有免费的顾客休息区；设有大量的MP3、图铃下载、手机充电专区，并和手机运营商开设专厅提供各种手机业务；数码冲印专区能让试用相机、拍照手机的顾客第一时间冲洗出自己的照片；雨伞免费租赁让突如其来的大雨无法挡住顾客的脚步；幼儿看护专区让顾客购物期间能够让自己的孩子也有快乐的天空；机票预订、打印、复印等商务服务则让顾客怀疑自己是不是到了星级酒店；专设的残疾人洗手间则彰显苏宁服务更为人性化的一面…… “总之，每一个细节决定了消费者购物的心情，我们在这些细节问题上力求做得最好，接受顾客亲身检验。”苏宁人骄傲地说。 3C+模式到底对行业有什么样的影响呢？ 1.改变了中国家电连锁经营模式。苏宁的3C+模式引导的连锁店产业升级，首次从以产品线调整为核心转向以消费者需求为核心。 2.改变了家电行业厂商合作方式。从以往厂商博弈、重在产品销售利润的分配为主转向共同挖掘客户价值的合作模式。体现在厂商之间信息系统对接，通过数据的反馈和分析共同研究和开发具有个性化的产品，满足不同顾客的产品需求，并提供给消费者更多的增值服务，提升整个供应链的经营品质。 3.改变了中国消费电子市场格局。针对涵盖了数码、IT、通信产品的中国消费电子市场，按照份额高低划分，电脑城和家电连锁占据了主导地位，其中电脑城在数码、IT上目前依然占据着一定的优势。3C+模式使以苏宁为代表的中国家电连锁企业从以往单纯陈列售卖3C产品的形式升级为为消费者提供更为专业化的解决方案，迅速弥补过往在专业化服务上的不足，同时进一步发挥其规模、品牌、采购、信誉度等方面的优势，对中国消费电子市场展开新一轮的洗牌。 苏宁从消费者需求出发的一个细节表现就是自营店产品陈列的创新。“注重细节，让顾客更舒服一点”是苏宁布局创新的主要原则。苏宁积极借鉴欧美、日本等先进的卖场经营理念，在产品陈列上，采取品类+品牌相结合的布局方式，不再按照不同的厂家进行门户式陈列，而是按照品类陈列，打破品牌之间的人为间隔，更方便顾客选购。 按品类陈列商品，对消费者是一个极大的便利，可以减少盲目的购买行为。在传统卖场，消费者如果买彩电，可能得先看看国产的，比如海信、创维、TCL，再去看看国外的品牌，比如索尼、三星、夏普，总之需要一家家地看下来。在这个过程中，消费者很容易看花眼，各品牌同种产品的差别很难完全准确地体会和记下来，等到逛累了，最终凭感觉锁定一种。 按品牌摆放产品，消费者缺乏将不同品牌同类产品直接面对面比较的机会，差别化中的无形因素如品牌、陈列地点等发挥的作用比较大，品牌在消费者头脑中原已形成的印象发挥着较大的作用，本来是要买产品最终演化成买品牌。 苏宁打乱品牌，按品类划分，各品牌同种品类的产品有了同台竞技的机会，最大化地给顾客以精准选择的权利，无疑是对消费者最大的尊重。此时消费者先看准了某款产品，然后才发现是什么品牌的，品牌的差别化起到的作用可能仅仅是促使消费者最终购买的因素，最初引起消费者关注的因素则是产品本身的差别化。 苏宁陈列上的这一“小改变”