Text: Zhang Zhifeng, Editor: Ma Yuanyuan) The heavy snow has added a lot of "New Year's flavor" to the upcoming Spring Festival, and major wine companies can't care about the cold under the ultimate task of "destocking", and are in full swing to seize the highland of online and offline "Spring Festival stalls", and the moves are different.
From February 1, i Moutai, the official e-commerce sales platform of Kweichow Moutai, announced that it will upgrade the rights and interests of birthday wine purchase, and users can enter the event page on any day of the birthday month to participate in birthday wine purchase, as much as possible to help users forget to buy on their birthday or the store inventory is sold out, and provide everyone with a convenient experience to enjoy anytime, anywhere.
Although for consumers, it has not obtained the benefits of real gold like other liquors, but the willingness of Moutai to bend down and accommodate consumers a little is really unimaginable in the past.
Not to mention the unique Kweichow Moutai, the seriousness of other wine companies for the "good start" of the Year of the Dragon is still worth affirming, after all, this is related to the marketing and brand strategy of the company in the coming year.
Dealers: Profits are not enough for gas money.
At the offline level, many liquor companies such as Wuliangye, Yanghe, Xijiu, Jiuguijiu, Shuijingfang, Langjiu, Shede Liquor and so on are facing the sales terminal and opening the "full gift" and "full reduction" activities.
The observer network visited major supermarkets and tobacco and alcohol counters and found that the vast majority of liquor brands are carrying out Spring Festival activities to varying degrees, and the discount is far from comparable to previous years.
Taking Wuliangye's large single product "Eighth Generation Puwu" as an example, the observer network noticed that the retail price in Wal-Mart and other supermarkets has increased from the original 1499 yuan bottle to the recent direct launch of a full 1 piece of 400 yuan reduction activity, which lasted until late February.
The equivalent of the retail price hit 73% off, into 1099 yuan bottle. You must know that just a few days ago, Wuliangye announced that it had raised the ex-factory price of the eighth generation of Puwu, from the original 969 yuan bottle by 50 yuan to 1019 yuan bottle.
Based on this calculation, it is equivalent to the dealer's profit of only 80 yuan per bottle, and the gross profit margin is less than 73%。
Now the ex-factory prices of famous wines are more transparent, and it is becoming more and more difficult for dealers to do business, and to be honest, this profit is not enough for oil money. Some dealers told the observer that large supermarkets gave large discounts during the Spring Festival, one is to clear inventory, and the other is to attract traffic and promote the sales of other goods. "Usually, franchised dealers of a certain category rarely give so many discounts due to factors such as price insurance, their own profits, and manufacturer requirements. ”
At the same time, the above-mentioned distributors pointed out that as the liquor is sold more and more expensive, except for a very few high-end famous products, the vast majority of flat products are too much, and the sales volume is difficult to guarantee, so in the actual sales process, "the volume is flying".
The observer network noticed that in addition to directly giving ** discounts, the common ** operations of supermarket sales terminals also include full reduction and buy one free.
First, there are various combinations of discounts, and the discount is also not small. For example, 53 degrees Jinsha ancient sauce and 52 degrees Xifeng wine vintage sealed wine, add 1 yuan to get an extra bottle; Buy one get one free for wine.
It is worth mentioning that at the end of 2023, in order to promote payment collection and the pressure of high inventory of distributors, wine companies have also introduced corresponding pressure reduction policies. According to a report, Wuliangye channel providers have begun to sign contracts one after another, and on the basis of the contract volume in fiscal year 2024, they can collect payment according to 969 yuan bottles, and the upper limit of this part of the payment is 60%; Luzhou Laojiao has made payments to some dealers in disguised decompression, and its core product Guojiao 1573 is in accordance with the ** payment of 980 yuan bottles (50 yuan bottles reduced by 50 yuan); Gujing Gongjiu requires more than 50% of the payment to be paid before the Spring Festival, and can obtain interest-free agreement use and fee incentives.
Online marketing is a double-edged sword
At the level of online marketing, according to the "Trend of Light Luxury Consumption of Chinese Liquor" jointly released by the China Liquor Industry Association and Tencent, the current group of people born between 85 and 94 is gradually becoming the main consumer of new liquor. In the next stage, 83% of incremental consumers are born after 95 years. In order to capture the "first sip of liquor" of young consumers and amplify the first-cause effect of baijiu taste tendency, baijiu brands need to shorten the distance with young people.
And young people's shopping habits are inevitably closer to digital marketing.
Wang Yancai, chairman of the China Liquor Industry Association, once said: "The digital era has arrived, and China's liquor industry is experiencing the industry trend of new ideas, new business models, new production methods, new formats and new industries, and digital transformation has become the inevitable path for the next development of liquor companies. According to iResearch's data, the size of China's new alcohol retail market in 2022 will be about 1,516200 million yuan, which will reach 174 billion yuan in 2025.
"Year of the Dragon Zodiac Wine" is the first shot of the online marketing of wine companies to open the "Spring Festival stalls".
Among them, the "Dragon Mao" launched by i Moutai rose from the subscription price of 2,499 yuan bottles all the way to 8,000 yuan bottles, and then quickly fell back to the normal ** range below 4,000 yuan bottles.
At present, not only Wuliangye, Luzhou Laojiao, Yanghe, Jiannanchun, Langjiu, Shede, Gujinggong and other first- and second-tier wine companies have launched the Year of the Dragon Zodiac Wine, but also Site, Shijiufang, Zhenjiu, Beijing Erguotou Yongfeng Brandy, Wang Bingqian, Chen Taiji, and Keya Brandy XO have also launched the Year of the Dragon Zodiac Wine.
At the same time, in the activities of major e-commerce platforms, in addition to participating in the full discount activities of Jingdong, ** and other platforms on a daily basis, many wine companies choose to "put down their bodies", and their moves are obviously closer to the younger generation, hoping to be favored by more young people.
For example, Shede Liquor has officially become the official partner of Alipay Liquor and the in-depth partner of Alipay Happy Five Blessings. Shede Liquor will sell jar wine products that were previously only sold through exclusive channels in the e-commerce channel for the first time through activities such as the Alipay New Year Festival and the Happy Five Blessings Festival.
On the other hand, wine companies urgently need to expand sales and improve performance, and under the situation of intensified contradiction between distributors and their inability to increase procurement efforts under high inventory, wine companies naturally reduce prices through online e-commerce platforms**.
Such a situation once led to the inversion of the liquor industry in 2023, and the mid-to-high-end liquor was faintly collapsing. Based on the suggested retail price, except for Feitian Moutai, most of the liquor was basically sold below the suggested retail price in the second half of last year, and the retail sales of many brands were infinitely close to the ex-factory price.
During the most serious upside-down "Double Eleven", even the 53-degree Feitian Moutai, which has always been regarded as "hard currency", failed to hold on, and the market once fell below 2,700 yuan bottles.
Therefore, in the process of sales or live streaming on the e-commerce platforms of major liquor companies, major liquor companies are trying to maintain the price of liquor as much as possible, and most mid-to-high-end liquor brands choose to launch a combination of ** or full gifts on the basis of platform discounts.
For example, Tuopai Liquor, a subsidiary of Fosun, has carried out buying and gifting activities nationwide around the three core products, matching exclusive wine gift boxes for the core market, and Tuopai has also launched an additional cover and scan code activity, which can enjoy 2 chances to win the lottery by opening the lid and scanning the code, not only having the opportunity to win cash red envelopes, Atlantis luxury tours and other rewards, but also the Spring Festival limited special gift "Tuopai Flower World" Datan Liquor double plus, claiming a comprehensive winning rate of 100%.
Analysts pointed out that under the market operation mode of traditional liquor, from manufacturers to consumers, there are multiple levels such as **, distribution, and sales channels. Too many links are not only detrimental to the start and continuation of sales, but also cannot provide immediate feedback of C-end data for marketing decisions of medium and large enterprises.
According to Tencent's 2023 China Liquor Industry Consumption*** data, 83% of consumers will take the initiative to obtain wine information, and 81% of consumers have improved their brand awareness through online advertising. Online channels are playing a more important role in the purchase of liquor.
Destocking and stabilizing the market are still the mainstream tasks.
In addition to increasing marketing, wine companies also spare no effort in brand promotion.
On the morning of February 2, the "i Moutai" WeChat mini-program was launched for the first time, and the whole people participated in the online blessing activity of "Year of the Dragon's 'Wine' to 'Enjoy' Happiness Together", setting off a "blessing" boom in the circle of friends. It is reported that within 24 hours of the start of the event, there have been 19140,000 people visited the Mini Program, and a total of 21.19 million people entered the event page.
The event is considered to be another major breakthrough after Moutai launched the "Xunfeng Digital World" mini program to innovate digital marketing, adding "New Year's flavor" while effectively igniting the online promotion atmosphere of the Moutai brand during the Spring Festival peak season, and launching a series of Spring Festival marketing activities to carry out pre-buried heat.
In addition, the observer network noticed that in addition to the daily launch of "money ability" to sponsor traditional TV programs such as CCTV Spring Festival Gala and David TV Spring Festival Gala, the brand promotion activities of wine companies in the Spring Festival in 2024 are more varied.
A few days ago, Sichuan Jiushui Jingfang and CCTV jointly produced the aesthetic dialogue series "Aesthetics in Wine AI Dialogue" officially launched, President of the Chinese Cultural Heritage Society, Director of the Academic Committee of the Palace Museum Shan Jixiang, historian, former speaker of the Hundred Lectures Ji Lianhai, ** Radio and Television Station host Zhu Guangquan, writer, food lover Shen Hongfei, chief architect, Wenxin Yiyan app technical director Fan Zhongkai and other contemporary celebrities in various fields and Li Bai, Su Shi and Wang Yangming, three ancient aesthetic giants.
On January 20th, Yujiu Yangshao Group once again invited Sha Baoliang, Pang Long, Gao Jin and other stars to sing the "Painted Pottery Workshop Stars Concert" to promote Yangshao's wine culture with the best combination.
On the other hand, Wuliangye continued to increase its brand culture promotion in the Spring Festival banquet scene, and on the basis of the official announcement that Sa Beining, Ren Luyu, Yang Fan, and Chen Weihong formed the "New Year's Flavor Host Group", which respectively told the brand stories of Wuliangchun, Jianzhuang, Wuliang Alcohol, and Wuliang Special Song, it recently invited the well-known actor Huang Xiaoming to appear as the "banquet host" of Wuliangye Aromatic Liquor Company, providing assistance for the growth of its brands such as Wuliangchun and Wuliang Alcohol in the banquet market during the Spring Festival.
However, despite this, from the perspective of the industry, the overall situation of the liquor market in 2024 is not optimistic, and destocking and stabilizing the liquor market are still the mainstream.
Guotai Junan Research Report pointed out that in combination with the 2024 sales target planning or guidance of liquor companies, the competition pattern is expected to continue to concentrate on the head enterprises, and the liquor industry will continue to recover weakly. In terms of the two ends, the relative resilience of the two ends is stronger, the mass consumption of local liquor (regional liquor brands) is expected to continue the positive trend, the high-end is relatively stable and the volume and price strategy is more calm, and the sub-high-end is waiting for recovery in the differentiation.
Xiao Zhuqing, an independent commentator on China's liquor industry, also believes that the current market pattern of liquor has been basically solidified, and under the existing market environment, it is more difficult for new liquor brands to become national brands and enter the first echelon. At the same time, the channel structure has undergone great changes, for example, with the rise of live broadcast channels, the establishment of private domain traffic platforms has become the direction that wine companies are trying to try. Even traditional leading wine companies may face the risk of obsolescence at any time if they fail to respond to changes in the industry with a positive attitude and adjust their marketing and brand promotion strategies in a timely manner.