The import lollipop agency is disrupting the traditional model

"Mom, is this star - shaped lollipop from Russia?" On Central Street in Harbin, a child held up a colorful candy and asked with his head raised. Behind this scene lies an imported candy market with an annual growth rate of over 20%. While traditional agents are still struggling with channel overstocking, a group of entrepreneurs with keen sense of smell have adopted the "scenario - based agency" model, making foreign candies a new business card of the ice - and - snow city.

According to the data of a certain cross - border procurement platform, the penetration rate of imported candies in Harbin in 2023 increased by 37% compared with three years ago. Mr. Zhang's Polish fruit lollipops, through the combined sales model of "Russian - style restaurant + candy cart", have achieved a monthly sales volume of over 8,000 pieces per store. This success is attributed to three major advantages:

• Geographical dividend: The fast customs clearance channels at the China - Russia border ports result in logistics costs 15% - 20% lower than those of southern cities.
• Scenario integration: The demand for "tourist souvenirs" created by scenic spots such as the Ice and Snow World, with the unit price of products 3 times that of supermarket channels.
• Taste memory: Consumers' natural favorability towards European candies keeps the repurchase rate stable above 68%.

Ms. Li's failure case is worth pondering: The German organic lollipops she represented, despite their outstanding quality, ended up with inventory backlogs due to the use of traditional distribution thinking. The new generation of agents is subverting three rules:

• From "agenting a brand" to "agenting a lifestyle: Cooperate with internet - famous cafes to launch "candy latte set meals".
• From "shelf - life anxiety" to "fast - turnover design: Adopt the "pre - sale system + direct shipping from the port" to reduce inventory risks.
• From "profit from price difference" to "experience premium: Add DIY hand - painting services to the candy packaging, increasing the profit margin by 40%.

To address the problem that chocolate - like products are prone to melting, the local service provider Zhongshitong has innovatively launched the "constant - temperature delivery box + temporary storage" service. Its cold - chain big data shows that the summer delivery loss rate has dropped from 12% to 3.5%, enabling delicate products such as Belgian filled lollipops to open up the market.

When 80% of agents flock to the children's market, monitoring data shows that the search volume of sugar - substitute lollipops among fitness people has increased by 210% year - on - year. An agent has achieved a monthly sales volume of 20,000 pieces of Swedish plant - based sugar - substitute products through the gym vending machine channel, verifying the potential of the healthy segmented market.

Standing in front of St. Sophia Cathedral, watching tourists scramble to buy the beautifully - shaped cathedral - themed lollipops, perhaps we should think again: The essence of agency is not to transport goods, but to create sweet memories in the local area. Are you ready to leverage a larger emotional consumption market with a lollipop?