Getting Into Alternative Distribution | JTI

Japan Tobacco International (JTI), a renowned global tobacco product manufacturer, faced strategic and implementable obstacles while expanding operations in Bangladesh's northern region. The company lacked direct distribution support, which resulted in declining sales figures. JTI needed to establish product availability in the northern markets while maintaining sales targets, but faced challenges in building effective distribution networks from scratch in a region where they had limited existing infrastructure and partnerships.

Enroute International Limited partnered with JTI to develop an alternative channel management and distribution strategy. The solution involved:

- Onboarding Distribution Partners: Identified and engaged distribution partners who possessed multiple product portfolios and existing distribution networks in substantial retail universes.
- Leveraging Existing Distribution Channels: Utilized partners' existing distribution channels to make JTI products available in last-mile markets at zero additional logistics cost, enabling cost-efficient market penetration.
- Market Research & Experience Application: Applied a decade-long experience in solving complex business problems and market research data to inform the distribution strategy.
- Multi-Phase Implementation: Successfully implemented different phases of the distribution strategy across multiple geographic locations.
- Trade Marketing & Distribution Development: Worked extensively on trade marketing and distribution development with local distributors and retailers, developing mutually beneficial partnerships.

The alternative distribution strategy achieved significant commercial success:

- Successfully worked with 9 distributors for the project
- Expanded the innovative approach to 3 different geo-locations
- Completed nearly 570,000 product lifting
- Achieved 274,000 sales in the short period of implementation
- Restored JTI's product presence in key areas
- Enhanced product availability, bringing products within consumer reach
- Achieved promising sales figures that demonstrated the strategy's effectiveness

The project demonstrated Enroute's efficiency in operating under different market dynamics and thriving effectively in complex distribution challenges.