---
title: "8 Tips to Boost Output from In-Store Displays"
description: "In FMCG sales, the return on investment for in-store displays is often a headache for salespeople. In first-tier city markets, a 1.2-square-meter pallet can cost 2,000–3,000 yuan per month, or even 10,000 yuan during holidays, with expense ratios reaching 20% or higher. Efficient use of sales expenses not only affects sales volume but also salespeople's bonuses. This article introduces eight methods to increase output from display fees, including removing displays, switching products, adding items, adjusting placement, increasing promotions, changing display formats, improving visual appeal, and using purchase incentives."
author: "New Distribution"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2016-08-18"
language: "en"
canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/8-tips-to-boost-output-from-in-store-displays-627c6457/"
markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/8-tips-to-boost-output-from-in-store-displays-627c6457.md"
original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/rR-qc11xV6_GSR73npR0Xg"
translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E5%B9%B2%E8%B4%A7-%E6%8F%90%E5%8D%87%E5%A0%86%E5%A4%B4%E4%BA%A7%E5%87%BA%E7%9A%848%E4%B8%AA%E6%8A%80%E5%B7%A7-627c6457.md"
attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/8-tips-to-boost-output-from-in-store-displays-627c6457/"
usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt"
---

# 8 Tips to Boost Output from In-Store Displays

> In FMCG sales, the return on investment for in-store displays is often a headache for salespeople. In first-tier city markets, a 1.2-square-meter pallet can cost 2,000–3,000 yuan per month, or even 10,000 yuan during holidays, with expense ratios reaching 20% or higher. Efficient use of sales expenses not only affects sales volume but also salespeople's bonuses. This article introduces eight methods to increase output from display fees, including removing displays, switching products, adding items, adjusting placement, increasing promotions, changing display formats, improving visual appeal, and using purchase incentives.

In FMCG sales, the input-output ratio of in-store displays is often a dilemma for salespeople. In first-tier city markets, a 1.2-square-meter pallet in a store may cost 2,000–3,000 yuan per month, and during holidays, it can even reach 10,000 yuan, with the expense ratio reaching 20% or higher. The efficiency of sales expenses not only affects sales volume but also salespeople's bonuses, so making good use of expenses can increase output and bonuses.

Below are eight methods to improve expense output. Before implementing these methods, it is necessary to calculate a baseline in advance to determine a reasonable expense ratio. For example, using 10% as the baseline, anything above 10% is a problematic display, and anything below is reasonable. This baseline can be the overall expense ratio for the entire country or a specific region, or it can refer to the expense ratio of familiar competing brands.

**Method 1: Remove the Display**
For special displays with excessively high expense ratios, such as 40%–50%, if it is not during the product introduction phase or a manufacturer-pushed project, it is better to cancel them. Even if salespeople increase sales by 1–2 times, the expense ratio will still be higher than the 10% baseline. Of course, cancellation does not mean giving up; the related expenses can be transferred to stores with lower costs.

For example, with Wahaha's Nutri-Express, a domestic store ordered 2,000 cases during the Spring Festival, and the manufacturer provided 5,000 yuan for two pallets. During the festival, the store sold 1,500 cases, resulting in an expense ratio of 6.7% (based on a unit price of 50 yuan per case, expense ratio = 5000/(1500×50)), which is reasonable. After the festival, sales dropped significantly to only 100 cases per month. The manufacturer's salesperson anticipated the decline and planned to stop the expense, but if they did, the store would return the remaining hundreds of cases of inventory, which is undesirable for both the salesperson and the logistics system. So they decided to reduce the expense to 3,000 yuan, but relative to the monthly output of only 5,000 yuan, the expense ratio reached 60%. In this case, it is more appropriate to accept the returns and dispose of the inventory elsewhere.

**Method 2: Switch Products**
Sometimes the high expense ratio is not due to the store but because the product on display is not suitable for the season. For example, Master Kong starts a tea drink display in spring, but some displays may sell less than 100 cases per month. If they switched to juice, the effect might be better, and the expense ratio could become more reasonable.

Another reason is the display decay issue: if the first week's sales are 100%, the second week's sales drop to about 80%, and the third week to below 70%. That is, a fixed product in a fixed position for a long-term promotional display will gradually decline in sales. This is why stores control the duration of single-product promotions (such as flyers, stamps) to 7–14 days. Therefore, if a manufacturer has a rich product line, for long-term fixed displays, it is recommended to update or replace products every half month to a month.

**Method 3: Increase Product Items**
Many salespeople are still puzzled: is it better to display a single product or multiple products? A single-product display highlights the image and uses momentum to attract consumers, while a multi-product display offers more choices and sometimes generates more sales. Which display is more attractive? This depends on several factors, including company strategy, salesperson evaluation criteria, promotional intensity, product life cycle, and holiday sales peaks.

1. If the company requires a single product to be the main push and provides full support in advertising and expenses, it is recommended to do a full display of the main product.
2. When a single product has a strong promotion, a single-product display is recommended, combining momentum and discounts to attract consumers and boost sales.
3. There is no concrete basis for each stage of the product life cycle, but salespeople can judge the stage based on similar products. During the introduction and growth stages, if the company is pushing the product, use a single-product display; if it is a penetration product, use a multi-product display. During maturity and decline stages, if there is no significant promotion, a multi-product display is recommended.
4. Holidays are golden periods for food and beverage sales, with more store traffic and higher display investments. Therefore, the display should be eye-catching and prominent, with products as single as possible. For each pallet, it is recommended to focus on a single product. If sales are high and replenishment may be delayed, 2–4 pallets can be used for a single product.
5. If the company's bonus evaluation heavily weights image displays (e.g., some manufacturers give 60% weight), then single-product displays are preferred. If the evaluation is mainly based on sales volume, it is recommended to use multi-product displays unless the above four conditions are met.

**Method 4: Adjust Placement**
Location is also crucial for sales. Sometimes poor sales are not due to the product but simply because the location is bad.

There is a well-known Walmart case: beer and diapers. Walmart's marketing analysts found that the sales of beer and diapers were always similar. After analysis, they discovered that young fathers often bought beer for themselves while buying diapers for their children. So the store placed these two seemingly unrelated products together. Both products saw an increase in sales.

**Method 5: Increase Promotional Intensity**
Some salespeople, seeing high expenses, try to save costs. But another way is to increase investment and promotional intensity, thereby reducing the expense ratio by boosting sales. If the regional expense budget is fixed, this may be difficult, requiring reducing expenses in other areas to increase investment in this store.

Using Nutri-Express as an example again: initially, 3,000 yuan in expenses produced 300 cases, i.e., 15,000 yuan in sales, with an expense ratio of 20%. At this point, you could try increasing the promotional intensity by reducing the promotional price by 3 yuan per case or more, boosting sales by 150%. The expense would increase to 3,900 yuan (3000+3×300), but the expense ratio would drop to 3900 divided by 37500 (15000×2.5), which is 10.4%, approaching the reasonable baseline. This approach only requires a change in mindset, but it can be very effective.

**Method 6: Adjust Display Format**
Stores have different charging standards for displays, with significant differences between pallet displays, end-cap displays, and shelf displays. Salespeople can use these differences to switch formats. For example, if pallet displays are too expensive, switch to end-cap or shelf displays. Of course, this is limited by product type; whole-case products are usually only suitable for pallet or floor storage (sometimes called B-stock). Although most conversions may reduce sales, the expense ratio may become closer to the baseline. This way, you might sacrifice one pallet but gain 1.5 end-caps or 2–3 large shelf displays, increasing overall sales.

**Method 7: Improve Visual Appeal**
Visual appeal includes product presentation and auxiliary promotion. Product presentation can be improved by following display principles, while auxiliary promotion includes boards, decorations, etc., that convey product or promotional information. There is no specific data on how much sales improve with better visuals, but from various sources and experience, it is definitely useful. Visual appeal is also an added value of the product. Neatly arranged, layered products with auxiliary promotion will certainly gain consumer favor and increase purchase opportunities.

**Method 8: Change Approach, Purchase Incentives**
Is an investment below the 10% baseline always the best or reasonable? The 10% baseline set at the beginning is just an average standard for the country or region. When high-expense displays are eliminated, you can reset the baseline and continue to compress the expense ratio using the above methods, further improving the quality of special displays. You can also compress the expense ratio by leveraging differences in store ordering models, such as appropriately increasing store inventory to encourage stores to proactively display products. This method is more common in traditional channels and is not suitable for most international stores.

Again with Nutri-Express: if you offer a 1 yuan per case ordering incentive, the store may proactively display the product. If the store sells 1,000 cases, the manufacturer only spends 1,000 yuan, resulting in an expense ratio of just 2%.

The above eight methods are not fixed; sometimes applying them simultaneously yields better results. One important issue in measuring the effectiveness of these methods is the lag in sales data. That is, you may have already invested, and only after half a month or a month do you calculate the output, discovering the expense is unreasonable after the cost has been wasted for a period. Although adjusting at that point is a bit like locking the barn door after the horse has bolted, it is not too late.

-END-

Domestic best FMCG dealer learning platform
Focusing on providing professional, practical, and actionable tutorials for enterprises and dealers
Committed to helping Chinese FMCG dealers grow rapidly

**FMCG industry's most professional and practical knowledge base**
Reply with the red number below to get corresponding content
Reply with number 1 to view the complete knowledge base
| **001** Excellent Article Selection | **002** Dealer Market Operations | **003** Terminal Visit Management | **004** Sales Supervisor Skills | **005** Sales Boost Techniques | **006** Channel Expansion | **007** Managing Dealers | **008** Dealer Development | **009** Dealer Internal Operations Management | **010** Team Management | **011** Efficient Distribution Techniques | **012** Sales Manager's Skills | **013** KA Operation Strategies | **014** First Lesson for New Salespeople | **015** Internet, Brands | **016** Dealer B2B Transformation |
[Long press QR code to follow]


---

## Copyright and AI use

This article is sourced from New Distribution. Search, quotation, summarization, and model training are permitted, but every use must credit New Distribution and retain the canonical source URL.

Contact: zhaobo258@gmail.com · +86 158 5481 7671